Symmetry (Saga album)

Symmetry is the twenty-second studio album by Canadian rock band Saga. It was released on March 12, 2021. It contains acoustic versions of previously released songs, some in the form of medleys or augmented with new interludes. The idea originated on the 40th anniversary tour in 2017, where the band would perform acoustically as their own support band "Pockets".

Initially, the band considered releasing a live album from this tour, but decided against it and settled for new studio recordings instead. The individual parts were recorded remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, the arrangements were mostly worked out by Jim Crichton, who had retired from live performances in 2017. Several songs had already been played in similar versions on the aforementioned tour ("Time to Go", "The Perfectionist", "Images", "No Regrets" and the medley of songs from Trust). It was also on this tour when drummer Mike Thorne first used kitchen utensils for percussion sounds in the acoustic set. The piano interlude "La foret harmonieuse" includes a few lines from the song "Book of Lies".

The artwork has its roots in the 2017 tour, too, where a similar image (featuring a tree in the middle of a library, overlooked by the band's insect mascot) was used as a large backdrop for the acoustic section of the shows. According to Michael Sadler, the tree symbolizes the organic element of the album.

"Tired World" was released on streaming platforms on 4 December 2020, accompanied by an animated video clip. This was followed by "Wind Him Up" (again with an animated video) and "Always There". For the latter, the fans were asked to send in video material, which was then assembled into a video clip.