Release Date: 15th April 2014
Label: Red
River Entertainment
The best way to describe the music of Renaissance would
be that of symphonic prog and using the adjective majestic would fit in there
somewhere as well. The band that recorded the majority of Symphony of Light was a six piece, comprising Annie Haslam (lead
vocals), Michael Dunford (guitars), David J Keyes (bass), Rave Tesar
(keyboards), Frank Pagano (drums, percussion) and Jason Hart (keyboards) plus
some help from Ian Anderson (flute) and John Wetton (vocals).
Renaissance disbanded a few times in their existence, but
the latest reincarnation of the band has been active since 2010. They released
an EP, The Mystic and the Muse, in
that year, and then toured, playing two of their classic albums, Turn of the Cards (1974) and Scheherezade (1975), which was then
followed by the release of the CD/DVD of the tour. Symphony of Light, as mentioned, contains a tribute track,
specially written by Annie and Rave, “Renaissance Man,” to the late Michael
Dunford.
Symphony
of Light is an 11 track album with a total playing time of around
67 minutes. The opening, and title track, “Symphony of Light” is the longest on
offer at just over 12 minutes (12:08) and the last track, “Renaissance Man” is
the shortest at 3:27 minutes.
Opening tracks have a huge weight on their shoulders, as
they determine, even if subconsciously, an opinion as to what the album is
like. “Symphony of Light” (12:08) is an excellent start to this album, with the
emotional, powerful voice of Annie Haslam towering over a background of
“strings.” The starting passage is one of those that can set the neck hairs
tingling before around 2 minutes, the sound drops away to return with a chiming
bell, superb keyboards and simple acoustic guitar. Annie’s voice reappears above this enhanced background and the track
moves on and builds. A change at 4 minutes takes the track in a slightly
different direction and the tempo is “upped” by a few degrees. This then leads
back into the keyboard/guitar and that voice before a piano gently supplies a
little theme in the background and at 6 minutes the piano then gets a chance to
“show off.” A very gentle, almost classical, theme then evolves into a
“fairground” style keyboard burst before the gentler piano theme returns.
Guitar, backed by “strings” then carries the track onto a more urgent staccato
style session with sweeping piano ripples. Around 10:30 minutes, there is a
return to the earlier guitar/piano/”strings” theme with the return of Annie’s
vocal. A stunning opening track ends with just the “strings” and that superb
lead vocal.
“Grandine il Vento” (6:29), or “Hail the Wind,” is
another stunning chunk of symphonic prog, starting with a keyboard intro
heralding the entrance of the superb lead voice supplied by Annie. The
background continues to build with some majestic piano melodies and moves into
an almost theatrical, operatic style around the 1:45 minute point, which
reminded me of the recent release, Invicta,
by The Enid. This track dips and soars with some excellent phases from both
singer and keyboards and is another very satisfying track.
A continuation of the theatrical symphonic style is
apparent on “The Mystic and the Muse” (7:50), which contains all of the
previous elements, emotion drenched vocals, stunning keyboards, with a
powerful, yet unobtrusive rhythm engine, some shimmering “strings” and subtle
interjections of guitar passages, providing an atmospheric soundscape.
The final track on Symphony
of Light, “Renaissance Man” (3:27), which is the tribute track, is a very
emotionally tinged affair with subdued piano, “strings” and Annie’s voice.
“Renaissance Man” is a simple and short but very powerful tribute, which ends a
spectacular album.
Having not really kept a close eye, or should that be
ear, on Renaissance from the early albums (Turn
and Scheherezde mentioned
earlier, and the single in 1978, “Northern Lights”), this album has made me
think of returning to check out the band’s back catalogue. There are no
“fillers” on this album and I would heartily recommend Symphony of Light to anyone who appreciates symphonic prog. The
album certainly gets the “One to Buy” sticker, so try to get a listen to this
majestic album and then create a small space on your CD shelf to allow it to
feel at home.
5/5
Stars
Key
Tracks: Symphony Of Light, Grandine il
Vento, The Mystic and the Muse
Tracks:
Symphony of Light
Waterfall
Grandine il Vento
Porcelain
Cry To The World
Air of Drama
Blood Silver Like Moonlight
The Mystic and the Muse
Tonight
Immortal Beloved
Renaissance Man
Symphony of Light
Waterfall
Grandine il Vento
Porcelain
Cry To The World
Air of Drama
Blood Silver Like Moonlight
The Mystic and the Muse
Tonight
Immortal Beloved
Renaissance Man
Jim “The Ancient One” Lawson-Sr. Reviewer Prog
Rock Music Talk
July 16, 2014
Review
Provided By Prog Rock Music Talk
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