Renaissance – Scheherazade And Other Stories
Vinyl | LOG | CUE | FLAC | Tags | Full LP Cover (1:1)
16bit/44kHz: 280mb
Genre: Symphonic-Rock | Label: Sire Records Company / SASD-7510 | First US Pressing: 1975
Side 1
1. Trip To The Fair 10:51
2. The Vultures Fly High 3:04
3. Ocean Gypsy 7:05
Side 2
4. Song Of Scheherazade - Fanfare 2:37
5. The Betrayal 4:55
6. The Sultan 2:46
7. Love Theme 2:29
8. The Young Prince And The Princess As Told By Scheherazade 4:04
9. Festival Preparations 1:07
10. Fugue For The Sultan 2:12
11. The Festival 2:12
12. Finale 2:30
When somebody asks me about symphonic prog’ I always think of
Renaissance and specially of this amazing release, the arrangements,
chorus and Annie Hasslam’s operatic voice are unique in the musical world and represent by own right what the word symphonic should mean.
Renaissance is a piano and vocals dominated band with elaborated
arrangements but sometimes a bit light compared to most of the prog’
bands from the 70′s, not weak but softer and warmer. Using a comparison
with sports, if Genesis and ELP are heavyweights that can kill the
opponent with the first chord, Renaissance is like a middleweight, who
also needs style and elegance to win the fight.
“Song of Sheherezade” a 24 minutes epic based on the 1001 Nights, it’s
so impressive that people use to forget the rest of the album, something
unfair because this release is well balanced and all the tracks have
their own merits.
The album begins with a strange song called “Trip to the Fair” that
starts with an impressive 3 minutes piano intro with chorus and light
percussion that mixes with talent elements of different musical eras,
which is suddenly followed by the wonderful voice of Annie. Maybe the
problem with this song is that after the strong opening you expect
something more powerful, but the band changes the direction of the song
towards a softer and dreamy tune with some jazz chords that create a
traveling fair atmosphere, but with the sacrifice of the power that the
introduction make the listener expect, a good song but a bit uneven.
The second track (“The Vultures Fly High”) has a better balance, starts
strong and ends stronger, less symphonic and more rock oriented than the
rest of the album but powerful and fast, the band members show they are
capable of making good short songs.
Side A (in LP format) ends with “Ocean Gypsy” a softer song where again
Annie’s vocals are the highlight, with evident participation of the rest
of the members, this song is more predictable than all the other tracks
but stronger than the previous because makes clear that Renaissance is a
complete band, not only a piano and vocals duet.
Side B is what makes Renaissance a transcendental band, “Song of
Sheherezade”, without doubt their most elaborate work, an epic that has
everything, solid piano, good orchestra and chorus plus excellent work
of all the band, the Arabic atmosphere is perfect and the vocals not
exclusively by Annie Hasslam are amazing, if you add the spectacular
changes and sudden musical explosions you get an unforgettable
masterpiece that must be listened before reading any review.
No progressive collection is complete without this album and “Live in
the Carnegie Hall” where you can listen a more solid version of “Song of
Sheherezade” (if this is possible).
5 Stars
progarchives.com
Equipment
Vinyl rip, mastered and audio correction: Fran Solo
Direct Drive Turntable: Marantz 6170
Cartridge: SHURE M97xE (audiophile)
Edition: Adobe Audition CS 5.5 & Amadeus PRO - xACT & XLD (lossless)
Redbook Conversion: Izotope RX Advanced
Clickrepair with Izotope RX Advanced: Yes
Password: WITHOUT PASSWORD
Scans Full & Corrected LP Cover, 1:1
(All included in 300dpi: front/back - gatefold outside/inside - booklet - insert - envelope - labels, etc.): Fran Solo
Vinyl / CUE/ FLAC/ High Definition Cover - 280mb ZIP:
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