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Okay, I've looked into this very thoroughly and am satisfied that this is not in fact a long-lost Martha & the Muffins album, regardless of copious and strong aural evidence to the contrary. Whether it should be considered a true Renaissance record is another story.

Renaissance were really a mess by the time they entered the studio to record this album, and really it's not all that clear why they decided to attach the Renaissance brand name to it since the only part of the music that even remotely resembles anything like the Renaissance sound is Annie Haslam's voice. Longtime keyboardist John Tout was gone after a disastrous tour promoting the band's 1981 album 'Azure D'or' in what Haslam has described as a 'mutual decision' by her, Tout, bassist Jon Camp and guitarist Michael Dunford. Drummer Terence Sullivan whose friendship with Tout predated either of their involvement with Renaissance left with Tout in a symbolic gesture of support, and to add insult to injury the band's label Warner Brothers dropped them. It's unclear whether the band actually broke up at this point, but Dunford and Haslam did briefly form another group (Nevada) along with keyboardist Peter Gosling and recorded a handful of singles and unreleased studio tracks along with a tune for the Eurovision contest. A couple of the singles were released shortly after this album was recorded and a compilation CD managed to find its way into circulation in 2000, so it's no surprise really that Gosling found his way onto this record as well as its follow-up 'Time Line'. Journeyman drummer Peter Barron (aka Pete Baron) and Camp filled out the lineup, and longtime acquaintance Miles Copeland III gave them a shot on I.R.S. Records which was clearly the wrong sort of label for the band considering their marquee acts at the time included R.E.M., the Go-Gos and Oingo Boingo.

Jon Camp continued to expand his role as songwriter, something he began with 'Azure D'or' and would once again write or co-write half the songs on the album as his did with the prior release. And once again the tenor of the album is decidedly more New-Wavey and commercial than any of the band's earlier work. In fact, the group takes things even further down the commercial track here with rhythms that are both poppish and danceable. Also the change in keyboardist leads to an immense shift for the band as Gosling almost completely avoids the piano passages that Tout made such an integral part of the band's sound in favor of highly synthesized keyboards that more often than not sound more like laser beams and cheesy sound effects than the piano, organ and synthesized orchestral music Tout provided for the band. At times Gosling's playing sounds quite harsh; I'm not sure if this is by design or simply due to the differences in instruments. This is especially true early on in the album on the title track, 'Faeries (Living at the Bottom of the Garden)' and 'Remember'. 'Running Away From You' in particular has an almost appalling one-two dance beat, fingernails-on-chalkboard synths and insipid lyrics that are far beneath the dignity of someone of Haslam's musical stature.

And speaking of lyrics the late Betty Thatcher would be the next to sign off from the group following this album after several years filling the role of lyricist for the group. She does provide words for four tunes including a rather somber and nostalgic 'Bonjour Swansong' which was clearly meant to be a farewell to Haslam, Dunford, Camp and the band's fans.

The group seems to attempt at least a casual nod to their earlier and more progressive sound with laconic tracks like 'Okichi-San' and 'Tyrant-Tula' as well as the jerky, awkward tempo and acoustic guitar on 'Jigsaw' but in every case the songs seem unnecessarily long and lack the sort of determinate focus of the band's more seminal works.

The album does close with the seven-minute 'Ukraine Ways' that features a hopeful opening piano volley and the inkling of a synthesized orchestral movement, but too soon the thumpy bass line and 'Scandal featuring Patti Smyth' petty vocals/lyrics destroy what could have been the only decent tune on the album.

I'm sad to say that this is not a good Renaissance album, but it is what it is. Surprisingly despite the weak material and weak critical response to it the band still enjoyed a strong following and managed to crank out a few financially and critically successful tours following this release, during which the group dug deep in their vast archives for concert- worthy material. Serious fans of the band no doubt have this one in their collection so I suppose it deserves two stars, but musically it does absolutely nothing to advance the Renaissance sound or legacy and therefore rates nothing more than that, including a recommendation (and to be clear I don't recommend this one for anyone).

peace