AZURE D'OR

The end is beginning. Sadly the band is following the path that will lead to the only two albums released in the 80s. And it's a good thing that they released only two.

This is still a listenable album but without any highligh and with clear anticipations of the poor things to come.

Some decent songs are "Golden Key" and "Forever Changing". On "Friends" we can hear the high-volume bass as in the good old times, but it's the only remarkable thing of this song.

"Jekhyll and Hide" is a first touch of what Camera Casmera will be. Annie's voice is plastic. On "Only Angels Have Wings" it seems to be listening to Kayak or Caravan. Not a bad thing, but it's a fact that they are no longer the Renaissance.

Only the last track "The Flood At Lyons" has the mood and the arrangement of the best times.

Taken alone it could be a three stars album, but they are Renaissance, a band that has released a serie of masterpieces until just a couple of years before. Was it an attempt to renew the sound, or to make their major happier while the times were changing? Or is it only the end of Dunford's creative inspiration that started to appear in the previous album?

Whatever it is, if you don't know Renaissance yet you may like it. Who knows their best albums can't be not disappointed of this one. Not as bad as the very poor two successors but I can't give it more than two stars. Not poor but neither good if we think to the previous standards of the band.