How integral is Renaissance for prog listening

I prophesy disaster wrote: How integral is Renaissance for prog listening? For me, not at all. I have "Scheherazade And Other Stories" and do like the album. It kind of reminds me of Jefferson Starship. But it is not an essential part of my music collection.

Jefferson Starship? Really?

If you wanted a fairly gentle introduction to mainstream prog rock then they'd be a very good introduction band. Beyond that they're 'nice'.

they were second tier in terms of popularity in the prog world.  They sold a lot of albums in the US, particularly for a band with a decidedly "uncommercial" sound.  I think they remain very relevant because very few bands sounded like them which allows them to occupy a historic niche in prog.  Annie's voice has a lot to do with it but also the way the incorporated symphonics was different from Yes and ELP, for instance

Edited by kenethlevine - April 16 2021 at 11:18

My recommendation is to resist easy numbering schemes such as Big 5 or Top 10. Such numberings are the result of various opinions and tastes which may or may not correspond with your own. They can also be quite arbitrary. There is no reason for a band like Renaissance to bump out a band like Pink Floyd. The fact that Tull was overlooked in the original post shows the arbitrariness of such distinctions. I like to look at top 10 lists, but my interest is more about seeing what someone or group considers top 10 rather than letting them determine who should be in the list. Influence is historical and is often allied with popularity (but not always). Preference is personal. Fanboyism insists the two are the same. Look at the lists to see what other people think, let them guide your explorations, but never ever use them to determine what is important and/or enjoyable to you. 

Icarium wrote: Blacksword wrote: I'm not sure what's meant by 'important' in this context. Important to the individual listener, or important to the genre and beyond? If by important we mean that an act is highly influential inside and/or outside the genre, then I'm not sure how much emphasis I would place on Renaissance, as much as I love their music personally, and would probably rank them in my prog top 10. I don't think they are as 'important' as Floyd or Crimson or Genesis in this regard. Fantastic band nonetheless. I think both personal preferance but also but my main focus is on their reccognition and as an introduction to newcommers to progressive rock. Based just on a very recent reaction visoe whom were novices on Renaissance; directly put them in a progressive rock bracket; they listened to a random reccomended track (Mother Russia) and progressive music and progressive rock was emediatly reccogniced, and this couple were not experienced prog rock listeners at this point. I believe Ren is slightluæy below Crimson, Genesis and Yes but equal to Jethro Tull and ElP and Pink Floyd is in another ball park completly.

Icarium wrote: Blacksword wrote: I'm not sure what's meant by 'important' in this context. Important to the individual listener, or important to the genre and beyond? If by important we mean that an act is highly influential inside and/or outside the genre, then I'm not sure how much emphasis I would place on Renaissance, as much as I love their music personally, and would probably rank them in my prog top 10. I don't think they are as 'important' as Floyd or Crimson or Genesis in this regard. Fantastic band nonetheless. I think both personal preferance but also but my main focus is on their reccognition and as an introduction to newcommers to progressive rock. Based just on a very recent reaction visoe whom were novices on Renaissance; directly put them in a progressive rock bracket; they listened to a random reccomended track (Mother Russia) and progressive music and progressive rock was emediatly reccogniced, and this couple were not experienced prog rock listeners at this point. I believe Ren is slightluæy below Crimson, Genesis and Yes but equal to Jethro Tull and ElP and Pink Floyd is in another ball park completly.

No band is integral or essential. It's about personal preferences.

Blacksword wrote: I'm not sure what's meant by 'important' in this context. Important to the individual listener, or important to the genre and beyond? If by important we mean that an act is highly influential inside and/or outside the genre, then I'm not sure how much emphasis I would place on Renaissance, as much as I love their music personally, and would probably rank them in my prog top 10. I don't think they are as 'important' as Floyd or Crimson or Genesis in this regard. Fantastic band nonetheless.

I think both personal preferance but also but my main focus is on their reccognition and as an introduction to newcommers to progressive rock. Based just on a very recent reaction visoe whom were novices on Renaissance; directly put them in a progressive rock bracket; they listened to a random reccomended track (Mother Russia) and progressive music and progressive rock was emediatly reccogniced, and this couple were not experienced prog rock listeners at this point. I believe Ren is slightluæy below Crimson, Genesis and Yes but equal to Jethro Tull and ElP and Pink Floyd is in another ball park completly.

Edited by Icarium - April 16 2021 at 04:28

I'm not sure what's meant by 'important' in this context. Important to the individual listener, or important to the genre and beyond?

If by important we mean that an act is highly influential inside and/or outside the genre, then I'm not sure how much emphasis I would place on Renaissance, as much as I love their music personally, and would probably rank them in my prog top 10. I don't think they are as 'important' as Floyd or Crimson or Genesis in this regard. Fantastic band nonetheless.

I forgott to talk or include Jethro Tull in the argument of essentials; but that makes me think that i value Jethro Tull and Renaissance as equals in terms of how i view their impact. Both have a blues that transforms itself into a symph
/folk mammoth band. So i respect them equaly.