The Renaissance Zone

I don't think anybody here dislikes them for being serious else we wouldn't be Renaissance fans. The discussion early in the thread was simply speculation over what stopped them from greater success. Always thought the dead serious approach to songwriting was at odds with Annie's personality but it's alright because she poured heart and soul into the songs regardless.

^ Same with the first tune on side 2 - Camp is OUTSTANDING on the bass but it goes into a poppy sort of swing groove. Distant Horizons is a goodie !! And Annie looks pretty foxy on the cover (I think.....)

Edited by Tom Ozric - December 19 2018 at 17:04

Well at least you folks appreciate Time Line for what it is. I suppose the disappointment is how much ‘better’ it could have been. Only Richard the IX is lame for me. Camp makes up for his lyrical weakness with, as always, stellar bass playing. And yes, Flight is a beauty.

Tom Ozric wrote: Random statement......I still enjoy Time Line. Can’t see why it’s so allegedly ‘poor’ .....

Well Tom, the band plays well and Annie still sings great on it. Imho, its the weak songs on Time Line that causes the album to suffer. Not the fact that the songs are "pop" or "commercial". Jon Camp was a very trite lyricist at times and some of his worst were on that particular album, unfortunately.

Edited by SteveG - December 19 2018 at 11:59

kenethlevine wrote: rogerthat wrote:  A good example of how a bad (should I say lousy) recording can absolutely wreck perception of a performance. I found this same performance elsewhere in good quality audio.  This - and pretty much the entire concert - has Annie and the band pulling out all stops but if you listen to the vid above, you would hear a trainwreck.  Somebody's even left a comment asking if anything's in tune.  Turns out nothing's wrong with the performance, but everything possible with the recording.  Guess Peter Barron was the drummer here, and he did some wonderful work throughout the show, very lively. does the other version of the same performance omit the very powerful last few minutes as well?

It's the full song and right where this video ends, the audience keeps clapping mid song, probably overwhelmed by the intensity of Annie's singing. She really gets the intensity right in this one, which I don't think even the studio cut quite had. The encore is yet another incredible rendition of Ashes are burning. Heck, I really dislike Fairies and I enjoyed the performance of that song in this show because the band performed it with so much gusto. Must have been so demoralizing for them to play the heck out off the songs on the stage and still find themselves sinking commercially. On a more positive tone, I wish the concert would be officially released. It's one of their best shows, no kidding. Has Camera Camera the song (with Annie's looong sustained notes provoking audible gasps from the crowd) and she even nails the screams of Jigsaw, later giggling and admitting that this one does tire her out a bit. You wouldn't notice any tiredness from the audio!

rogerthat wrote:  A good example of how a bad (should I say lousy) recording can absolutely wreck perception of a performance. I found this same performance elsewhere in good quality audio.  This - and pretty much the entire concert - has Annie and the band pulling out all stops but if you listen to the vid above, you would hear a trainwreck.  Somebody's even left a comment asking if anything's in tune.  Turns out nothing's wrong with the performance, but everything possible with the recording.  Guess Peter Barron was the drummer here, and he did some wonderful work throughout the show, very lively.

 A good example of how a bad (should I say lousy) recording can absolutely wreck perception of a performance.

Apparently, at least one of Annie's roles at the Strawbs 50th is to sing Sandy Denny parts in some of the oldest songs.

I still haven't watched the DVD with orchestra but my impression from the download was that it sounded much more subdued than it FELT at the show

Edited by kenethlevine - December 15 2018 at 21:16

I remember seeing them do those two tracks back in 2010 or so, will be great with the orchestra of course