Renaissence Turn of the Cards (1974)

From progarchives.com

Review by Joolz

Turn Of The Cards, third album from ‘Annie Haslam’s’ Renaissance, represents another evolutionary step forward, mostly in terms of arrangement, dynamics and production. They had already proven themselves capable of writing fantastic songs with wonderful melodies and extended instrumentals, sung and played almost impeccably, but those skills are now matched by an equal grasp of the black art of turning songs into ‘works of art’. Gone are instrumental sections simply grafted into songs. Here, pieces flow naturally from start to finish, encompassing melodious song and descriptive instrumental in an organic wave of crescendo and lull, often digressing along the way yet never allowed to stray far from the chosen path. If Prologue created the formula and Ashes Are Burning defined the template, then on Turn Of The Cards the band found the spark that lit a fire of creativity that lasted for the next couple of albums.

Running Hard, despite a lightness of touch, is a brooding nightmare of a song – the kind of nightmare where you endlessly run away from some personal monster that never quite manages to catch you. While Annie’s vocals are quite spooky, the music trips and skips along at a jaunty pace: you are running on a high cliff path on a windy night until you begin to feel breathless, the tension getting to be almost unbearable as the demons [piano] close in around you. Finally the welcome warmth of a friendly light brings you to your senses – accompanied by slower statelier acoustic guitars and a lovely understated bass line, your mind at last relaxes as the music builds and then fades.

After the emotional intensity of Running Hard, all you need is a pretty mid-paced love ballad with some nice friendly acoustic guitars to bring relief – I Think Of You is just that! It is followed by Things I Don’t Understand, the least successful of the four main works, simply because it is really two songs joined in the middle. The first part is pacey and jazzy, sung in a very fetching harmony with recessed male voice, but not the most memorable of melodies. The second part however, is stunning – slower and more pastoral with unvoiced singing and acoustic guitars to the fore. This is so good it makes you want to weep!

Black Flame is the potential darkness inside us all, the desire to do wrong in the name of right, the absolving of personal responsibilities in the name of institutionalised terrorism – “I’m not to blame, I didn’t see the black flame” – how often do we hear that in the 21st century? It is a poignant message, conveyed simply by another memorable melody in a reflective acoustic setting that builds to a rockier middle-8 verse and instrumental before return to the main theme to conclude.

Cold Is Being is sung solo over an organ to the melody of Albinoni’s ‘Adagio’. It is simple, eerie, spooky, its icy words send shivers down the spine – “So cold is being lonely / Behold the feeling lonely / The living part is done / The dying has begun” or later “Oh how can we believe / We earn what we receive / The pain it overflows” – sung by Annie in a voice dripping with sadness and pathos. It reminds me of Dr Zhivago, and it creates a perfect mood setting as a prelude for the majestic Mother Russia which closes the album.

In many ways, Mother Russia is a musical twin of the Scheherazade suite, the first perfect blend of band and orchestra into a single harmonious entity. It is a towering achievement, constructed around one of the most beguiling melodies ever written and sung by one of the best voices in the business. Despite the acoustic guitars, it is grand and operatic in the best sense, rising and falling from stately full-orchestra set-piece to a lovely central interlude where Jon Camp’s bass holds tension as Annie floats above. And Betty Thatcher’s lyrics are superbly evocative of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the Russian novelist who had been deported to the west early in 1974 accused of subversion against the Soviet state – his sense of loss and longing is brilliantly conveyed with lines like “Mother’s son, freedom’s overdue / Lonely man, he thinks of you”.

Turn Of The Cards is the first of three albums by a band at their peak. Only I Think Of You and the early section of Things I Don’t Understand fail to reach the heady heights of near perfection. If you fancy a dose of sublime melody sung by an angel with superbly orchestrated accompaniment you can’t go far wrong with this. Great stuff!

Renaissance Scheherazade and Other Stories (1975/2021)

From somethingelsereviews.com

This is another release of Renaissance’s classic prog album Scheherazade and Other Stories set to tantalize all the fans of Annie Haslam and company. But this one is the newly re-mastered CD/DVD expanded box-set edition, from the original first generation master tapes. And let’s just say this is from the loving touch of Esoteric Records, which, to these aged prog-loving ears, is audio nectar from a company who does care about all this wonderful music.

First, just a comment: We’re in a moment when literature and the arts are often given a Facebook frown, when it comes to actual employment possibilities. And Al Stewart’s argument that “songs and poems were all you needed” in his song “Post World War II Blues” are pretty much a relic right next to the copy of Beowulf in the British Museum. But (!) it’s important to note that the original Scheherazade (she of a fertile imagination) was well-served with her knowledge and performance of dramatic story telling – as witnessed with the epic side-long tale about a woman, who by her own wits, kept her head on her rather lovely neck. So there!

