ASHES ARE BURNING

This is the album where Renaissance seemed as if they were ready to assimilate their folk- rock and classical impulses into a truly progressive sound. "Carpet of the Sun" and "At the Harbor" are clear demonstrations of a band whose music was ready to gel and grow. But alas, it came apart in subsequent albums. You can almost hear this unity getting away from them in the final/title track: The instrumentals continue for long enough to make the piece feel like Pink Floyd without drugs.

"Let It Grow" is overly cloying; "On the Frontier" is annoying. And "Can You Understand" feels like cutesy Buddhism.