RENAISSANCE

And symphonic prog in the line of Renaissance oldies.

Yes in comparison to some of their latest .."pop prog albums"....a real advance.

But well years pass....and the product can,t be (or is difficult to be)as good as the ones in the best of times....Scheherazade,Turn Of The Cards,Ashes Are Burning....

Annie Haslam vocals got tired...composition inspiration not as good... instruments playing not so genial...

Mostly all the songs are like opera little arias ....Haslam s voice now is more operaness......but in general boring songs..not inspired...

So some things of the best Renaissance...but don t expect long masterpieces of the old times.

2,5 stars for me.

Annie Haslam has one of the most wonderful voices within modern popular music, with probably only Maddy Prior able to still command such a powerful range and clear tone for over thirty years. The band seem content to work together to provide the perfect backdrop, which allows Annie to let her voice soar. They perform their one 'hit' "Northern Lights" as well as a cover of "Moonlight Shadow" but such is the quality of the music that even someone who doesn't know any of the songs will enjoy it immensely the very first time. When Annie decides to sing high she really does, so that the listener just can't believe what they are hearing.

The only way to describe some of this music is that if angels were on earth then they would sound like Annie. When the band get the chance to stretch as they do on the second CD they also prove that they have a great deal to offer and it is to their credit that they don't try to overpower Annie at any time. The production is top class and this is an album of great beauty and majesty that I heartily recommend.

Originally appeared in Feedback #71, Dec 02

With Roy Wood assisting on bass (I am sure that he and Annie were/are married) a new album has been recorded that captures all of the majesty of the old days. Annie Haslam has a classical voice that many have tried to emulate but few have managed, and while it is her vocals that give the band their unique sound this is very much a joint effort with all of the songs co-written by Annie and Michael. Songs such as "Dolphins Prayer" show what Enya has been trying to do for so long, but has never managed to take it to this level.

I have heard many Renaissance albums and am glad to be able to say that this is one of their best. Welcome back guys.

Originally appeared in Feedback #65, Dec 01

First up, Grandine Il Vento is a hopelessly out of date, out of fashion collection of tracks. While Renaissance have added a whole slew of influences new to their sound, these are treated in fairly generic ways so that there is effectively not much of originality in here. There's a bit of Yes (Cry to the World), a bit of Genesis (interlude of Symphony of Light is strongly reminiscent of Dancing with the Moonlight Knight), a bit of Broadway/old pop by whatever name called (Air of Drama), some African sounds (Porcelain) but it's new for reason only that it's on a Renaissance album and not necessarily stuff you haven't heard before.

But that can hardly be news to a Renaissance fan. Renaissance have always focused on a sound, on a fondness for certain styles (classical/folk) rather than an unique compositional voice. As in the 70s, now too Renaissance basically fill a void. There must not be many bands out there with a sound that is grand and orchestral but more or less totally devoid of electric guitar and I don't know of any other. A more cynical interpretation would be that there are no takers for this sound. There are plenty of female singers in prog and even some female musicians now but a female fronted band with a mellow, acoustic set up is for whatever reason held as too sissy to suit the masculine, muscular norm of prog (even if nobody may actually express such a view) and generally disdained, except by Renaissance's loyal fans.

So, yeah, it may be staid and stately and sunny, as usual, and it's just another Renaissance album. Or, not quite. There are two things that have changed since the 70s. Firstly, the energy level. While the recording of this album produces a fuller sound and the drums are arguably better and punchier, the album overall misses the verve that Renaissance could regularly produce in the 70s to break the tedium of slow moving, mellow music. Think something like the opening minute or so of Can You Hear Me or the "Pa pa pa" vocalise of Touching Once. If there's a pulse to this music, I can't feel it. Then again, Renaissance albums are notoriously slow to grow on the listener and if I change my mind about this, I shall certainly rewrite the review.

