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Renaissance - Ashes Are Burning CD (album) cover

ASHES ARE BURNING

Renaissance

 

Symphonic Prog

4.26 | 875 ratings

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Tarcisio Moura
Prog Reviewer
5 stars Itīs hard to write a straight review about an album that has been largelly responsible for my love of prog music. When I first heard it when I was 15 it really blew my mind. I couldnīt believe my ears by the piano introduction of Can You Understand. And I had never found such a singer like Annie Haslam. A beautiful voice, with an amazing range and technique, she sounded like an angel (she still does!)

The album itself, now I see, is very much acoustic: Piano, Harpsichord, organ, acoustic guitars, drums, percussion. Aside from Wishbone Ashīs Andy Powell guitar solo at the end of the title track, the only electric instrument here is the bass guitar, marvelously played by Jon Camp. Still, you donīt miss anything. The music is more prog then folk, as some might have perceived. The use of orchestral arrangements on two tracks are very tasteful and very welk done.The musicians are really outstanding, they go from a simple ballad like Let It Grow to the jazz-rock-classical jam at the end of Ashes Are/Burning without any trouble.

HIghlights? For prog lovers, Can You Understand and the title track. Great epics with everything one should expect from a band of this caxliber: swinging moods, fantastic keyboards, incredible bass lines, and so on... for the ones who aprecciate more quiet sutff, At The Harbour is one fo the most moving songs of the entire prog world (even though its piano introduction is really a stealing from Debussy). The softer side of the band comes with Carpet of The Sun (fine orchestration!) and the ballad Let It Grow (simple and yet effective). Only On The Frontier seems to be a weaker track, but it is nice anyway.

On all tracks the voice of Annie Haslam soars: she is a league on her own. The best female singer ever!

Ashes Are Burning is a classic, an essential masterpiece of music in any sense. And one of the top five prog records (or any other music style) in my life.

Tarcisio Moura | 5/5 |

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