More Renaissance... I didn't cover the first two in last year's retrospective primarily because they weren't part of the thrift shop LP collection that was dropped. One could easily make the argument that this Renaissance has little to do with the band that reemerged on Prologue. All 5 members here are not on that album, a whole 3 years later. But musically there is a lot of similarity. For 1969, Renaissance's debut is just as groundbreaking as King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King. This isn't a psychedelic era holdover or a hedge bet with heavy rock. In fact, if one wants to understand how best to utilize piano in a progressive rock setting, Renaissance's debut may be the best place to demonstrate that. It is this aspect of the band's sound that was carried forth, even if the members were different. 5 long complex tracks, never tedious, and many great ideas. A landmark album.
Ironically, ex-Yardbirds founder Keith Relf, along with bassist Louis Cennamo, went back the other way and formed Armageddon, as heavy a prog/hard rock band as you could find in 1975. Cennamo had previously joined Steamhammer on their almost-Krautrock Speech album, which formed the basis for Armageddon's sound.
Ownership: CD: 1995 Repertoire (Germany). Jewel case release with a 2 page historical retrospective of the band, not so much the album itself. Comes with 2 bonus tracks, both from their 1970 single. Picked this up in a Renaissance CD collection buy in 2016, and that was my introduction to the album. I've never owned it on vinyl, and at this point, probably will stick with this CD.
1/19/16; 8/2/22 (new entry)
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