PROLOGUE

The first album of 2nd Renaissance is a good Prog album played by a good band (Tout, Haslam, Hendry, Camp, Sullivan) without Mick Dunford that is present only as songwriter. Musically this album is still similar to 1st Renaissance album and not only because are present 2 McCarty/ Tatcher penned song. Strange or not strange "Prologue" is another hybrid, at the end.

I wrote that "Prologue" is an hybrid between 1st and 2nd Renaissance. It is not difficult to recognize because I have wrote this sentence. Primarly because McCarty wrore two songs that have all the atmospheres of 1st Renaissance. "Prologue" is a Dunford penned song. Good for Annie Haslam debut in a Renaissance album, also if Annie not sing but vocalize. "Kiev" is a McCarty/ Tatcher penned song. A great song "Kiev" is. But it is a song sung by male voice by Camp and Annie is present only in chorus vocal lines. This song have a strange mix in musical lines: from mix between POP and R'n'B to psychedelia, from Proto Prog to symphonic Rock but in general is a song in the style of 1st Renaissance. A great song, not usually for 2nd Renaissance. "Sound Of The Sea" is a simple song for Annie Haslam voice and John Tout piano. Extremely symphonic, "Sound Of The Sea" is a great symphonic POP song 100% Prog. "Spare Some Love", a Dunford/ Tatcher penned song, present a good musical line a la Cressida but with more aggressive treatment and more Rock writing. "Bound For Infinity" is the 2nd McCarty/ Tatcher penned song in "Prologue", is another technical song with hard atmospheres and Folk melody. In a certain sense this song is similar to a Yes song in an acoustic version. The last song of "Prologue" is "Rajah Khan", a song penned by Dunford, with the presence of VCS3 virtuoso Francis Monkman of Curved Air. This song present an Arabic melody similar to East Of eden music but with less boldness because too less arabic. In VCS3 intro and solo the musical style is similar to Pink Floyd. this song present another vocalize by Annie Haslam.

In definitive "Prologue" is another mix between 1st and 2nd Renaissance but played by 2nd Renaissance. The final result is a great album, also if not immortal.