Heads Or Tales is the fifth studio album by the Canadian progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 band Saga

Saga (band)

Saga is a progressive rock quintet, formed in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. Jim Crichton and Welsh-born vocalist Michael Sadler have been the principal songwriters for Saga. Ian Crichton is the band's guitarist; apart from his work with Saga, he has recorded several solo albums as well as sessions...

 and was originally released in 1983. The album was the second of the band's to be produced by 1980s producer Rupert Hine

Rupert Hine

Rupert Neville Hine is an English musician, songwriter and prolific record producer, having produced albums for artists including Kevin Ayers, Tina Turner, Howard Jones, Saga, The Fixx, Bob Geldof, Thompson Twins, Stevie Nicks, Chris de Burgh, Suzanne Vega, Rush, Underworld, Duncan Sheik, and ...

. Although it did not receive the commercial success of the previous collaboration between the band and Hine, both "The Flyer" and "Cat Walk" became respectable radio hits for the band with the album eventually securing gold status in Canada and Germany. A third single from the album, "Scratching the Surface", making a regular appearance in the band's concert line-up during the late-1990s and 2000s as a piano solo played by singer Jim Gilmour during a break by the other band members.

Side one

1. "The Flyer" (Jim Crichton, Michael Sadler) – 3:41
2. "Cat Walk" (J. Crichton, Jim Gilmour, Ian Crichton) – 4:25
3. "The Sound of Strangers" (Sadler, J. Crichton, Gilmour, I. Crichton, Steve Negus) – 4:08
4. "The Writing" (J. Crichton, Sadler) – 4:12
5. "Intermission" (Sadler, J. Crichton, I. Crichton) – 5:27

Side two

1. "Social Orphan" (Sadler, J. Crichton) – 3:23
2. "The Vendetta (Still Helpless)" (Sadler, J. Crichton, Gilmour, I. Crichton)– 3:44
3. "Scratching the Surface" (Gilmour, J. Crichton) – 5:15
4. "The Pitchman" (J. Crichton, Sadler, I. Crichton, Gilmour, Negus) – 5:38

Personnel

Saga:

• Michael Sadler - lead vocals, keyboards
  Electronic keyboard
  An electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
  
  
• Jim Crichton - bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , keyboards
• Jim Gilmour - lead keyboards, vocals, sax
  Saxophone
  The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
  
  , lead vocal on "Scratching the Surface"
• Ian Crichton - guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  
• Steve Negus
  Steve Negus
  Steve Negus is a Canadian drummer and songwriter who was a member of the progressive rock band Saga for twenty-six years.-Biography:While playing at Larry's Hideaway, a club in Toronto, Steve Negus' drumming came to the attention of the Canadian rock band, Fludd. The band was searching for a new...
  
   - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  , percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  , electronic percussion

Production:

• Judith Salavetz , Spencer Drate – art direction, design
• Stephen Durke – front and back illustrations artwork
• Andrew Scarth - assistant engineer
• Stephen W Tayler
  Stephen W Tayler
  Stephen Tayler is a mixing and recording engineer, music producer, composer and sound designer who has contributed this collection of talents to hundreds of world-class albums for artists including Kate Bush, Suzanne Vega, Peter Gabriel, Underworld, Duncan Sheik, Howard Jones, Stevie Nicks, Rush,...
  
  – recording and mixing engineer
• Larry Williams – inner sleeve photography
• Producer - Rupert Hine