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fudgenuts64 
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 17 2013
Location: NY
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Points: 470
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 Topic: Novella: Renaissance
Posted: November 17 2014 at 05:31 |
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The first release after the widely hailed masterpiece Scheherazade and Other Stories, Renaissance came out with an album that captivates me every listen. They got the medieval feel down so well on this one. Maybe a tough listen for some, but it's one of the few albums that just has such an incredible atmosphere for me, and one of the most overlooked late 70s prog releases (as are the next two) out there. Fantastic cover art too.
Edited by fudgenuts64 - November 17 2014 at 05:31
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Tom Ozric
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2005
Location: Olympus Mons
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Points: 15916
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Posted: November 17 2014 at 05:40 |
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It's quite a majestic album. But there's something a bit 'soft' about it. I don't know - I enjoyed the albums afterwards (and before) more. Side 1 - Can You Hear Me & The Sisters - are pretty awesome, but side 2 loses me a bit, even Touching Once.
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Aussie-Byrd-Brother
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: October 12 2011
Location: Melb, Australia
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Posted: November 17 2014 at 05:55 |
Totally with you on this one, Tom. The first side is perfection, and while the second side is still good, it's just not quite as memorable. But a disappointing album? Not by any stretch! I totally adore `A Song...' and `Azure D'or' (even with it's faults) as well  Off the top of my head, doesn't `Novella' have two different covers?
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Tom Ozric
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2005
Location: Olympus Mons
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Points: 15916
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Posted: November 17 2014 at 06:00 |
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^ I have the cover that's mostly green. The other was more brown. I prefer the one I have.....
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dr wu23
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 22 2010
Location: Indiana
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Points: 20468
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Posted: November 17 2014 at 08:07 |
Need to buy Novella and Songs on cd.....have them on vinyl but I don't play vinyl much anymore. Too lazy to pull them out and dust off the old Victrola.
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One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
Haquin
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rogerthat
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2006
Location: .
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Points: 9869
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Posted: November 17 2014 at 09:56 |
It is not a particularly accessible album and I think at that time, people expected to hear more progression from Scheherazade (as Scheherazade was from Cards and Cards from Ashes). That may be why it got a bad rap and that assessment seems to have stuck. I like it about the same as Scheherazade, sometimes a little more (because I am not very much fond of the Scheherazade epic). I find Sisters almost too melancholic to digest, otherwise it's a great album. Strangely enough, neither of the long tracks nor Midas Man go for the plaintive approach they are often associated with; Midas Man is quite playful. Maybe that's not what a lot of people expect to hear when they listen to this album and it turns them off.
Another interesting thing is how Dunford incorporates a lot more guitar on this album compared to the previous ones (esp Cards and Scheherazade). Because this is what Roy Wood was also doing on Annie's solo album from the same year (though Novella was probably recorded first). Annie in Wonderland/Novella showcase Annie at her very best.
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Gerinski
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 10 2010
Location: Barcelona Spain
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Points: 5093
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Posted: November 17 2014 at 12:05 |
Honestly I do not understand why Novella is usually excluded from the "peak trilogy" of Ashes, Cards and Sheherazade. In my opinion it was not a peak trilogy but a tetralogy of which Novella still formed part (A Song For All Seasons was great but it made a turn in sound and style). Can You Hear Me and Touching Once are superb orchestral symphonic songs, The Sisters and Captive Heart are pure sonic beauty, and having to say that Midas Man is the weakest song in the album seems unfair but it is how I see it.
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verslibre
Forum Senior Member
Joined: July 01 2004
Location: CA
Status: Offline
Points: 15004
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Posted: November 17 2014 at 12:09 |
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Novella was actually my first taste of Renaissance and I love it. They could do no wrong in that time/era.
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octopus-4
Special Collaborator
RIO/Avant/Zeuhl,Neo & Post/Math Teams
Joined: October 31 2006
Location: Italy
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Points: 13355
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Posted: November 17 2014 at 13:16 |
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My first Renaissance purchase in 1977 more or less.
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Curiosity killed a cat, Schroedinger only half.
My poor home recorded stuff at https://yellingxoanon.bandcamp.com
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Moogtron III
Prog Reviewer
Joined: April 26 2005
Location: Belgium
Status: Offline
Points: 10616
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Posted: November 17 2014 at 15:26 |
Definitely one of the absolute highlights of Renaissance. A masterpiece beyond any doubt. Great sound too. My favorite song is The Sisters.
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SteveG
Forum Senior Member
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Posted: November 17 2014 at 15:40 |
Strangely, this is usually the first Renaissance album that many people are exposed to, or purchase. I guess everyone was too busy listening to ELP, Yes and Floyd up until then. 
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Rick Robson
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Joined: September 03 2013
Location: Rio de Janeiro
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Posted: November 17 2014 at 16:17 |
My first exposure was to 'Can You Understand?' - still today my very favourite from Ashes Are Burning and one of my favourites from Renaiisance. As for Novella, no doubt for me it is indeed a great album! I'm looking forward to ordering it too.
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 "Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy." LvB
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verslibre
Forum Senior Member
Joined: July 01 2004
Location: CA
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Posted: November 17 2014 at 17:51 |
 SteveG wrote:
Strangely, this is usually the first Renaissance album that many people are exposed to, or purchase. I guess everyone was too busy listening to ELP, Yes and Floyd up until then. |
In my case, the band wasn't exactly active when I first heard them.
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Tom Ozric
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2005
Location: Olympus Mons
Status: Offline
Points: 15916
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Posted: November 17 2014 at 23:12 |
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Indeed, Novella was my first purchase back around 1990. Funnily, I likened them to Curved Air.
More the fact that here was another Prog band with a female vocalist, rather than the music styling.....
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rogerthat
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2006
Location: .
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Points: 9869
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Posted: November 18 2014 at 07:58 |
SteveG wrote:
Strangely, this is usually the first Renaissance album that many people are exposed to, or purchase. I guess everyone was too busy listening to ELP, Yes and Floyd up until then. |
That might have been the case in the 70s. Now...from a young prog fan's perspective, the Ashes-Scheherazade trio is the one with the highest ratings...not only on PA but even on RYM. So there's a kind of herding towards those albums and people tend to start with either one of those. Some people in my age group wouldn't even bother checking out albums rated below 4 on RYM, so albums like Novella are presumed to be more suitable for hardcore fans and not highly essential. I think the assessment that it's one for the fans seems to be a fair one because even on PA reviews of this album by reviewers who are not all that hung up on the band (like Sean Trane) are not very favourable.
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verslibre
Forum Senior Member
Joined: July 01 2004
Location: CA
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Points: 15004
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Posted: November 18 2014 at 10:34 |
Tom Ozric wrote:
Indeed, Novella was my first purchase back around 1990. |
Damn, may have been '90 for me as well. I first heard Novella and I'd only just heard Nektar as well. That was back when KLOS 95.5FM aired Greg Stone's progressive rock show on Sunday mornings, called Stone Trek.
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Novella: Renaissance