The other thing that's changed is the lyrics. While I was never fond of Betty Thatcher- Newsinger's lyrics, her words had an enigma, a mystery and pathos that played into Annie Haslam's strengths as a singer. In a sense, her words epitomized Annie's personality on stage. Almost girlishly chirpy between songs but a picture of intense, trance-like concentration during the performance. Renaissance always had a positive vibe during the 70s and were yet melancholic and enigmatic. All this, I feel now, reflected possibly Annie's emotions coming through in her singing. On the other hand, Annie's own lyrics for this album tend to be straight up, uninteresting (for me) and mostly in third person. She writes about Da Vinci, waterfalls, the wind and Africa and not much about herself. In the 70s, Renaissance's frequent first person interludes provided soulful relief from the world of Buddha and Hobbits. In 2013, their muse (pun intended) merges with that of the general retro prog niche. Even the way the long tracks are structured is more like generic symph prog than Renaissance's own 70s work (a similarity further strengthened because keyboards are used to recreate what might have been orchestral layers). Yeah, back in the world of adventures.

I am not a retro-prog enthusiast but I love listening to great singers and, certainly, Annie. So that forgives much when it comes to an album I am not super enthusiastic about, musically. Annie's voice may have aged and her powers somewhat diminished (the title track especially is a pitchy affair) but in times where the art of singing has been increasingly disdained and neglected, it's sheer aural pleasure to listen to her majestic yet smooth and elegant presence in chest voice notes. Oh, she can still go pretty high in head voice, don't worry. By dint of her own lyrics, she has not given herself enough meat to work with, emotionally, but it is still a fine, tasteful demonstration of clean singing at its best.

For that reason and because the album is overall solid in spite of its derivative nature, I give it 3.5 stars not rounded to 4 in order to differentiate it from their 70s work. This is a notch below those albums but better than Azure D' Or for sure (imo). If you are a Renaissance fan, you surely need it. For the rest, it's worth a try but not necessarily an essential addition to your collection.

The middle two tracks, 'Vultures Fly High' and 'Ocean Gypsy,' are great in their own right. The former is short, but is filled to the brim with energy and some heavy bass lines and wild piano playing, while the latter is built on strong vocals from Annie and a melody which is probably an allusion to Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2.

But the real meat of the album is in the two longer songs that bookend the album. 'A Trip to the Fair' is one of those perfectly crafted songs. Its structure is diverse, yet easy to grasp after only a few listens. It opens with some lengthy free piano work before settling into a nice little theme upon which vocals eventually enter. There is also a nice little jazzy interlude in the middle which contrasts nicely with the classical nature of the whole song. Perhaps what I like most is the perfect balance between repetition and newly established ideas throughout.

The title track is a whopping 25-minute, and acts as more of a suite of smaller songs, but still works flawlessly as a whole. There is a lot going on in the song, but the melodies are easy to get a grasp on due to the relatively simple, and dare I say catchy, nature of some of them. So in no way is the song overblown due to its size like many other lengthy prog songs are. Furthermore, the orchestral arrangements are absolutely stunning to the point where they more than justify the label of Symphonic Prog.

I truly believe this album challenges some of the greats of classical composers in terms of arrangement and sound, but with a more rocking inflection. Melodically rich, and lush in atmosphere, this is a must have for Symphonic Prog fans.

9/10

I think the first and the last song is those most worth listen to. "Touching once(is so hard to keep) is the best with harmonic vocals(and dramatic) and after the singing the group surprises us with warbling and later an orchestra. "Can you her me call your name" is also very special, I like when they go from louder to quieter moments and the little crazy and fast intro. "Midas man" has an interesting text about a man with taste for gold. It contains nice acoustic guitar. "The captive heart" is a beloved love song with harmonies in the refrain.

As I mentioned before this is very nice music and perhaps it will grow for me and I will explore its inner beauty but now it's too sweat and unsharp. But this music is special. It's not folk prog even if the lyrics and vocals sound like that and it's not ordinary symphonic prog rock. A more precise definition could be progressive symphonic folk rock (with a wide definition of rock). I would be most content with the rating "good but not essential" but with the addition "closer to four than two".

