Renaissance Albums from the Post-1970&#039;s Era

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Topic: Renaissance Albums from the Post-1970's Era
Posted: August 19 2020 at 14:15

^ That sounds like a good plan to me.

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Posted: August 19 2020 at 14:08

Psychedelic Paul wrote:

Cristi wrote:

I need to listen to Grandine il Vento (2013) again, and get back to this.

You won't have to go far to find it. The album's on Page 2 of this thread.

You misunderstood. I did listen to the album long ago, but I rarely listen to post 70s Renaissance. So I will try and re-listen to the album and see if it's worth a vote. OK?

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Posted: August 19 2020 at 14:04

Cristi wrote:

I need to listen to Grandine il Vento (2013) again, and get back to this.

You won't have to go far to find it. The album's on Page 2 of this thread.

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Posted: August 19 2020 at 13:42

I need to listen to Grandine il Vento (2013) again, and get back to this.

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Posted: August 19 2020 at 13:39

Politician wrote:

They all have at least some merit, but the standout for me is Grandine Il Vento – it sounds like the logical follow-up to A Song For All Seasons that the others weren't.

I totally agree, and I'm surprised that Camera Camera did so well in this poll, although it has to be said, I don't have a good past record in predicting the outcome of my polls.

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Posted: August 19 2020 at 13:22

They all have at least some merit, but the standout for me is Grandine Il Vento – it sounds like the logical follow-up to A Song For All Seasons that the others weren't.

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Posted: July 28 2020 at 05:02

^ I love the two Renaissance albums Stephanie Adlington recorded with Michael Dunford, but I'll always have a preference for Annie Haslam's inimitable original versions of any Renaissance song.

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Posted: July 28 2020 at 04:03

Blacksword wrote:

Psychedelic Paul wrote:

^ This is Stephanie Adlington's lovely version of "Carpet of the Sun" from the Michael Dunford's Renaissance album, Ocean Gypsy (1997)

There's no denying it, Stephanie Adlington did have a lovely voice. It was more 'trained' than Annie's voice, though. Annie Haslam wasn't as pitch perfect, and sounded more natural.

Annie is also connecting notes rather than just hitting them tonk-tonk-tonk staccato as Stephanie does here (as in fact lots of singers seem to do for some reason when they cover Renaissance songs). And when Annie does that with her beautiful tone, any slightly off note gets magnified.

Also, and this is a quirk of Annie that I have never worked out but she sang Carpet far better live a couple of years down the line compared to the AAB recordings in 1973. And that has been the case right until GDV. I guess she records before she has had enough time to really soak in the song.

Back to Stephanie, as I am listening again, the way she sings "See everything on its own/And you'll find you know the way" is particularly wooden.

This is how the melody is supposed to sound.

Annie's breath control is also terrific. She just sings through the "Owe everything to the day" stretch with a steady sustain on "day" while Stephanie catches a breath before that word.

Edited by rogerthat - July 28 2020 at 04:06

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Posted: July 28 2020 at 03:48

Psychedelic Paul wrote:

^ This is Stephanie Adlington's lovely version of "Carpet of the Sun" from the Michael Dunford's Renaissance album, Ocean Gypsy (1997)

There's no denying it, Stephanie Adlington did have a lovely voice. It was more 'trained' than Annie's voice, though. Annie Haslam wasn't as pitch perfect, and sounded more natural.

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Posted: July 28 2020 at 03:28

Tom Ozric wrote:

The 80’s slbums were not a disappointment, just going with the times. At least for me, it’s (mostly) about Annie’s voice and Camp’s bass playing. They both deliver on Camera Camera and Time Line. And I do treasure their 70’s run all the way.

I love Camera Camera to pieces but was seriously disappointed by Time Line. Not quite sure what went wrong there. You don't seem to see such a big gap between the two!?

