TALES OF 1001 NIGHTS VOLUME 1

'Tales Of 1001 Nights Volume 1' is a compilation of Renaissance and was released in 1990. This is a compilation that includes tracks from four studio albums of Renaissanace. So, it includes one track from their third studio album 'Prologue', released in 1972, two tracks from their fourth studio album 'Ashes Are Burning', released in 1973, four tracks from their fifth studio album 'Turn Of The Cards', released in 1974, and four tracks from their sixth studio album 'Scheherazade And Other Storis', released in 1975. These four studio albums belong to what is usually considered their golden era. These four albums are also the first four albums that belong to their second and better incarnation.

''Tales Of 1001 Nights Volume 1'' has eleven track. The first track ''Prologue'' was released on ''Prologue''. This is essentially an instrumental song, despite it has female vocals, but there are no lyrics and the vocals only singing the melody. Musically, it shows the strong influence of the classical music on their work. The second track ''Can You Understand'' was released on ''Ashes Are Burning''. The song begins with a fantastic and incredible classical piano solo and the rest of the song is performed in a magnificent symphonic folk/rock style. The vocal performance of Haslam is brilliant. This song has a rare and superb electric guitar solo performed by the guitarist of Wishbone Ash, Andy Powell. The third track ''Carpet Of The Sun'' was released on ''Ashes Are Burning''. It's a simple and beautiful song with a perfect and nice orchestral work. It's a very melodic piece where Haslam offers her great vocal talents and a very nice and peaceful ambient. The fourth track ''Running Hard'' was released on ''Turn Of The Cards''. It's a brilliant piece with a strong classical influence that begins with a fantastic piano introduction. It has fine piano melodies, good drumming and is brilliantly sung by Haslam. The fifth track ''I Think Of You'' was released on ''Turn Of The Cards''. It's a very short and mellow ballad, nice and pleasant to listen to. Despite be a good song it hasn't the same quality level of the songs on that album. I think it's too much conventional and soft for my taste. The sixth track ''Black Flame'' was released on ''Turn Of The Cards''. It's a beautiful and very melodic ballad with a nice touch of medieval music. Here we have the perfect harmony between the acoustic guitar of Dunford and the piano of Tout, brilliantly performed by both. Once more we have good choral work and some beautiful vocals. The structure of the song is simple, but very interesting too. The seventh track ''Mother Russia'' was released on ''Turn Of The Cards''. This is a massive classic and sophisticated piece that combines perfectly well the clear influences of the classical Russian composers and the political vicissitudes of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a Russian dissident against the regime in the USSR. It's one of the most beautiful pieces made by Renaissance. The eighth track ''Ocean Gypsy'' was released on ''Scheherazade And Other Stories''. It's a perfect track and one of the classic songs in the Renaissance's catalogue. This is a romantic and melancholic ballad, which fits well with Haslam's voice. It has great piano work, nice guitar acoustic performance, wonderful vocal performance and a great work of the chorus. This is a song with an excellent melody and an emotional atmosphere. The ninth track ''Trip To The Fair'' was released on ''Scheherazade And Other Stories''. It's one of the best songs of the band with a fantastic and amazing piano work by Tout and a great vocal performance by Haslam. The story is about a dark tale of strange happenings at the fairground and the music provides the perfect atmospheric picture to the song. The tenth track ''The Vultures Fly High'' was released on ''Scheherazade And Other Stories''. It's an energetic song built upon a beautiful vocal harmony. It's the weakest song on that album but it maintains the high quality level of that album and the typical Renaissance's sound. It's a song with a beautiful melody and the vocal performance of the chorus is brilliant. The eleventh track ''The Young Prince And Princess As Told By Scheherazade'', is one of the parts of the suite ''Song Of Sheherazade'' which was originally released on ''Scheherazade And Other Stories''. It's among the most adventurous pieces of work they have produced. The sections come across as separate tracks at times, breaking the continuity and making the piece seem fragmented. This part has lilting harmonies, tubular bells and some wonderful flute melodies.

Conclusion: This is a great introduction to Renaissance's music catalogue, covering their career from 1972 to 1975. These albums belong to their second and best known incarnation. Despite the undeniable quality of the two albums of their first Renaissance's incarnation, 'Renaissance' released in 1969 and 'Illusion' released in 1971, these four albums are in general considered their best. They belong to what is considered Renaissance's golden era. About the tracks, they're in chronological order. They're all very well representative of the band and represent some of the best tracks of them. So, I've nothing to say against the choice made by the band. In reality, they're all great tracks. So, we may say, this is a good compilation, but non an essential purchase. We can always question the need of these compilations of progressive rock bands. They can never substitute the original studio albums. I think 3 stars is the right rating to it.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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