RENAISSANCE

Technically considered a proto-prog, we all know the effect their hard-rock cover of The Supremes' monster hit, "You Keep Me Hanging On" had on the rock and pop world as well as the tremendous respect the rock world had for long- time journeymen, bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice (Cactus, Beck Bogert & Appice; Bobby & The Midnights, Boxer, Rick Derringer; Rod Stewart, King Kobra, Blue Murder, et al.), but not a lot of people know the overreach of excess that was this band's sophomore album, The Beat Goes On, or the triumph of innovation that was this album, Renaissance.

1. "The Sky Cried - When I Was a Boy" (7:41) opens with quite the bombastic barrage of sound--and not just rock instrumentation but LOUD storm noises and more--while all four musicians flail away with their volumes turned up to 11. The sound recording is not great (especially on the drums) but then what engineer and tape could tame and contain this kind of barrage? The theatric, impassioned lead vocals of Mark Stein are reminiscent of The Animals' Eric Burdon as well as many of the hard rockers to come, including those of Grand Funk Railroad, Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath. (14/15)

2. "Thoughts" (3:32) a powerful song using two vocalist in the alternating way that Uriah Heep, Grand Funk, and others would do, I'm told these lyrics are equally moving. (9/10)

3. "Paradise" (6:04) B-movie horror soundtrack organ opens this one before inane Killing Eve theme music bass and vocalese join in. It's really not until 2:20 that the song kicks into full rock form--and it's a killer--one that THE ANIMALS and ARGENT would be quite proud of. Then it reverts to cinematic theater for a church choir vocal section before exploding into the hard rockin' chorus of the title. The final minute has the band winding down into a more subdued vocal part. Interesting and creative song! (9/10)

4. "That's What Makes a Man" (4:29) opening like a FOCUS song from one of the Dutch band's early albums. Mark Stein enters as the music softens, singing sensitively in his higher-pitched almost-falsetto register. The bridge to the multi- voiced chorus is a great build with heavily distorted guitars and swelling organ chords What a well-crafted, perfectly- constructed rock song! So many hard rock bands will benefit tremendously for the example of this song and album! (9.25/10)

5. "The Spell That Comes After" (4:32) a song credited to Frank Zappa album artist Calvin Schenkel and Frank Zappa protogé, Essra Mo(w)hawk. (Will the real author please stand up!). It opens with quiet, syncopated high bass notes, gradually joined by gentle strains of organ and higher-pitched vocalese notes giving the soundscape an eerie and misty feel. At 1:45 the band finally bursts into its full rock motif--another one that previews so many dramatic hard rocking prog-related bands in the near future like URIAH HEEP, IRON MAIDEN, GRAND FUNK RAILROAD, MOUNTAIN, HUMBLE PIE, and even Andrew Lloyd-Weber's rock operas (Jesus Christ Superstar). (9/10)

6. "Faceless People" (6:07) the pensive opening 90 seconds feels based on a familiar riff/construct from classical music, but then the rock juju can no longer be contained and the band bursts forth with a nicely complex, if somewhat ragged (drums and electric guitar) motif. Still, it's not till the end of the third minute that any singing enters--and then 30 seconds later Vince Martell is encouraged to take his dirty distortion guitar to another level: launching into a very nice solo for about 20 seconds. Then we return to the rock motif for more of Mark Stein's vocals, but in the sixth minute we are privileged with a side tangent that seems to re-engage the classical side of these artists training bass for a very cool instrumental and choir finish. (8.875/10)

7. "Season of the Witch" (8:47) here the band shows how their own particular vision of how a song should and could sound still drives them as they rock/psych out for nearly nine minutes on this Donovan song (which in Mr. Leitch's catalogue was originally only three-minutes long). The song opens with another 90 second intro speckled with subtle, individual note and sound contributions in an attempt at creating a mysterious mood. This is augmented when the singer, organ, bass, and drums join in, not really changing the sparse cave-like feeling, only adding their own elements--until the choruses when they ramp it up to full rock power (though never as heavy as they did on their previous songs). Then there is the sixth minute in which Mark Stein recites some poetic theater with some great acting chops. The theatrics go well on into the seventh minute, even when Mark returns to "singing" around the 6:40 mark. The band's extreme efforts are pretty effective but never really totally persuasive--though their "failure" could have more to do with the shortcomings of the original song (which had never really impressed me in the first place). Anyway. Kudos for the attempt! It is fairly entertaining! (17.75/20)

Total Time 41:12

A great rock album that for well qualifies in the "proto-prog" category. I can definitely see how and why these musicians were in demand after the breakup of this band: they're really skilled professionals.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of skillfully composed and executed proto-prog that I think all prog rockers would enjoy; it's a true "blast from the past"!