A SONG FOR ALL SEASONS

Once a friend of mine held a radio show and, of course, I was supporting him. Good for me. One of the songs (and bands actually) I learned from his shows was the opening track of this album. Literally, it captivated me instantly. It was the haunting melody, the superb voice, I don't know what else. It is one of my favourite songs, ever. Naturally I went searching for the entire album and I finally got it. On Day of the Dreamer I realized why Rennaisance fall into the prog firmament. Wonderful and numerous changes, magnificent orchestrations, superb instrumental section (I say nothing of the vocals because I came to know that Annie Haslam is one of the best singers ever) everything does its bit to build a quality song which we could also consider as the sequel of Opening Out. Its ten minutes go by in a flash. Closer Than Yesterday is more pastoral and simpler, but wonderful nonetheless. On Kindness (At the End) Jon Camp takes on the lead vocals and it is a wise choice. The intro alone comprises of a number of changes before Jon starts singing the poignant lyrics. As always the orchestrations and backing vocals are sublime. Side B begins with Back Home Once Again which is similar to Closer Than Yesterday and although it is very pleasant, it is not as engaging as what has preceded. She Is Love sounds a bit "strange" to my ears, a bit "consonant". It separates itself from the rest of the album, it is truly different, but it doesn't enthuse me that much. Jon Camp has mentioned in an interview that the song was meant to be sung by Annie Haslam but the instruments were recorded in the wrong key for her voice and he had to step in. Northern Lights is the album's catchiest song (no wonder perhaps that it reached No. 10 on the UK Singles Chart). The band seems determined to set the record straight and they close the album with the title-track where they flex their prog muscles for good this time. It should be stressed that it is the only song where all members, except Annie Haslam, contributed to the music. The intro alone is pretty much hard to follow. Then the usual rich orchestrations accompany Annie's interesting vocal melodies and the song is carried this way until its ten minutes are gone. The longer tracks on this album are clearly the most interesting ones.

So, this was my introduction to Renaissance. I owe a lot to this friend of mine.