renaissance

This new release from Esoteric Records is Deja Vu for me & very bittersweet. I will explain. Back in 2001 when ‘Tuscany’ was originally released I had the pleasure of Annie Haslam joining me in the studio on my Saturday Show on Hastings Rock to discuss the release & play some tracks. I hadn’t met Annie in the flesh up until that day, however she was a sheer joy & we shared someone in common very dear to both of us. John Tout. John was the keyboard player for a decade in Renaissance, throughout their major success period of the 70’s when they released 7 albums. Apart from being an excellent, gifted musician, John was the first professional musician to take me under his wing & nurture my interest in the business when I first met him as a 15 year old backstage on Hastings Pier when he was a member of Ruperts People. We remained close for nearly 40 years until his untimely passing in 2015. Sadly his contribution to Tuscany on 3 tracks would be his last recordings. To that end I would like to dedicate this review to him. Its fair to say that Renaissance has had many ups & downs. After their height of commercial success in the 70’s the 80’s saw the band experiment musically & move from their successful prog/symphonic rock sound to a more synth pop vibe with albums such as ‘Camera Camera’ (1981) & 1983’s ‘Time Line’. Both albums failed to be big commercial sellers in their main market which had traditionally been North America. By 1987 the band had disbanded. A messy few years followed before the main nucleus of Annie, Michael Dunsford, Terry Sullivan & the aforementioned John regrouped to record ‘Tuscany’ in 1998. For various reasons, I went into at the time, the album was not released until 2001. It was, & is in my opinion a stunning return to form for the band. The 10 exquisite tracks on the album don’t suffer from the ‘extended solo’s’ that bore me to tears that many a prog rock band employ (you know the ones). From the ethereal opener of ‘Lady From Tuscany’ Annie’s 5 octave crystal clear vocal soars above some truly beautiful compositions. Track 8 ‘Dolphins Prayer’ is so exquisite it almost reduces me to tears. It’s also John’s last contribution & features Annie’s romantic partner at the time the great Roy Wood who guests on bass, as he does on ‘Dear Landseer’ the track I have chosen to feature in the video clip at the close of this piece. Its hard to pick any track out as a highlight as I usually do, as all of them are strong right up to closer the up-tempo ‘One Thousand Roses’which for some reason reminds me of Kate Bush, although I can’t really say why! I recall back in 2001 when Annie & I did the original interview that the band were then going to take ‘Tuscany’ to Japan which they duly did. The results were later released as a 2 CD set ‘In The Land of The Rising Sun’. In this new remastered collection those 2 discs are also included to complete the 3 CD set. They demonstrate just how Renaissance had recaptured their magic and feature fan favourites & classics like ‘Carpet of The Sun’ ‘Mother Russia’ ‘Ashes Are Burning’ & naturally their sole single hit 1978’s ‘Northern Lights’. Just like the first time round I can’t recommend ‘Tuscany’ too highly, its a wonderful album that delights your soul. As ever, Esoteric Records have done a good job housing this new edition in a sturdy clamshell box complete with booklet & each CD in its own separate card sleeve. Its been a bittersweet re-visit but overall one full of great memories. Enjoy.