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

Beautiful and very touching song. The vocal arrangement is fantastic - perfect for Annie Haslam.

 

New week... old album?

Yeah, I'm doing a poor job at this. I'll try my due diligence to make this a daily thing going forward.

Touching Once (Is so Hard To Keep)



Probably one of the band's most interesting tracks, and really albums, up to this point. This one seems a bit obtuse going into it, but the melodies do show up and they're very good with fantastic harmonies. The structure of the song is a bit gloomy to start with, with dissonant chords from John backing the first/second verse, then it shifts into a transition full of vocalize and acoustic from Dunford, into a near jazz fusion build up with heavy orchestration, bass, and synth and a proper sax solo! The main melody partially comes back, slightly altered to finish off the song on a major key backing only for the song to run down with Jon hitting the bass fast as the record ends with a minor orchestra/vocalize bit. Definitely a track which took a bit for me to really get into, but once I did appreciating this one is a lot easier feeling like we've finally moved passed the structure from the the previous three records to an extent, and making it a unique part of the discography of a band who was until the point, playing it a bit safe stylistically IMO.

 

When I think of this song the first thing that comes in my mind is that last “keep” that Annie sings. I won’t try to replicate it.

 

Illusion - Out of the Mist

Not my images - very few good pictures of this one exist, okay, in my looking around more like none. I own this myself but I figured this auction I found is fine...




The band is back together! Sort of?

FAQ

1. Is this Renaissance? Answer - pretty much, it's the original version of the lineup besides Keith Relf
2. Where is Keith Relf? Answer - Died while practicing material for Out of the Mist. Guitar amp killed him, John Knightsbridge plays lead guitar in his place
3. When did John Hawken get a Mellotron? Answer - when he was in Strawbs.
4. Face of Yesterday was already recorded? Answer - no one had Renaissance - Illusion
5. Is this album worth my time if I haven't heard the original Renaissance? Answer - if you like prog folk, 100% this is a obvious one.

Changing gears from Novella, we have a record that's much more folk leaning than prog leaning. It's prog moments exist, though the album thrives on the strong melodic content and instrumentation and does not have any orchestration. Candles Are Burning gives you a nice prog tune, but the rest is either folk rock or simply baroque fever dreams. In the context of 1977, I get why this bombed quick. But who cares when your genre is so barren to start with that year.

Track listing

1. "Isadora" Jim McCarty 6:56
2. "Roads to Freedom" McCarty, John Hawken 3:53
3. "Beautiful Country" McCarty, Hawken 4:21
4. "Solo Flight" McCarty, Hawken 4:23
5. "Everywhere You Go" McCarty 3:18
6. "Face of Yesterday" McCarty 5:45
7. "Candles Are Burning" McCarty 7:10

Personnel

• Jane Relf – vocals
• Jim McCarty – vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion
• John Knightsbridge – electric and acoustic guitar
• John Hawken – piano, synthesizers, Mellotron, Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes electric piano, harpsichord
• Louis Cennamo – bass guitar
• Eddie McNeil – drums, percussion

 

How does "Face Of Yesterday" compare with the Renaissance ILLUSION version of the song?

 

The arrangements are very similar. The base is much more present, and I think Jane's voice is more up front on this album. Her voice also seems a bit more... "mature" is the only word I can think of. I prefer this version, although I do miss the backing vocals on the Renaissance version.

 

Love the back to back combo of Everywhere You Go and Face of Yesterday. Beautiful melodies on this album mixed in with the prog rock/baroque ambitions. It is almost haunting at times. A like this one a lot more than the follow up with Madonna Blue, that one has it moments too but there is something special about this one from front to back.

 

Isadora



Feeling so unreal...

The moment this record starts it's on a bit dreary, but it doesn't take long to see we're back to McCarty's generally fine songwriting abilities and how much John Hawken has improved as a composer and arranger - his tenure with Strawbs definitely rubs off on this one, and Jane's voice sounds less fragile and more soulful - I don't mind at all, and those harmonies... god those harmonies. Cennamo has a really upfront bassline that somehow doesn't remind me of Camp - and Knightsbridge has a really melodic solo not unlike Steve Hackett near the middle of this great piano driven opener.

 

I love that song....always have to sing along when I hear it.

 

Roads To Freedom



I'm not sure why this is "feat. Illusion" but it's the studio track and the best one on YouTube

I like this one for a little while, it has a good verse chorus structure and really is just a nice folk piece, though I've never liked the end section with the harmony vocals and the repeat of "you and me..." but the arrangement here is fantastic. John and Louis carry this one with Jane no problem, and it's probably the track on here that reminds me the most of the 1977 Renaissance more than anything else.

 

A bit off topic, but one of Annie's personnel is selling all of this soon on gofundme



Sealed vinyl from the 70s/80s, page isn't up yet. The campaign to film one of her shows for the 50th anniversary tour is almost finished (including one show with Jim McCarty) Renaissance 50th Anniversary HD Concert Film

Will make the next Illusion post in the morning, due to the lack of discussion on the prior track.

 

One of my favorite all-time 1970's tracks, and the one that introduced me to the band. Seems to me it could have been a FM Rock Classic/Rock staple but of course never was.

The mastering of the 1994 Repertoire "Turn Of The Cards" is decent. Nice dynamic range and appears not to have been messed with, but the sound itself is so-so. I've never heard any vinyl of the album so this is purely a guess; is it possibly just a lackluster recording?

 

Hi Anduandi. What are your favorite versions of Seasons and Azure? I have the Thunderbolt cd for Azure and the Japanese WPCP-4219 for Seasons. Really don't care much for the Thunderbolt but am pretty happy with the WPCP Sire. I never cared for Novella much but there have been some positive comments regarding that album. May have to give it another chance.

 

Hi Instant Karma.
My favourite version of Azure d'or is the Repertoire edition (REPUK 1138).
As for Seasons I'm torn between the Repertoire (REPUK 1146) and the new Esoteric (PECLEC 32667). Both have their pros and cons.

 

Thanks very much. Just curious. Have you ever heard the Japanese Sire Seasons?

 

No, I never did. But I have the Japanese Sire "Novella". I remember that one sounding very good, too.

 

Looks like this thread died four months ago.

 

Turn of the Cards to be released in 5.1. Cherry Red's site seems down this morning. I had inquired on their Facebook page why they skipped over this album during their reissue program. Now I know why, hope it's worth wating for.

 

I've been happy with their Renaissance reissues so far. Turn Of The Cards also includes the 1974 AOM concert. Instant buy for me.

 

I believe it was a combination of lack of engagement and personally not actively listening to the music when running the thread. I'd be willing to keep on going, albeit in a more open fashion with the song by song continuing offset by more general discussion.

That and, I really want to do another album by album, from a completely different band. Can't with this one left unfinished.

 

No offense, but I think the lesser-known ILLUSION kind of ground this thread to a halt. I know that you really like it, but probably very few of us have heard it.

 

That would be Annie herself.

 

I wish I had the original post - the LPs weren't in Annie's possession and the image is dead. It was a complete US set of the Haslam era all first press and sealed.

 

Beautiful Country



A gorgeous, melodic dirge of a psych folk track - This one is basically all Hawken and Relf, with them complimenting each other incredibly well. The harmonies are fantastic in the chorus, and the ending has really nice Mellotron flute work that shows an old dog can definitely learn new tricks - Hawken didn't use a Mellotron until 1974 in the Strawbs however he might be one of it's best users.