Eclectic Prog
United Kingdom
As the YARDBIRDS were disintegrating, most of the attention was focused on their guitarists Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page and the what lay in the future for them. But for progressive rock fans, the real interest will be what the remaining members would do. Singer Keith Relf and drummer Jim McCarty will assemble a new group - RENAISSANCE - and make drastically changed musical orientation mixing folk influences with rock and classical music. Another ex-YARDBIRDS bassist Paul Samwell-Smith will produce the band.
Their first album called "Island" will create the mould for all succeeding record that band will make. The group will also comprise Jane Relf (Keith's sister) John Hawken and Louis Cennamo. They will disband after a second album that only got released at the time in Germany. Relf will then join MEDECINE HEAD, Cennamo will join STEAMHAMMER then Both will form ARMAGEDDON for one album. Then in 76 , most of the original line-up of RENAISSANCE will regroup to attempt to pick-up where they had left off in 71 but Keith died electrocuted while rehearsal. The remaining members carried on, managing to find the same spirit of those earlier RENAISSANCE days but they did add an electric guitarist. By that time the second RENAISSANCE line-up had done six or seven albums and the two groups sounded much alike, but the public did not pay much attention to the newcomers. So they folded after two albums. Recently, ILLUSION released a new record.
Hugues Chantraine, BELGIUM
ALBUMS:
1978 - ILLUSION
This album doesn't mess with the formula of Out of the Mist, and in that sense, fans will not be disappointed. The material is generally just as strong and the sound perfectly represented in the album's cover of a white bird flying high in the air. "Madonna Blue," a definite highlight, comes from the same breathtaking mold as the similar 7-minutes-or-so opener on the debut, "Isadora," with Jane Relf and Jim McCarty once again providing blue-sky harmonies. "Never Be the Same" has a sweet-tempered folkiness to it and its chorus bears a striking resemblance to that of Genesis' "Inside and Out." "Louis' Theme" and "Wings Across the Sea" represent additional highlights and are both excellent. On "Louis' Theme," Jane Relf turns in another exquisite solo performance, her voice gliding compassionately over bassist Louis Cennamo's compelling, moody cycling on bass. "Wings Across the Sea" captures the windy freedom of "Face of Yesterday," with Relf's vocals like a warm blanket thrown over the listener on a dead winter night. Apart from "Madonna Blue," though, the 'rockier,' electric songs unfortunately do not match the heights of earlier albums, especially the weak "Cruising Nowhere." This album succeeds far and away at the softer material, as represented in the aforementioned.
Still, this is a more than worthy follow-up. If good ol' 70s prog-pop is a viable proposition to you and you stumble across the two-for-one CD that combines this with Out of the Mist, then you've got yourself a no-brainer there. Don't pass it up. Sadly, this would prove to be the end of the line for the band, as their two releases were simply the right albums in the wrong place and the wrong time. The album was released in the U.K., where it was crushed under the dominant weight of punk, but not released in the U.S., where it might have had a fair shot at making some ripples to keep the band afloat. The band managed, however, to record some final demos, posthumously released on the CD Enchanted Caress.
Musicians
- Jim McCarty / vocal, acoustic guitar, percussion
- Jane Relf / vocal
- John Hawken / piano, synthesizers, mellotron, Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes
- Louis Cennamo / bass
- John Knightsbridge / electric and acoustic guitar
- Eddie McNeil / drums, percussion
1. Madonna Blue (6:46)
2. Never Be the Same (3:18)
3. Louis' Theme (7:41)
4. Wings Across the Sea (4:49)
5. Cruising Nowhere (5:01)
6. Man of Miracles (3:27)
7. The Revolutionary (6:15)
Total Time: 37:17
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