In The Land Of The Rising Sun is a live album recorded in Japan in 2001. The band was touring in support of the then just released Tuscany album which saw the return of Annie Haslam for the first time since the early 80's. The line-up caught performing here consists of Haslam on lead vocals, Michael Dunford on acoustic guitar, Terence Sullivan on drums, David Keyes on bass, and no less than two keyboard players in Mickey Simmonds and Rave Tesar. They (re)create a full band sound.

There are several songs taken from the Tuscany album the best of which is Lady From Tuscany. While that studio album was not very impressive, these new songs work rather well here in the context of the many older songs. On disc one there are several songs that certainly will be recognized by anyone familiar with the band, including Carpet Of The Sun, Midas Man, and Northern Lights. Also there is a cover of Mike Oldfield's Moonlight Shadow which easily could have been a Renaissance song and fits the band's style perfectly. However, though this version is good enough, it adds nothing of value to the original. On this disc we also get to hear two songs from Annie Haslam's solo album The Dawn Of Ananda. The first of these is Precious One which for me is the low point of the whole show. The second one, Ananda, has an Oriental feel and is not bad.

From a Prog perspective it is however disc two that hold the most value. Here we get excellent renditions of such classics as Mother Russia, Trip To The Fair, and the epic Ashes Are Burning. Overall, this is a nice live album proving that Renaissance had lost little or none of their power as a live band.

Basically, the strength of Renaissance mk-i is the music, especially their mix of genres and the way the musicians play. Whereas, the strength of Renaissance mk-ii is the vocals. I can see where there is potential to offend fans of Jane Relf with what I just said, but the thing that stands out to me immediately in Renaissance mk-i is the music. They are much more heavily influenced by 60s American psychedelic rock and play with a lot more bounce and energy in general than the Dunford-led mk-ii (also a much greater reliance on syncopation). I can see why they would appeal a lot more to fans of 70s prog rock generally while it takes a measure of patience with folk-classical pretensions to enjoy mk-ii. Indeed, some fans of mk-i describe the original Renaissance as a band of and for hippies.

However, this romantic association with flower power is perhaps not entirely accurate. Make no mistake, mk-i does still have its similarities with mk-ii. I don't know about the views of ex-members of mk-i on this but members of mk-ii have at times referred to the new band as more a continuation of the original one than a clean break.

This is most evident in the role of piano in mk-i. As in mk-ii, it is the dominant instrument rather than guitar. There is also the tendency to break into long sections of music that get pretty close to outright classical quotations. On the more vocal-oriented tracks Island and Wanderer, the music serves as a rousing intro before giving way to a fairly generic verse-chorus routine. Again, pretty much like mk-ii, except mk-i run all this through a rock filter. So, make no mistake, guitars do play a much more prominent role on this album than on any mk-ii album and are quite frankly a lot more delicious. Maybe I notice this especially now because I have been listening to a lot of guitar driven rock lately but it is yet another aspect that would appeal to 70s prog rock fans in general and can be immediately recognised as germane to that 'sound'.

On mini-epics Kings and Queens and Innocence, this version of Renaissance pretty comprehensively distinguish themselves as compared to mk-ii. From a left brained prog geek point of view, Kings and Queens is a delight, possessing quite an appetite for unorthodox and bold choices while remaining piano oriented. This band may not space out their instrumental sections and play them so affectionately but for cerebral interest, Kings and Queens beats out Trip to the fair or Touching Once or you name it. Of course, it's all just my opinion. ;) Innocence is a lot more nomadic and less satisfactorily resolved as is Bullets (this one especially tests my patience a bit) but the band's rocking energy carries them through.

What doesn't carry so well, for me anyway, is the vocals, especially those of Keith Relf. I can relate to them from a 60s rock perspective but if I had to listen to 60s rock, I would much rather listen to a Jim Morrison than this kind of singing. It doesn't matter so much because about two-thirds of the album is more about the music than the singing. But it just holds back these tracks from standing out from the crowd a little more.

As for Jane Relf, she readily evokes female rock vocals of the era and it is understandable, again, why fans of 70s prog would take to her style. As for me, I am indifferent; she sounds pleasant while she sings and...that's it. There are moments of really nice singing here and there but I am not sure I would listen to an album just because it has Jane's vocals on it. Again, being that I am more interested in the music on this album, it doesn't really matter.

