Lost/Forgotten Album #235

[Jon]

This week's selection is "Turn Of The Cards", the 1974 release from Renaissance. It's the first time an album from Renaissance has been featured on CRB, but it's not the first time a song by Renaissance has appeared. 

This album reached #94 on the US charts in '74, but the first time I heard of this band was with the followup album, "Scheherazade And Other Stories", which my brother had. Since I was listening to country back then, I thought that album was weird and also thought my brother was weird.

It would be many years before I actually listened to Renaissance and by then I no longer thought they were weird. Even though they weren't hard rock/metal, I found myself really liking the prog/symphonic/folk rock mix as well as Annie Haslam's voice. I also found this album cover fascinating, thought I really can't pinpoint why.

Now for the bio, courtesy of allmusic.com:

"The history of Renaissance is essentially the history of two separate groups, rather similar to the two phases of the Moody Blues or the Drifters. The original group was founded in 1969 by ex-Yardbirds members Keith Relf and Jim McCarty as a sort of progressive folk-rock band, who recorded two albums (of which only the first, self-titled LP came out in America, on Elektra Records) but never quite made it, despite some success on England's campus circuit.

The band went through several membership changes, with Relf and his sister Jane (who later fronted the very Renaissance-like Illusion) exiting and McCarty all but gone after 1971. The new lineup formed around the core of bassist Jon Camp, keyboard player John Tout, and Terry Sullivan on drums, with Annie Haslam, an aspiring singer with operatic training and a three-octave range.

Their first album in this incarnation, Prologue, released in 1972, was considerably more ambitious than the original band's work, with extended instrumental passages and soaring vocals by Haslam. Their breakthrough came with their next record, Ashes Are Burning, issued in 1973, which introduced guitarist Michael Dunford to the lineup and featured some searing electric licks by guest axeman Andy Powell. Their next record, Turn of the Cards, released by Sire Records, had a much more ornate songwriting style and was awash in lyrics that alternated between the topical and the mystical.

The group's ambitions, by now, were growing faster than its audience, which was concentrated on America's East Coast, especially in New York and Philadelphia -- Scheherazade (1975) was built around a 20-minute extended suite for rock group and orchestra that dazzled the fans but made no new converts. A live album recorded at a New York concert date reprised their earlier material, including the "Scheherazade" suite, but covered little new ground and showed the group in a somewhat lethargic manner. The band's next two albums, Novella and A Song for All Seasons, failed to find new listeners, and as the 1970s closed out, the group was running headlong into the punk and new wave booms that made them seem increasingly anachronistic and doomed to cult status.

Their '80s albums were released with less than global or even national fanfare, and the group split up in the early '80s amid reported personality conflicts between members. During 1995, however, both Haslam and Dunford made attempts to revive the Renaissance name in different incarnations, and Jane Relf and the other surviving members of the original band were reportedly planning to launch their own Renaissance revival which, if nothing else, may keep the courts and some trademark attorneys busy for a little while."

Now the album review, courtesy of allmusic.com:

"The third album by this incarnation of Renaissance was a match for their previous success, Ashes Are Burning, with equally impressive performances and songwriting and a few new musical twists added. The songs here fit more easily into a rock vein, and the prior album's folk influences are gone. Turn of the Cards rocks a bit harder, albeit always in a progressive rock manner, and Jon Camp's bass and Terence Sullivan's drums are both harder and heavier here, the bass (the group's only amplified instrument) in particular much more forward in the mix. This change works in giving the band a harder sound that leaves room for Jimmy Horowitz's orchestral accompaniments, which are somewhat more prominent than those of Richard Hewson on the prior album, with the horns and strings, in particular, more exposed. Annie Haslam is in excellent voice throughout, and finds ideal accompaniment in Michael Dunford's acoustic guitar and John Tout's piano. The writing team of Dunford and Betty Thatcher also adds some new wrinkles to the group's range -- in addition to progressive rock ballads like "I Think of You," they delivered "Black Flame," a great dramatic canvas for Haslam and Tout, in particular; and "Mother Russia" is a surprising (and effective) move into topical songwriting, dealing with the plight of Alexander Solzhenitsyn and other victims of Soviet repression (you had to be there in the 1970s to realize what a burning issue this was). And then there were the soaring, pounding group virtuoso numbers like "Things I Don't Understand," which managed to hold audience interest across nine or ten minutes of running time."

Turn Of The Cards

1. Running Hard
2. I Think Of You
3. Things I Don't Understand
4. Black Flame
5. Cold Is Being
6. Mother Russia

Availability: Around $11 new.

 

[RJhog (Admin)]

Definitely a cool album cover.

[Scott]

[Scott]

Pell likes this so I went in with an open mind.  The ivory ticklin' that opens the record sounded great, really great and then she started singing.  I cant quite place it, Judy Collins with hints of Grace Slick from Airplane.  Released in 1972 and sounds better suited for the 60's, maybe a band with a summer of love hangover?

Then theres the music, and you know it has really cool moments and it has really not cool moments, theres an Up With People feel at times, renaissance, some Jim Steinman, some early prog, and even some ooey-gooey pop.  But it feels long and drawn out, even on the short tunes!

Glad I listened though, because I know Mikey likes it!

[RJhog (Admin)]

Thoughts:

Did I mention that I really like the album cover?

Running hard is a nice piece.  Especially the piano intro.  A bit long, but then again, most prog is.

I Think Of You is a beautiful song.  Her voice is very, very soothing.  

I'm digging the atmosphere of the album so far.

Oh man, the dual vocals on Things I Don't Understand are outstanding.  Again, her voice just soothes my soul.

The middle portion of the song pretty well kills the momentum.

Black Flame keeps the atmosphere going.  Almost haunting in a folk kind of way.  

Cold Is Being does nothing to diminish the vocal beauty of this album.  Nice, sparse accompaniment.

While I do like the military drum beat in Mother Russia, it's probably the least interesting song here.

Overall, this was a very nice pick Jon.  I've noticed this band on Amazon before and I've thought about investigating, but I'm just not into prog enough to justify it.  But this was enjoyable.  Definitely an epic feel to the album.