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Renaissance - Prologue CD (album) cover

PROLOGUE

Renaissance

 

Symphonic Prog

3.77 | 528 ratings

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Warthur
Prog Reviewer
4 stars A bizarre little album, resulting from a period of total chaos in the Renaissance lineup, sees a group of entirely new performers on the record - none of whom wrote any of the songs performed! All the songs on here were either composed by Jim McCarty or Michael Dunford, with lyrics by band lyricist Betty Thatcher; Jim had left Renaissance never to return by this point, whilst Dunford had joined after the completion of Illusion, then left before the recording this album, before rejoining after this one (they coaxed him back by having him guest on electric guitar on Ashes Are Burning, before he bowed to the inevitable and became a full time member by the time of Turn of the Cards).

This, then, is a transitional album that sits partway between the classical-influenced symphonic prog of the former lineup and the folk-tinged symphonic rock of the classic lineup. The biggest difference between the sound here and the one which would be unfolded on Ashes are Burning is that Rob Hendry plays electric guitar - adding a roaring solo to spice up Spare Some Love - whilst Michael Dunford would tend to use the acoustic guitar during the classic Renaissance period.

The standout performances from here are from John Tout, whose piano work keeps everything hanging together from the start of the title track to the very end of the album, and of course Anne Haslam, who proves herself to be both a capable successor to Jane Relf in those sections of the album that are reminiscent of previous Renaissance albums and a powerful vocalist in her own right.

Indeed, it's Haslam's magnificent voice which really helps things come together and blast the previous incarnation of the band into history, because whilst the vocals on their first two albums were just fine, they weren't on Annie's level. Bound For Infinity, without her vocals, be a mere filler piece; it's her vocal performance which saves it, and a lesser vocalist wouldn't have been able to do so much with it. That said, it would only be on subsequent albums that Haslam would be able to work with material that was tailor-made to take best advantage of her vocal capabilities.

As well as feeling clearly transitional when compared to what Renaissance would produce on subsequent albums, Prologue also risks feeling a little dated next to what other prog bands were doing at the time - perhaps because of the reliance on material cooked up for the old band, they feel like they still have one foot in that more psychedelic-oriented era of prog from 1969-1970, and not so much in the more polished and advanced era which was being showcased on the 1972 output of Yes, Genesis, or Gentle Giant. (The Indo-Prog-inflected Rajah Khan heightens this.)

Really, the album is as much an epilogue as a prologue, drawing a line under the previous era of the group. It's perhaps best to consider this new Renaissance a different band who happens to have the same name and some sensibilities in common with the band that made the self-titled album or Illusion - clearly they thought of themselves that way, since archival live releases have shown that as early as 1973 the band would be putting on live sets which included no pre-Prologue material whatsoever.

After the mayhem that had engulfed the band and transformed it into this completely different lineup, this album was crucial - had it bombed, I can't see how the band could have continued. So it's fortunate for us all that it's a great success, and whilst it isn't in the top rank of Renaissance albums, I'd say it's a welcome change of course that provides much-needed consistency after Illusion, which was mostly hit-and-miss with a strong emphasis on misses.

Warthur | 4/5 |

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