RENAISSANCE

I am totally new to Renaissance. I had heard about them but never checked them out. Well I have started to buy their discography from an end and therefore I will start by reviewing this their debut album.

I must say I was totally blown away by this album the first time I heard it. On repeated listening my awe has not lessened. This is a downright fantastic album. I didn´t know music like this was created in 1969. I don´t remember listening to anything like this from that time before. Prog rock dominated by classical piano and both male and female vocals. It´s very symphonic and the mood to my ears are like another of my fave bands Genesis. Renaissance are far more skilled as musicians than Genesis were in their early days though. The piano player John Hawken is a very competent musician. He knows his way around the piano. The bass player Louis Cennamo is clearly jazz schooled. Even though Renaissance´s music isn´t in that vein, he manages to put his mark on the album. The rest of the musicians are very good too. The vocals from Keith and Jane Relf are beautiful and powerful.

The music is very varied going from classical inspired rock to more bluesy prog rock. The male and the female vocals of course helps to the diversity. I understand that this the first incarnation of Renaissance and that they after their sophmore album split and that the lineup for their third album was completely different than on the first two. Since the second incarnation is the most famous one, I can´t wait to listen to albums from them, when this is so great. This is just my style of music.

This is highly recommendable to any prog rocker. A very essential album to the genre. Masterpiece.