Renaissance: Scheherazade and Other Stories.

Whilst I never found the epic overblown, I also didn't find it THAT interesting vis a vis a Supper's Ready or CTTE or Echoes.  And those are among the few 20 minuters I like.  I usually like prog in the 7 to 15 min length rather than the epics, so that's just me.  And also, with it being an epic, there's too much music in Scheherazade and not enough of vocals. On the other hand, I love all the other three tracks, from the delightful Trip to the fair to the melancholic but soothing Ocean Gypsy to the slightly defiant Vultures Fly High. This is really where the band and Annie in particular really come into their own for me.  Not the previous two albums were lacking per se but from Scheherazade onwards, I sense a step up in the band's confidence and it stayed that way for the next two as well. Which is probably why most of the band members, barring Sullivan who names Ashes as his favourite album, pick this phase (Sch-Novella-SFAS) as their favourite.

^ I love all the music in the title track from the Fanfare to the Fugue to the Festival Preparations!

Edited by SteveG - September 04 2018 at 13:15

Trip To The Fair and Ocean Gypsy over the title track.

I do love the title track... for the first 12 min... once that vocal section ends (and actually the song seems to end there), I do loose interest in the rest... it's just that instrumental, orchestral sections mostly without the band, it doesn't work for me. The final section, where the band comes back, is great once again, but the momentum was already lost. There's a few other epic songs that seem to suffer a similar fate for me, having just about half of it being really great, but feeling over-long or not cohesive enough.

They had better and more interesting songs. Just because it took up a whole side doesn't necessarily make it superior to other songs. And parts of it are moody and bland, waiting for the orchestra to do something.

Edited by Boojieboy - September 14 2018 at 15:52

Micky - That image icon looks like a classic Austin, TX musician who's name escapes me at the moment.

Cool! I'm not familiar with his music - yet - but know about a lot of other Texas musicians and bands.

Edited by Boojieboy - September 14 2018 at 16:05

Is it just me or does anybody else think that Trip To The Fair sounds like something that Julie Andrews might sing in Mary Poppins?