RENAISSANCE - Ashes Are Burning (1973-1991) APE (image+.cue), lossless

With electric guitarist Andy Powell sitting in on the title track, Renaissance delivered its best, and first fully formed album, mixing Russian, French, and Indian influences in musical settings that are both lively and elegant. The title track is one of the few lengthy progressive-rock pieces of the era that holds up, and the rest of the material runs the gamut from folk ("Carpet of the Sun") to Impressionist ("At the Harbor"), all of it hauntingly beautiful and enlivening. Reissued in 1993 by One Way Records, with excellent sound. by Bruce Eder

Tracklist:

1 Can You Understand 9:51

2 Let It Grow 4:11

3 On The Frontier 4:54

Music By – McCarty

4 Carpet Of The Sun 3:34

5 At The Harbour 6:50

6 Ashes Are Burning 11:24

Guitar – Andy Powell

Credits:

Acoustic Guitar – Michael Dunford

Bass, Vocals – John Camp

Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Terence Sullivan

Keyboards, Vocals – John Tout

Vocals – Annie Haslam

Written-By – Thatcher, Dunford (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 6)

RENAISSANCE - Turn of the Cards (1974-1994) APE (image+.cue), lossless

The third album by this incarnation of Renaissance was a match for their previous success, Ashes Are Burning, with equally impressive performances and songwriting and a few new musical twists added. The songs here fit more easily into a rock vein, and the prior album's folk influences are gone. Turn of the Cards rocks a bit harder, albeit always in a progressive rock manner, and Jon Camp's bass and Terence Sullivan's drums are both harder and heavier here, the bass (the group's only amplified instrument) in particular much more forward in the mix. This change works in giving the band a harder sound that leaves room for Jimmy Horowitz's orchestral accompaniments, which are somewhat more prominent than those of Richard Hewson on the prior album, with the horns and strings, in particular, more exposed. Annie Haslam is in excellent voice throughout, and finds ideal accompaniment in Michael Dunford's acoustic guitar and John Tout's piano. The writing team of Dunford and Betty Thatcher also adds some new wrinkles to the group's range -- in addition to progressive rock ballads like "I Think of You," they delivered "Black Flame," a great dramatic canvas for Haslam and Tout, in particular; and "Mother Russia" is a surprising (and effective) move into topical songwriting, dealing with the plight of Alexander Solzhenitsyn and other victims of Soviet repression (you had to be there in the 1970s to realize what a burning issue this was). And then there were the soaring, pounding group virtuoso numbers like "Things I Don't Understand," which managed to hold audience interest across nine or ten minutes of running time. by Bruce Eder   

Tracklist:

1 Running Hard 9:34

Composed By [Opening Piece Of Running Hard] – Jehan Alain

2 I Think Of You 3:05

3 Things I Don't Understand 9:29

4 Black Flame 6:25

5 Cold Is Being 3:01

Composed By – Albinoni

6 Mother Russia 9:19

Credits:

Acoustic Guitar [Acoustic Guitars], Vocals – Michael Dunford

Arranged By [Musical Arrangements By] – Renaissance 

Arranged By [Orchestral Arrangements By] – Jimmy Horowitz

Bass Guitar, Vocals – John Camp

Composed By – Betty Thatcher, Michael Dunford

Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Terence Sullivan

Keyboards – John Tout

Vocals – Annie Haslam

RENAISSANCE - Scheherazade and Other Stories (1975-1994) WV (image+.cue), lossless

This album was the group's magnum opus in the perception of many onlookers and fans, and it still plays well, though its flaws are more evident than they were at the time. The "Song of Scheherazade," really a suite for the group supported by the London Symphony Orchestra and a chorus, started with guitarist-composer Michael Dunford, who had a personal fascination with the medieval literary work Tales of 1,001 Arabian Nights, and was realized by Dunford and his composing partner Betty Thatcher, with bassist Jon Camp and pianist John Tout. The piece, really nine sections assembled together, was one of the more ambitious works to come out of the progressive rock boom -- it fits together nicely and does have some gorgeous passages and many lyrical, powerful sections, although it also seems slightly repetitive, overstaying its welcome somewhat; additionally, it never uses the orchestra quite as effectively as one senses it might have, for anything except embellishment. Less ambitious and more completely successful are "Ocean Gypsy," "The Vultures Fly High," and "Trip to the Fair" on side one, all relatively unpretentious pieces which feature extraordinary singing by Annie Haslam. by Bruce Eder  

Tracklist:

1 Trip To The Fair 10:51

2 The Vultures Fly High 3:04

3 Ocean Gypsy 7:05

Song Of Scheherazade (24:37)

4.1 Fanfare

4.2 The Betrayal

4.3 The Sultan

4.4 Love Theme

4.5 The Young Prince And The Princess As Told By Scheherazade

4.6 Festival Preparations

4.7 Fugue For The Sultan

4.8 The Festival

4.9 Finale

Credits:

Acoustic Guitar, Vocals – Michael Dunford

Arranged By – Renaissance 

Arranged By [Orchestral Arrangements] – Tony Cox

Bass, Vocals – John Camp

Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Terence Sullivan

Keyboards, Vocals – John Tout

Lead Vocals – Annie Haslam, John Camp (tracks: 4.3)

Producer – David Hitchcock, Renaissance 

Written-By – Betty Thatcher, Tout (tracks: 1, 4.1, 4.6, 4.7, 4.9), Camp (tracks: 4.2, 4.4, 4.6, 4.9), Michael Dunford