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Suzy
10-13-2003, 10:23 AM
Are there any Renaissance fans? This is another prog rock group I happen to be interested in but they always seem to be forgotten. I would really love to see Annie Haslam perform - she has done a few tracks for Steve Howe solo projects which I quite enjoy - I think a few on the Bob Dylan tribute and on friends and relatives.
spedblavio
10-13-2003, 10:31 AM
I liked them a lot, "back in the day".

I don't have any of their albums any more, wish I did, but my wishlist is pretty long. Annie Haslam: amazing!
Suzy
10-13-2003, 10:37 AM
I need to change my tapes into CD's - might have a music shopping spree next month!! My favourite is A Song For All Seasons and Turn Of The Cards!! I think those are on my pretty extensive wishlist to put onto CD - I think Steve Howe's new album and Robert Plant's compilation CD come first though!!
yesiam
10-13-2003, 10:44 AM
Annie is painting now and she lives near Philly! : )


http://www.anniehaslam.com
Erdy1
10-13-2003, 12:07 PM
All I have are the 2 compilation CDs - the "Tales of 1001 Nights" parts 1 and 2. About have the material on them I love (esp. Can You Understand, Running Hard, Black Flame, Trip to the Fair, Can you Hear Me, Touching Once), the the other half I don't care for, and as a result have not yet purchased any of their actual studio albums. Of course, the fact that my Amazon.com wish list is over 70 CDs long already and I only have $20/month to work with has something to do with this as well...

Here's your chance to give me some recommendations! Which of their albums are most likely to appeal to a diehard prog fan? I'll add them to the list :)
PO
10-13-2003, 12:17 PM
I have only one release (Sheherezade). We have a female vocalist in our Prog band. We like to do extended works of the Prog bands out there.

What would be the "Awaken" or "Gates of Delerium" equivalent of the Renaissance songs? Something that many of the Renaissance fans would just LOOOOVE to hear.

Also, perhaps a gem Renaissance song that rarely got played like "Turn of the Century" or "To be Over"?

Is there a quintessential Renaissance song? Thanks!
Suzy
10-14-2003, 08:26 AM
In answer to Erdyl - if you like Black Flame and Running Hard the two essential albums for you to buy are Turn Of The Cards and A Song For All Seasons.
Suzy
10-14-2003, 08:57 AM
In answer to the masterwork pieces that should be played:

Opening Out from Song for all seasons
Running Hard from Turn of the cards
Trip To The Fair
Song For All Seasons - these are the good long epics

A short and sweet song would be I Think Of You - Turn of cards

Jekyll and Hyde is not bad from Azure d'Or
Also Can You Hear Me from Novella

I do think that the best tracks are from Turn Of Cards and Song For All Seasons though and it is tough to decide which to play as all the songs on these two albums are very good!! I quite like the folkiness of Things I Don't Understand from turn of cards - this is one that I dont think has been played much live!
Erdy1
10-14-2003, 09:00 AM
Thanks, I'll add them to the list!
Suzy
10-14-2003, 09:01 AM
no worries
Thoughtbecontact
10-14-2003, 11:11 AM
I was a very, very big Renaissance fan back in the days, too. I always thought of their epic song as "Mother Russia," which is about the writer Alexander Solzenitzyn (sp? here, sorry). In addition to the songs which have already been mentioned, I particularly like Ocean Gypsy and the title track from Ashes are Burning.

One of the best double bills I ever saw was Al DiMeola opening for Renaissance--I think it was back in 1978--at the Uptown Theater in Chicago. Great, great show!
Bluetailfly
10-14-2003, 11:27 AM
Great Thread Suzy - I have been wanting to listen to Rennaisance again for quite a while now. It is hard to find their recordings, and I appreciate your suggestions here. I was most familiar with the Live double album form Carnegie Hall which was pretty popular in the early 80's. I always liked Mother Russia and Sheherezade, Ocean Gypsy, and the pure pop of Carpet Of the Sun. Got to see them when they came to my school Penn State in the early 80's - I don't remember exactly the date.
Suzy
10-14-2003, 12:37 PM
There is an album called The Other Woman by Renaissnace with a different singer who is actually very good - can't think of her name but it is also worth having - it is not the classic renaissance sound but a good album and I actually prefer the version or Northern Lights on it!
PO
10-14-2003, 02:46 PM
Great! I'll look into this.

Paul
Purple Wolfhound
10-14-2003, 08:33 PM
Originally posted by paostby
Is there a quintessential Renaissance song? Thanks!

For me personally it's always been Things I Don't Understand from Turn Of The Cards, but the ones that others have mentioned are of equal epic quality. One that I think also bears mentioning of recent vintage is One Thousand Roses from the album Tuscany, which was released in 2000.

The best site I've found for all things Renaissance is Northern Lights, whose web address I've posted here on other threads before, and I'll post again:

http://www.nlightsweb.com/
STARRSHIP TROOPER
10-14-2003, 08:45 PM
I have 2 albums in my collection don't remember why I bought them so I'll need to find a rainy day to play them to refresh what was their appeal.
Starrship Trooper
swib
10-14-2003, 09:07 PM
Hi All,

I have a video of them in concert from a long time ago.

Anyone interested they can send me a blank vhs tape and I can send them a copy .

Diane