Renaissance Album By Album (& now including Illusion Album By Album Thread) *

I'm making this post tonight with the intention of getting some feedback as to how to cover what regarding everything.

I plan on covering the two Relf albums and every record after that, however I'd like to cover Illusion if only for not having a thread dedicated to three albums. Not sure if the interest to talk about them is there.

Opinions on covering solo material? I think we'd be getting really off topic but at least Annie in Wonderland is Renaissance esque.

The format I want to run this would be a song everyday and no ratings - but, lots of newer threads seem to enjoy that. Let me know if you'd want to rate each song or not.

This is a bit of a undertaking for me however I know the catalog so well I figure no one else was going to do it...

 

Yeah I didnt expect this. But I guess you can go for it.

 

Look forward to your massive undertaking 11th of Mar! - First got into Renaissance when they supported Wishbone Ash post Relf in the early 70s. It will be a real wake up call for me as don’t often play their stuff much although having most of it on original black plastic, CD and now reissued and remastered black plastic.

 

I'm in!

Although I'll be off-line for a week so I'll have to catch up when I'm back.

Be nice to see the Michael Dunsford's Renaissance albums covered. Better than their reputations, I reckon.

 

The two albums by Illusion are superior to anything Renaissance did, in my view. Having said that, I guess that I am only a casual Renaissance fan - I love everything from 'Prologue' to 'Scheherazade....', but lost interest in them after that.

 

Don't hear this too often but interesting none the less.

 

The fist eponymous album is more of curiosity for me as it mixes rock styles with classical piano sections a bit awkwardly, imho. Their second album "Illusion", though never really completed by the mark 1 band featuring Jane Relf, is more musically integrated and folky, if lyrically dated, and is the true template for what would follow with Annie and Co. However, both are essential for diehard fans like me.

 

Illusion are certainly excellent. Love Renaissance too though.

Been listening to some of their later albums just this week - Azure d'Or and Camera, Camera. Different to the early stuff, for sure, but great writing and performances nonetheless - to my ears, at least.

 

I have similar sentiments. I love the two rather stark Jane Relf Renaissance albums and the Illusion records. The full-blown orchestrated Annie Haslam Renaissance...not so much.

 

They do have a Novella deluxe edition coming put this year.

 

After Relf nothing else matters.

 

To you? I love Prologue thru Novella myself.

 

Annie Haslam has the voice of an angel IMO.

Live at Carnegie Hall is one of my favorites when I want to mellow out.

 

to you maybe.

I like the other version of the band, the Annie band, or whoever you wanna call them. Saw them in an orchestral hall with good acoustics once, excellent - Al Dimeola opened!

 

So it's been... like days since I made this thread, now I'm not under the weather I can get this going.

Illusion looks like many want it to be covered, therefore it will be.

Michael Dunford's Renaissance, I have forgotten about, and never heard either - Still count regardless, and it's not like the 90s has a lot to talk about, lol.

As where to start, well, the lineup

If their was ever any doubt... yeah, Led Zeppelin and Renaissance both exist out of the same former group. Who would have known... though, Keith Relf would get back to his "roots", though maybe with more balls.

And with that the principle lineup for the first record, leading into the tour until sometime spring 1970 when the band decided they didn't want to be a proper band. It only gets stranger.

Renaissance - Renaissance




Released 10/1969

From left to right

John Hawken - piano, keyboards
Keith Relf - vocals. guitar, harmonica
Jane Relf - vocals, percussion
Louis Cennamo - bass
Jim Mccarty - vocals, percussion

Track listing

1. "Kings and Queens" 10:56
2. "Innocence" 7:07
3. "Island" 5:58
4. "Wanderer" 4:02
5. "Bullet" 11:21

When did you first hear the record?
What did you think of it?
Do you still play it?
How does it rank in the catalog for you?
Favorite song?

I got into Renaissance sometime in late 2013, close to turning 17. I heard this album right with the Haslam stuff and still enjoyed the hell out of it. This one falls under the classical crossover genre for me, and most prog albums don't really get close to that. Hawken dominates it and I'm okay with that. While this would be a common theme in the later albums, the reliance on such heavy classical influence song per song was never at the highs of the first record.

 

I absolutely love the two albums by "Illusion", but I love everything Renaissance did from "Prologue" to "Azure d'or" just as much. The two bands mixed together could have been very interesting. Jane Relf is a fantastic singer. I love her pure and natural way of singing.
While admiring Annie Haslam and her singing style, I sometimes get a bit annoyed when she overuses this operatic thing, especially on live recordings.

 

They have several deluxe editions, some of them are already out. There's Prologue, Ashes Are Burning and A Song For All Seasons which are already available on Esoteric for a while.
I bought Ashes but was disappointed by the sound. Instead of Paschal Byrne whose remasterings I like very much they chose Ben Wiseman for the job who for me added too much compression and made Ashes a loud and annoying sound experience - at least to my ears.
I will buy the other deluxe versions nonetheless (Live At Carnegie Hall and Novella are not available yet) for the bonus tracks. As for the original albums, I will stick to the Repertoire editions from around 2006 (Prologue, Ashes Are Burning, Live At Carnegie Hall and Novella only) which were remastered by forum member Eroc.
Avoid Turn Of The Cards from that series by any means ! It's not remastered by him and sounds awful ! Unfortunately there's no good sounding version of Turn... at all, which is a shame.
For Scheherazade I recommend the AF-editions.

 

Agreed; I prefer Jane Relf's voice to Annie's. Annie had a tendency to "over-sing" in my view, particularly on the later albums.

 

Thanks for the suggestions but for Scheherazade I might have to skip unless there is High Def download. Too steep for one cd.

 

Kings and Queens



What a opener, this one storms in like a pure classical piece over some heavy bass into a unnerving psych verse chorus with some amazing harmonies, piano and bass line not to mention the fantastic drumming. I'm positive this quotes some classical piece, I'm aware of nearly all of them from the later period but some of the Hawken quotes I'm unfamiliar with...

 

When did you first hear the record? About 1988
What did you think of it? Liked it but thought it was uneven.
Do you still play it? Yes
How does it rank in the catalog for you? The Relf era is on par with the early Haslam era in my book
Favorite song? Kings and Queens

 

Kings and Queens got airplay on CHUM-FM when the LP came out, and I liked it enough to buy the LP (although I'm not sure if it was right away, and the cover featured a photo of the band).

The last time I listened to the LP, though, I didn't really think it was all that good, and not up to my opinion of the Annie Haslam version of the band.

At least I can stare at the photo of Jane Relf for a while ...

 

I have only gotten into this band recently. I have most of their albums now except for the last 2. I like their first album. It almost sounds like ambient music on some songs.

Scott

 

Innocence

This one definitely feels like a baroque pop hangover - Keith sings lead here and the imagery is great

"If you want the reasons for the changing of the seasons, and you wanna know why blue is the color of the sky - then you've missed the point completely, in a little child's mind sweetly, because he hasn't learned why yet to ask the question why"

A great piece with the accenting bringing it home. There's a lot going on here that fills out a a pretty normal pop tune but manages more too.

 

I love Renaissance, but my interest falls squarely in the classic Annie Haslam era. So I'm watching the thread, but have nothing to add to the pre-Haslam discussion.