Heads or Tales

1983 studio album by Saga

Heads or Tales

Studio album by

Saga

Released

September 1983

Recorded

The Farmyard, Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, England

Genre

Progressive rock
new wave

Length

40:23 (vinyl) / 47:47 (CD)

Label

Portrait, Maze

Producer

Rupert Hine

Saga chronology

In Transit
(1982)

Heads or Tales
(1983)

Behaviour
(1985)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]

Heads or Tales is the fifth studio album by the Canadian progressive rock band Saga, released in 1983. The album was the second of the band's to be produced by Rupert Hine. Although it did not attain the same commercial success and status of the previous collaboration between the band and Hine, Worlds Apart (1981), both "The Flyer" and "Cat Walk" became respectable radio hits for the band with the album eventually securing gold status in Canada (50,000) and Germany (250,000). A third single from the album, "Scratching the Surface", became a live staple and fan favourite in the band's concert line-up during the late-1990s and 2000s as a piano solo played by Jim Gilmour during a break by the other band members. The song reached #45 in the Canadian Singles charts, April 1984.

Track listing

Side One
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"The Flyer"	Jim Crichton	J. Crichton, Michael Sadler	3:47
2.	"Cat Walk"	J. Crichton	J. Crichton, Jim Gilmour, Ian Crichton	4:24
3.	"The Sound of Strangers"	Sadler	Sadler, J. Crichton, Gilmour, I. Crichton, Steve Negus	4:09
4.	"The Writing"	J. Crichton	J. Crichton, Sadler	4:14
5.	"Intermission"	Sadler	Sadler, J. Crichton, I. Crichton	5:28

Side Two
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
6.	"Social Orphan"	Sadler	Sadler, J. Crichton	3:24
7.	"The Vendetta (Still Helpless)"	Sadler	Sadler, J. Crichton, Gilmour, I. Crichton	3:55
8.	"Scratching the Surface"	Gilmour	Gilmour, J. Crichton	5:26
9.	"The Pitchman"	J. Crichton	J. Crichton, Sadler, I. Crichton, Gilmour, Negus	5:46

Bonus track (CD and cassette only)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Cat Walk" (Unabridged)	7:44

Personnel

Saga:^[2]

Michael Sadler – lead vocals (all but track #8), keyboards
Ian Crichton – guitar
Jim Gilmour – lead keyboards, backing and lead (8) vocals, sax
Jim Crichton – bass guitar, keyboards
Steve Negus – drums, percussion, electronic percussion

Production:^[2]

Judith Salavetz, Spencer Drate – art direction, design
Stephen Durke – front and back illustrations artwork
Andrew Scarth – assistant engineer
Stephen W Tayler – recording and mixing engineer
Larry Williams – inner sleeve photography
Producer – Rupert Hine

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1983)	Peak position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)^[3]	17
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)^[4]	26
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[5]	3
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[6]	4
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[7]	4
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[8]	4
US Billboard 200^[9]	92

Year-end charts

Chart (1983)	Position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[10]	58

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)^[11]	Gold	50,000^{^}
Germany (BVMI)^[12]	Gold	250,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

^ Hinds, Andy. Heads or Tales Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Saga – Heads Or Tales (Vinyl, LP, Album)" at Discogs. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 4383a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Saga – Heads or Tales" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Saga – Heads or Tales". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
^ "Swedishcharts.com – Saga – Heads or Tales". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
^ "Swisscharts.com – Saga – Heads or Tales". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
^ "Saga Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. 1983. Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
^ "Canadian album certifications – Saga – Heads or Tales". Music Canada. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Saga; 'Heads or Tales')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved July 20, 2024.