TUSCANY

This album could perhaps be regarded as Renaissance's "comeback" album and even if I haven't heard all of the band's albums from the 80's and 90's, I think it is safe to assume that this is their best in a long time. Devoted fans and followers of the band will undoubtedly enjoy this album. However, I think that few Prog fans will like this as much as the band's classic 70's albums. There is nothing particularly progressive about this music.

The Renaissance trademarks are still very much here; the distinctive vocals of Annie Haslam, the strong presence of piano and acoustic guitars, the influences from Classical music and Folk. The production values are high and this is not a poor album by any means. Indeed, this is a high quality product no doubt about that - a high quality Classical Folk Pop album, that is. There is a decent level of variety on the album and some songs are better than others. But no song deserves special mention. While well written, nothing here is particularly memorable for me.

At this point I must admit that I have never been a big fan of this band in the first place, always finding dissatisfaction with the lack of a strong Rock base in the band's sound. I do recognize the band's talents and I can understand why many people like them, but it is not really my cup of tea. They did, however, make some quite good albums in the 70's, particularly the rather groundbreaking self-titled one from 1969 as well as Ashes Are Burning. What is most appealing with those albums is the band's willingness to experiment and write songs with progressive structures. On Tuscany, however, with the exception of the slightly longer opening and closing tracks, all the songs lie in the three and a half to five and a half minute range and there is little or no room for any instrumental workouts or indeed anything that goes beyond traditional song structures.

This album is definitely recommended for serious fans and collectors, but definitely not for everybody.

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