TALES OF 1001 NIGHTS VOLUME 1

In the early 90´s it was not easy to find Renaissance´s discography on CD, so a friend bough this compliation (along with volume II). I remember I did not have enough money to do the same, borrow them and recorded those on tape. For years this was the only way to hear those classics with a better sound than my quite wore out vinyl copies could provide. But are they still worth now?

Well, the song selection is quite good, but due to some contractual issues at the time, it seems that only the Sire original releases could be used. So, it meant that some of their most well known songs were only available for this CD in the form of live recordings (taken from 1975´s Live At The Carnegie Hall). although I like that double album, those tracks are not up to their studio recordings, specially Prologue. Well, I guesss that was the best they could do then. There are some great stuff, but Scheherazade´s suite is only represented here with a small piece.

Renaissance is one of those bands that are much better appreciated when you hear the whole album (at least their classic foursome: Prologue, Ashes Are Burning, Turn Of Cards and Scheherazade). With the new remastered CDs available, this two volumes look a bit odd. If they had the studio versions of the aforementioned songs I´d recommend to a newbie who wanted to know this great group without having to buy all their albums. The way it is, it is still good, but missing something. You better get their original works anyway, even if you´re new to Renaissance. They´re worth it. 2,5 stars.