TALES OF 1001 NIGHTS VOLUME 1

it says a lot about the way record company executives thought about their once popular progressive rock acts that, as late as 1990, a group like Renaissance, who once filled major arenas around the world, had nothing available on compact disk. This, the first of two volumes, helped to fill that void.

I must say that Annie Haslam has one of the purest, and most beautiful voices in all of progressive rock. This collection underscores that position. From song to song, the clarity and power of her vocals is just wonderful.

The collection covers the early years of Renaissance's career. Since the first few albyums were released on Capitol Records, this set, on Sire, uses the live versions from "Live At Carnegie Hall" instead of the studio recordings. That's really the only flaw, as that album, at least the mix used here, was not all that well recorded.

Otherwise, the album shows the band at it's peak, and contains a good mix of their most popular as well as some of their best songs.

This, and volume 2 are a good starting point for a Renaissance exploration.