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Vanilla Fudge - Renaissance CD (album) cover

RENAISSANCE

Vanilla Fudge

 

Proto-Prog

4.09 | 115 ratings

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Easy Livin
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
3 stars Songs for all seasons

"Renaissance" is for me where Vanilla Fudge came closest to sounding like their fellow travellers Grand Funk Railroad. Here we have an album of deliciously heavy, original material and covers which demonstrates clearly how the band had matured and developed their sound.

Longer tracks such as "Seasons of the witch" (a Donovan song) and "Faceless people" are wonderfully arranged songs which are performed with confidence and style. The former is a slower, slightly understated (for Vanilla Fudge!) number, while "Faceless people" builds from a soft start through some all-guns-blazing organ and relatively rare lead guitar soloing before the vocals even start. The song has a passing resemblance to Mountain's classic cover of "Theme from an imaginary western" (probably just in my imagination!).

There are of course strong similarities with the likes of Uriah Heep in the swirling Hammond organ, the multi-part harmonies, and the oh-so-heavy rhythm section. There is a sense of adventure throughout this album which makes it noticeably different to other Vanilla Fudge releases, while simultaneously retaining all that is familiar about them.

In summary, another fine release by these under-appreciated pioneers. Worth investigating.

Easy Livin | 3/5 |

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