ILLUSION

If you've even been confused about the two line-ups of Renaissance and how the story played out, you need to look no further than our band page here which has a forum thread called "A Renaissance confusion" written by Joolz which spells out this complete history in full detail. This first version of the band which produced the first two albums is considered somewhat illegitimate by some fans of the famous second line-up. In a way, the feel of the albums is bit like that of the Yes discography, where those first two Yes albums are often overlooked by casual fans. And like those first two Yes albums, the first two Renaissance albums stand on their own, delivering music that by all means should appeal to Haslam-era fans and symphonic fans in general.

I prefer this second album just a bit over the debut and the music seems a little more consistent and Jane's vocals a little bit more confident. There's plenty here to enjoy for symphonic fans: long lush piano and keyboard workouts, great guitar and bass playing, and the delightful vocals of Jane Relf. While perhaps not as technically note perfect as Haslam, I actually prefer Relf's singing voice as I find it less dry and just as suited to the music. The album has two short poppier tracks (Love Goes On, Love Is All) that may have been made for radio and granted these will seem silly and dated to young ears. They have a clear hippie, period feel to them though I've come to enjoy them. The other 4 tracks range from 6 to 14 minutes in length and vary from average to quite impressive on the quality scale. "Golden Thread" may be my favorite with John Hawken's phenomenal piano playing and lovely classical melodies. "Face of Yesterday" is more of the same, very beautiful singing with great bass playing. On the 14 minute "Past Orbits of Dust" they are perhaps their most experimental trying out slightly jazzy guitar and bass parts and some spacey jamming. They will also throw in some hand percussions, vocal experimentation and wrap them in a heavier package.

On the recording and creation of this material original bassist Louis Cennamo would recall "We were just pushing the music in any way that we could.it was very creative and we were free to take the music in nearly any direction we wanted. John's classical training was the basis but the rest of us explored any ideas that added to the sound. John and I worked very hard to add many new interpretations to the melodies and ideas that Keith and Jim brought to the rest of the band. Some of their ideas were quite developed when they brought them to us but some were not. So, John and I were free to create the kind of elaborate melodies that were so integral to the sound of Renaissance. Other times, everyone would just experiment and we'd test any and all ideas that came to us. The band was getting on quite well and we were developing a strong bond and admiration for one another. It was a beautiful time really -- one which I look back fondly on. [Louis Cennamo] I find the quality of the music on "Illusion" as beautiful, varied, and interesting as the stuff that would come later though to be fair I've only heard some of the Haslam-era stuff. The Renaissance Records CD issue features pretty good sound quality for the period along with a band history. 8/10

Share this RENAISSANCE review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Finnforest
• Report this review (#169050)
• Buy RENAISSANCE music online with PA partners
• Show all RENAISSANCE MP3/Stream
• Go to RENAISSANCE page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Illusion page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for RENAISSANCE related discussions