| Track: | Rating: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Opening Out | | | | | |
| 2. The Day Of The Dreamer | | | | | |
| 3. Closer Than Yesterday | | | | | |
| 4. Kindness (At The End) | | | | | |
| 5. Back Home Once Again | | | | | |
| 6. She Is Love | | | | | |
| 7. Northern Lights | | | | | |
| 8. A Song For All Seasons | | | | | |
Also featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
In many ways, Renaissance were the band that anti-prog critics accused the entire movement of being. Flighty, melodramatic, orchestrally driven, and possessing only minor ties to the world of "rock and roll", Renaissance could represent either the "purification" of the genre or one of its excesses, depending on your position. For those who favoured the group, certainly, their early material was about as "professional" as music produced by a British progressive group could be expected to be.
As the liner notes to the 1001 Nights compilation note, Renaissance had deeper roots in the classical tradition than did most other progressive acts, often incorporating lesser-known Late Romantic (and beyond) motifs into their recorded work. Such ties may have helped them remain true to their musical commitments at a time when many other progressive bands were collapsing artistically.
Given its date of release, A Song For All Seasons must be considered as a considerable triumph. While Yes, ELP, Gentle Giant, Starcastle and other groups were releasing inferior product, Renaissance managed to create a work which ranks close to their best material. If Song For All Seasons isn't quite as good as Turn Of The Cards, Ashes Are Burning or Prologue, it at least has the distinction of coming very close. Renaissance seemed to be immune from the onrushes of punk and AOR; if there was a minor capitulation involved, it was more in the direction of Euro-pop than anything else ... which is to say that this "capitulation" still allowed the group to operate within their normal parameters.
The album begins with "Opening Out", a track dominated by acoustic guitar, synthesizers, and Haslam's soaring voice. The synth-orchestral theme at the beginning of the track signifies that the group is continuing to operate within its area of strength. Haslam's performance doesn't quite match the level of "Running Hard" or "Mother Russia" here, but it's nevertheless extremely good. The only problem is that it's too short -- like Genesis's "Undertow" (released in the same year), the track is never really given the proper opportunity to develop into something truly monumental.
"The Day Of The Dreamer" solves this problem, however; at around nine minutes, its motifs are allowed to develop in a proper manner. This track begins (as did the previous track) with an excellent keyboard part; the bass guitar becomes more prominent once Haslam's vocals begin. After the "song" introduction, the track rather abruptly shifts to a instrumental work in the tradition of the group's early progressive impetus -- and does so quite well. The pastoral guitar/keyboards/vocals section which follows only adds to the general merit of the work. The track isn't quite perfect (the initial appearance of the orchestra is a bit intrusive, though it eventually incorporates itself into the piece rather nicely), but the solid performances by everyone involved make this piece an easy highlight of the work.
"Closer Than Yesterday" begins with another pastoral guitar/ keyboards/vocals opening, which appropriately sets the tone for this quasi-folkish piece. The track begins and develops fairly minimally, but Haslam's multi-tracked vocal performance in the chorus section more than makes up for this. This is somewhat "lighter" than the previous tracks, but is still a worthwhile piece.
At this point, the album begins to take to a slight turn for the worse. "Kindness (At The End)" has the misfortune of having Jon Camp on lead vocals; while proficient enough, he's not nearly as distinctive as Haslam, and the direct proximity of their vocal performances only underscores Camp's relative inferiority. The introductory section of this piece (a keyboard-heavy opening once again, leaving to a full-band progressive section) adds a considerable degree of value to the work, the Eric Woolfson similarities to both the vocals and lyrics cannot be easily dismissed. It's still a decent track, but not really anything too special.
"Back Home Once Again" (which was used as the theme music to the television series "The Paper Lads", should anyone have wondered) is the most "Euro-pop" track on the album. Haslam sings in a slightly "folky" manner once again, but the chorus somehow lacks a certain degree of dramatic tension, which would have made it more interesting. It's a catchy enough track, but a tad on the insubstantial side.
Jon Camp's performance on "She Is Love" is somewhat better than his performance on "Kindness" (although a few notes seem to be a bit too high for him), and the sedate, stately orchestral part here is particularly notable. This track isn't dazzlingly good, but is still quite worthwhile.
At this juncture, the album returns to full strength with "Northern Lights", which became a surprise hit single for the group in Britain (though not in America, sadly). From the simple yet powerful bass line which begins the track to the reprise after the false ending, this track is a testament to the fact that progressive groups could still produce singles of quality without overly compromising their standards by the late-1970s, even if most other releases would suggest otherwise. Despite its status as a "hit", this track is not entirely frivolous, and seems to have deserved its success.
The album ends with "A Song For All Seasons"; for 1978, this may very well have been the best (or, at least, purest) progressive music around. The song moves from band/orchestra duets, keyboard spotlights, vocal partnering with the orchestra, soothing acoustic guitar sections, and an anthemic conclusion (which reveals much of the tracks as having been an elaborate build-up). Everyone is in top form for this, and the time change in the chorus was a nice touch as well.
Sadly, this album was to have been Renaissance's last successful progressive album. 1979 brought the release of Azure D'Or, a flawed work in the style of the other major 1978 progressive releases; after this, the group moved in a more mainstream direction (though without the commercial success of Yes, Genesis, Asia, etc.) As a final statement of the group in its prime, however, Song For All Seasons is an extremely notable work. Newcomers might be advised to seek out their earlier material first, but this album shouldn't disappoint anyone with an interest in this sort of music.
As a concluding statement, I must also express my confusion over the fact that a "Renaissance revival" has not yet taken place. One would think that, in the age of Sarah McLachlan, Loreena McKennit, Enya et al., Haslam would be recognized as the forerunner of the movement. That this hasn't yet happened has to be regarded as somewhat of a tragedy.
(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 29 May 1997)