I have to admit that circa 2013, I find this album an enjoyable affair but not especially engaging or notable for my personal interests. But I do have to consider the release date and observe that it is a pretty remarkable album for one dating back to 1969. The eponymous Renaissance debut is already full fledged prog. There's nothing proto about this and would qualify as prog even if it had been released in 1974. With that in mind and out of gratitude for nearly 40 minutes worth of rocking, I rate it a 4.

What is 'rightsized' is of course a matter of perspective. Renaissance may have cut down heavily on pomp and ambition but the results can be bland and dull without enough meat to compensate for it, i.e., catchy vocal or instrumental hooks. On this album, it is and more or less wrote the epitaph for Renaissance mk-ii (though they weren't aware of it at the time, obviously).

I am probably a bigot for not liking this because I have always felt that with a singer as talented as Annie Haslam in their lineup, Renaissance would have benefited from writing more short songs than epics. I guess in believing so, I make the assumption that these short songs would also have the infectious appeal of a pop hit. Unfortunately, in trying to make it short and sweet, Renaissance only end up sounding generic and anonymous at best and banal and, yes, dragging at worst.

A case in point is the ballad Golden Key. By this point, Annie is supremely confident in her singing craft. Where, on earlier albums like Ashes are Burning, she might have struggled to infuse drama into this sort of melody, she now unleashes a masterclass in dynamics in her characteristic unobtrusive, subtle style. Unfortunately, just as she beautifully builds up the chorus, the band head into - you guessed it - yet another of their 'time wasting' sections of music. It is hard to fathom what purpose an interlude that consists of re-iterating a dull keyboard motif is supposed to serve but there it is. If you hang on till the very end, Annie conjures up a solid finish. But this track more or less sums up the problems of the album.

Annie is in equally lustrous form on Forever Changing or Kalynda but while these songs might have fairly beautiful tones, the actual notes are, I am afraid, pretty banal and unappetizing. But 'rockers' Secret Mission and Jekyll or Hyde don't even give her the width to emote that the ballads do and they come and go without making much of an impression. Only Winter Tree has something of the appeal of Northern Lights to my mind and is the only unqualified highlight off this album for me.

Neither the band's approach nor that of the producer's helps matters much. There is just not enough energy on the rockers nor, strangely, much feeling in the quieter or more poignant moments. While Flood at Lyons sounds too much like Running Hard initially, it has some potential and is similar to Yes's attempts to write more radio-ready music. But it just sounds rather flat to me and despite some good singing (again) is rather unremarkable.

In interviews of more recent vintage, Annie has said she doesn't really like the album and acknowledges it as the beginning of the decline, as the point where they began to listen to 'others' instead of trusting their instincts. All possibly quite true but it's water under the bridge. Renaissance lost their contract with Warner Bros and John Tout and Terence Sullivan soon after and, until their recent revival through successful tours of the American North East, were more or less a closed chapter.

The lyrics of Golden Key inadvertently capture their predicament after the commercial failure of this album: "Turn off the golden key, company machine/Sell his identity, spin their golden dream". With Azure D' Or, Renaissance lost something more than just the prospect of commercial success: their identity. I give it 2.5 stars but won't round it off to 3 as I cannot really find enough to like here to make a recommendation.

Ocean Gypsy features re-recorded, acoustic versions of classic Renaissance songs by Michael Dunford's Renaissance, plus a couple of new songs in the same style. One could almost say that this is classic Renaissance de-Prog'd, as the arrangements have been simplified and the Rock elements (the drums and the electric bass) are absent from these versions. I have always thought that even the classic, 70's Renaissance sound was too "naked" often lacking a much needed Rock edge. Thus, I would have preferred that, instead of removing elements, they would have done the very opposite and added further elements such as electric guitars and synthesisers. This all-acoustic Renaissance is pleasant enough, but is rather tame. It further lacks the distinctive voice of Annie Haslam and features mostly tunes that we've all heard before. The new songs do not stand out.

These facts together make the present album unnecessary for all but the most ardent Renaissance fan.