Renaissance
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.
© Bruce Eder /TiVo
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Ashes Are Burning
Rock - Lançado por Capitol Records em 1 de jan. de 1973
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A Song For All Seasons (Remastered & Expanded Edition)
Rock - Lançado por Esoteric Recordings em 1 de mar. de 1978
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Novella (Remastered & Expanded Edition)
Rock - Lançado por Esoteric Recordings em 1 de jan. de 1977
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Live Fillmore West and Other Adventures
Progressive Rock - Lançado por Repertoire Records (UK) Limited em 28 de out. de 2022
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Prologue
Rock - Lançado por Capitol Records em 1 de jan. de 1972
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Illusion (Remastered)
Rock - Lançado por Repertoire Records em 1 de jan. de 1971
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Delane Lea Studios 1973
Progressive Rock - Lançado por Purple Pyramid Records em 3 de fev. de 2015
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Live at the BBC - Sight & Sound
Progressive Rock - Lançado por Repertoire Records em 14 de dez. de 1999
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50th Anniversary: Ashes Are Burning: An Anthology Live In Concert (Live, Keswick Theatre, Glenside, PA, 12 October 2019)
Progressive Rock - Lançado por Esoteric em 30 de abr. de 2021
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Novella
Rock - Lançado por Cherry Red Records em 1 de jan. de 1977
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Azure D'Or (2022 Remaster)
Rock - Lançado por Esoteric Recordings em 1 de jan. de 1978
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Symphony of Light
Rock - Lançado por Symphonic Rock Recordings em 22 de mai. de 2013
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Live at Fillmore West 1970
Rock - Lançado por Repertoire Records (UK) Limited em 8 de abr. de 2022
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Camera Camera
Progressive Rock - Lançado por Repertoire Records (UK) Limited em 1 de jan. de 1981
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A Song for All Seasons
Rock - Lançado por Cherry Red Records em 1 de mar. de 1978
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Tales of 1001 Nights, Vol. 1
Rock - Lançado por Cherry Red Records em 1 de jan. de 1990
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Azure d'Or
Rock - Lançado por Cherry Red Records em 1 de jan. de 1979
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A Symphonic Journey (Live at the Keswick Theatre)
Rock - Lançado por Symphonic Rock Recordings em 13 de dez. de 2021
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Time-Line
Progressive Rock - Lançado por Repertoire Records (UK) Limited em 1 de jan. de 1983
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The Legacy Tour 2022
Rock - Lançado por Symphonic Rock Recordings em 16 de out. de 2023
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Tales of 1001 Nights, Vol. 2
Rock - Lançado por Cherry Red Records em 23 de mar. de 1990
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