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Posted: July 28 2020 at 02:19

^ This is Stephanie Adlington's lovely version of "Carpet of the Sun" from the Michael Dunford's Renaissance album, Ocean Gypsy (1997)

Edited by Psychedelic Paul - July 28 2020 at 02:20

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Posted: July 28 2020 at 02:13

Psychedelic Paul wrote:

verslibre wrote:

Psychedelic Paul wrote:

* The two 1990's albums are by Michael Dunford's Renaissance, with Stephanie Adlington on vocals.

— i.e. the ones nobody cares about. LOL

At least I cared about Michael Dunford's Renaissance enough to include their albums in the poll and I also have "The Other Woman" album on CD.

The other Woman was actually the first Renaissance album I bought. I had heard Northern Lights on a compilation album in the early 90's (can't remember the name of the album, or which version of the song it was) and went out and bought the only Renaissanace album I could find with that song on it. I didn't know anything about the band at all. So, that reworking of Northern Lights was the only version I knew for some time. The rest of the album is fairly unremarkable. I only bothered to listen to it end to end after hearing one of the early albums, some years later, then realizing that this later manifestation of the band was not the 'real' Renaissance.

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Posted: July 27 2020 at 17:07

The 80’s slbums were not a disappointment, just going with the times. At least for me, it’s (mostly) about Annie’s voice and Camp’s bass playing. They both deliver on Camera Camera and Time Line. And I do treasure their 70’s run all the way.

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Posted: July 27 2020 at 15:29

Wow! I just listened to Renaissance' Grandine il Vento (Symphony of Light) album for the first time today. What a superb album! It's a real return to creative form after their two rather disappointing 1980's albums. It's probably just as good as any of the classic Renaissance albums from the 1970's era, and it's easy to see now why the album won this poll by a comfortable margin.

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Posted: July 25 2020 at 10:32

octopus-4 wrote:

Just a thought: Grandine, Procol Harum's Novum, Wakeman's Red Planet. It's like our dynosaurs have now pissed out the music industry and in their late age are back doing the music they like. If only Emerson and Lake were still here...

I've always liked Procol Harum, and I have a couple of 2-CD compilation albums by them, although I've never quite gotten around to listening to any of their studio albums, but based on your recommendation, I'm really looking forward to hearing Procol Harum's Novum album. I'm pretty sure there's a Procol Harum tribute thread on here somewhere, so I'll take a look at that too, if I can find it.

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Posted: July 25 2020 at 10:15

Just a thought: Grandine, Procol Harum's Novum, Wakeman's Red Planet. It's like our dynosaurs have now pissed out the music industry and in their late age are back doing the music they like. If only Emerson and Lake were still here...

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Posted: July 25 2020 at 10:09

The winning album in the poll.... Grandine il Vento (Re-released as Symphony of Light)

1. Symphony of Light

2. Waterfall

3. Grandine il Vento

4. Porcelain

5. Cry to the World

6. Air of Drama

7. Blood Silver Like Moonlight

8. The Mystic and the Muse

9. Tonight

10. Immortal Beloved

11. Renaissance Man

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Posted: July 20 2020 at 00:36

kenethlevine wrote:

That's rather incredible that Bonjour Swansong was omitted from the British LP given that it was clearly an attempt to reproduce the success of "Northern Lights", which was only a hit in the UK. It was also the farewell song for Betty Thatcher, so even more inexplicable in its absence

Bonjour Swansong is my favourite song from the album, even though I only heard it for the very first time yesterday.

I'm sure it had the potential to be a minor hit if the song had ever been released as a single in the U.K.

Of the other songs on the album, I also like Faeries Living at the Bottom of My Garden.

Edited by Psychedelic Paul - July 20 2020 at 00:37

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Posted: July 19 2020 at 20:40

That's rather incredible that Bonjour Swansong was omitted from the British LP given that it was clearly an attempt to reproduce the success of "Northern Lights", which was only a hit in the UK. It was also the farewell song for Betty Thatcher, so even more inexplicable in its absence

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