Throughout the history of rock music, there are countless times that veteran bands have attempted to soldier on after the loss of their longtime lead singer. In some cases, it worked well (
AC/DC after
Bon Scott's death); in others, it fell flat (
Genesis after
Phil Collins' departure). If you were to judge this by the duration of a substitute singer's tenure, then the union between melodic prog rockers
Saga and
Rob Moratti falls under the latter category, as the replacement for longtime
Saga frontman
Michael Sadler only lasted for a single forgettable album, 2009's
The Human Condition. But as evidenced by the 2011 live album
Heads or Tales: Live (which, as its title states, is a track-by-track reproduction of their 1983 release,
Heads or Tales),
Moratti had no problem replicating
Sadler's soaring vocals, cases in point being the faithful renditions of such
Saga classics as "The Flyer," "Cat Walk," and "Scratching the Surface." But with the omission of any recent
Human Condition-era material, the group's choice to have
Moratti's first live album with the band be a reproduction of an old album is a bit of a head scratcher. And to add insult to injury, a few months prior to the release of
Heads or Tales: Live, it was announced that none other than Mr.
Sadler was back in the band -- which makes the
Moratti-sung
Heads or Tales: Live come off as a missed opportunity.
–
Greg Prato, Rovi