And, as my friend Kilda Defnut often says, “The more the executioner’s blade changes, the more that blade stays the same. So always keep a trigger on a pretty great story.”

That said, the sound of this re-master of Renaissance’s Scheherazade and Other Stories far surpasses the Repertoire issue from 1994. Of course, that’s no surprise. But the music is louder and more dramatic. Let’s just say – to stay with a literary vibe – that this extended look back removes several of Salome’s veils for the listener’s auditory pleasure.

But of course, this is classic progressive rock music, what with Renaissance’s rock / folk / (sort of) classical opera sound, which always showcases Haslam’s five octave vocal range. Spoiler alert: There’s not an electric guitar to be found in these grooves. But that is a big part of the charm.

The first three songs, “Trip to the Fair,” “The Vultures Fly High,” and (the absolutely lovely) “Ocean Gypsy” create melodies that waltz over the keyboards of John Tout, the percussion of Terence Sullivan, the acoustic guitars of Michael Dunford, and the always clever bass of John Camp. Then, of course, is the arrival of the main course of the album, “The Song of Scheherazade” — with big orchestral coloring.

Now, this record, to be fair, never really rocks, and it only seldom ever rolls. But that’s the Renaissance sound, with its dramatic melodies, gorgeous piano interludes, and those exquisite vocals. And, as an added tidbit of enticement to the fan, the single version of “Ocean Gypsy” is included in the package.

And then there is the new live recording that’s taken from Renaissance’s January 1976 show at Nottingham University. This is prime stuff. Odd, though, (from one prog lover to another) the intro to “Can You Understand” really does conjure Tony Banks’ opening piano bit from “Firth of Fifth.” But no matter, the tune, with that incessant bass pulse and constant classical piano simply soars with, ironically, more earthy depth than the recorded pristine version on Renaissance’s Ashes are Burning album.

Then, “Running Hard” conjures the magic of their Turn of the Cards LP – with, perhaps, a bit more burnt live show passion blowing through earthy and very human ashes. Then “Ocean Gypsy” is, quite simply, a thing of melodic prog-rock beauty. Yeah, punk rock was just around the corner, but this song is still pretty great. The same is true for the scat-vocalized “Prologue,” the title tune from the first album by this reborn Renaissance, after (and it’s a long story!) losing all original members that included ex-Yardbirds guys Keith Relf and Jim McCarty.

But history aside, there’s that main course, “Song of Scheherazade.” What’s left to say? It’s epic, it’s absolutely gorgeous – and it’s very live. And it spins, once again after all these years, to be like Genesis’ Foxtrot tune “Time Table,” which sings of a “carved oak table that tells a tale of times when kings and queens sipped wine from goblets gold.”

More importantly, with all faux prog mythology aside, “Song of Scheherazade” spins as an example of a long ago time when gifted musicians carved magic into so many extended and epic progressive rock oaken grooves. There are eternal shivers as Annie Haslam sings, “You cover darkness with a thousand secret flames.” And, yes indeed, thank you, Betty Thatcher!

This live recording from this new expanded reissue of Scheherazade and Other Stories ends with a 20-minute plus workout of “Ashes are Burning.” Renaissance gets into a piano frenzy and bass popped deep melodic orbit – even without Wishbone Ash’s Andy Powell, who was a Flying V Gibson guest on the album cut. Annie (with that five-octave range!) then lets our dear Scheherazade finally, with all neck-saving stories aside, quite simply cover the universe with a voice that can usurp the power from any young prince. He only conjures temporal powers from time to time, which will always be topped by stories and songs that evoke those (already mentioned) eternal shivers!

Now, to get all re-issue specific, this package comes with a 96 Khz/24-Bit 5.1 Surround Sound Upmix High Resolution Stereo Mix, plus a bonus video of a 1976 promotional film for “Ocean Gypsy” and “Prologue.” Well, in all fairness (again!) I don’t know about all of that. I just know that I bought Renaissance’s Scheherazade and Other Stories a long time ago for my 20th birthday, along with Caravan’s In the Land of Grey and Fairport Convention’s Full House. It was three-for-three that day. Such were the wonderful times!

I loved this record then, and even today, with its “carved oak table” grooves, Renaissance’s Scheherazade and Other Stories sings with melodic wisdom that can save the neck of any prog-loving listener in an eternal and quite shivered quest for a good story – or in this case, yet another really great song.