SCHEHERAZADE AND OTHER STORIES

I have mixed feelings about Renaissance. On the one hand, it is impossible to deny that this band contained lots of talent in both the song writing department and in the instrumental and vocal departments. The voice of Annie Haslam is characteristic and distinctive. Overall, I find this music mostly pleasant and enjoyable, but as with most other albums by this band, it somehow fails to impress me. I think that this might be primarily because of its strongly Classical nature. To my ears, this is closer to Classical music than it is to (progressive) Rock. Classical grand piano and acoustic guitars remained the core of the Renaissance sound, with drums and electric bass being the only typical Rock elements still present. This creates an overly bombastic sound and I often get the feeling that they are just playing along with sheet music. There is very little room for any of the instruments to breathe. There is no spontaneity and no surprises. All this together with the pure and untypical (for Rock) female lead vocals somehow makes the music of Renaissance less than fully satisfying for me.

Good, but (like almost all other albums by this band) not essential

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