OUT OF THE MIST

Each prog fan has a selection of singular songs that somehow affect them in a long term way, sometimes upfront (like "the Knife"), sometimes obscure little gems that go sadly unnoticed. This Renaissance offshoot was a short lived "Illusion" that issued a few albums and suddenly exploded into tattered shreds. That keyboardist (and one of my favorites) John Hawken went to huge fame and small fortune with the suave the Strawbs, decorating their proggiest albums with sublime grace and elegance is a known fact, but Eddie McNeil on drums , guitarist Knightsbridge and bassist Louis Cennamo sort of vanished in the meantime. Both leaders Jane Relf and Jim McCarty went on to lead their lives away from the rock limelight. "Isadora" is that song, a magnificent ode to bizarre but innovative dancer Isadora Duncan I presume, a miraculous melody that is very British, a heavenly concoction of pastoral beauty, where Hawken's fluid piano introduces a massive lyrical theme first sung by James and then blended in with wife Jane's crystalline voice. The electric guitar shrug is first utterly affecting and later dejectedly delirious in expressing the somber melancholy of this colossal piece, just enough to titillate, leaving the keys and the duet vocals do the real damage. The extended outro is the icing on the cake, a ambient, gentle refrain of the theme, fragile, limpid and delicate. A true quiet classic! "Beautiful Country "is the other stellar anthem, featuring another virtuoso performance from Hawken's piano, rippling along redolently in abating the delicious voice of Jane Relf, a haunty hushing version of Annie Haslam , expressing with conviction of a melody to expunge for. "Solo Flight" is not as the title implies the soloing spot but a faster-paced rocker that has a decidedly West Coast/ Jefferson Airplane feel, slightly psychedelic but accessible at the same time. "Everyway You Go" is more like British country, a slight folk, sing along at the pub feel (without the superlative playing though) that is quite pleasing. "Candles Are Burning" is a second mini-epic, though not as successful as the masterful first, it still has its merits supported by achingly effortless vocals, massive blasts of fabled mellotron. By the end, the consensus is obvious on a good album, with a couple of superb tracks. One in particular, that Bugatti-scarfed Isadora. 3.5 optical chimeras