ROCK GALAXY

'Rock Galaxy' is a very special compilation of Renaissance. It's a very economic package that includes their fith studio album 'Turn Of The Cards', released in 1974 and their sixth studio album 'Scheherazade And Other Stories' released in 1975, on only one package. This is a very interesting compilation because it includes two absolutely indispensable musical works of the band at a cheap price, which would be a very worth purchase, at the time, for those who didn't have both studio albums individually. It follows the same pattern of their previous compilation 'In The Beginning', released in 1978. 'In The Beginning' includes the first two albums of the second Renaissances' incarnation, their third studio album 'Prologue', released in 1972 and their fourth studio album 'Ashes Are Burning', released in 1973.

'Turn Of The Cards' and 'Scheherazade And Other Stories' are two absolute indispensable musical works of the band. They're also, in my humble opinion, the two best albums released by Renaissance. We can even say that all those four albums, 'Prologue', 'Ashes Are Burning', 'Turn Of The Cards' and 'Scheherazade And Other Stories' are the four best works from the second Renaissance's incarnation. However, they're also better than the two debut studio albums released by Renaissance's first incarnation, 'Renaissance' and 'Illusion', released in 1969 and 1971, respectively.

As I've already reviewed these two albums previously on Progarchives, in a more extensive way, I'm not going to do it again. So, if you are interested to know, in more detail, what I wrote about them before, I invite you to read those my both reviews. However, in here I'm going to write something about them in a more short way. So, of course, I'm not going to analyze them track by track, as I did before, but I'm only going to make a global appreciation of both albums.

'Turn Of The Cards': As 'Prologue' and 'Ashes Are Burning', 'Turn Of The Cards' is also a great Renaissance's album. In a certain way, 'Turn Of The Cards' is a kind of the second part of 'Ashes Are Burning'. In reality, there was little development from 'Ashes Are Burning' to 'Turn Of The Cards', and musically both albums are very close. For me, a darker version of Renaissance emerged on 'Turn Of The Cards' and so, I think this album is the darker and heavier version of 'Ashes Are Burning'. When I reviewed 'Prologue' and 'Ashes Are Burning', I wrote that 'Spare Some Love' from 'Prologue' and 'On The Frontier' from 'Ashes Are Burning' are the weakest points of those albums. Sincerely, on 'Turn Of The Cards' I can't see any weak points on this album, while it's true that 'I Think Of You' and 'Cold Is Being' aren't as good as the other four tracks, but, in my opinion, they're better than the other two tracks of those albums. So, although not as good and bright as 'Scheherazade And Other Stories', 'Turn Of The Cards' is, in my humble opinion, a much more mature, uniform and balanced album than both previous studio albums, 'Prologue' and 'Ashes Are Burning'. Still, I can't feel on it the same force, quality and originality of 'Sheherazade And Other Stories'.

'Scheherazade And Other Stories': I have a vinyl copy of 'Sheherazade And Other Stories' since it was released, and during many years, it was the only album from the band that I possessed. Still, it's nevertheless true that this wasn't the only album that I knew from them, in those times. In reality, I also knew very well their third and fourth studio albums 'Prologue' and 'Ashes Are Burning'. However, 'Scheherazade And Other Stories' always was my favourite work from the band, and it always had a very special place into my heart. Even now, that I own almost all of their musical works, it still remains so. Sincerely, I'm perfectly convinced that 'Scheherazade And Other Stories' is, in reality, an extraordinary album and it's also one of the most representative progressive rock albums from the 70's. I'm even also convinced that Renaissance is probably the most symphonic classic progressive rock band that ever existed and one of their best representatives. I think it has a very special place into the progressive rock. 'Scheherazade And Other Stories' is, for sure, one of the best progressive albums ever released and 'Song Of Scheherazade' is certainly one of the best classic progressive rock suites ever recorded. Concluding, no progressive rock collection is complete without this album.

Conclusion: 'Prologue', 'Ashes Are Burning' and 'Scheherazade And Other Stories' were my first contacts with Renaissance's music and 'Prologue', 'Ashes Are Burning', 'Turn Of The Cards' and 'Scheherazade And Other Stories' are the four best studio albums from Renaissance. They belong to the best period of the band, their golden era. However, I still consider 'Scheherazade And Other Stories' their best studio album and their only studio masterpiece and 'Turn Of The Cards' their second best release. If you have both albums already, you don't need this compilation, unless you have a collector vinyl spirit. In this case it will be a great addition to your collection, if you can find a lost copy. Still, if you don't have both albums yet and you own this compilation, it substitutes perfectly well the two original albums. But, if you don't have yet, these two albums, you must buy both, urgently. So, I'm going to rate it with 4 stars.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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