NOVELLA

A criminally underrated album. Not as good as the two studio efforts to preceed it but certainly it isn't the indication of a downward slide that most fans take it to be. The albums has a lovely mix of loud, orchestrated pomposity and brooding tones not usually heard in Renaissance's work. The Sisters and Midas Man are some of the bands best work, sounding more like a band than an orchestra (and I mean that as a compliment). Then, showing the opposite end of the spectrum is Touching Once. The song practically drips drama until it ends in one of the most stunning endings in Prog history. Group this album with those that precede it, not those that follow.