ASHES ARE BURNING

Why this band never made it commercially is beyond me. This band is just incredible and they can include myself among their admirers and fans. Why they did not outsell most other bands in their heydays is beyond me. Well, before the band did a Genesis in the '80 and became a bad copy of ABBA. When Genesis were laughing all the way to the bank, Renaissance failed.

But on this album, one of their first ones, they create an almost perfect blend of folk rock and symphonic prog. Add the strong (female) vocals of Annie Haslam and you have the Renaissance trademark sound. The melodies is driven by piano and keyboards, with some strings adding a lush sound to the mix. The result is almost heaven. Well, for the first ten minutes at least.

Can You Understand is a classic Renaissance track with all the ingredients above. Let It Grow is vocals driven and I marvel at Annie's voice. Not a good song, but Annie's voice shines like a diamond. On The Frontier is not a good song though. It is just song and no good melody. Carpet Of The Sun on the other hand is a superb song and one of Renaissance's best songs. Annie's sings like an angel and the piano driven song gets some help from some strings. Superb ! At The Harbour is a sweet little song with some sweet lyrics. Almost poetry, it is. Not one of their most loved songs, but still an interesting song. The closing title track is superb track where Renaissance are in free flow. A very good eleven minutes long tune and a more symphonic prog track than the rest of this album. This too is one of the classics in Renaissance armory. The jazz part of this tune makes any body dance, rattle and shake. A very infectious song !

I really like this album and I give it some spins now and then. Mostly when I need an emotional pick up. My brain also gets a good work out.

This album is not as strong as the Scheherazade album, but it is still an excellent addition to any prog music collection.

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