| Track by Track Review
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CD One
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Tuscany - Remastered
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Lady from Tuscany
The opening of this number has a real symphonic prog ballad approach. The vocals literally soar over the top. It works out from there to more of an expected Renaissance sound from there. Yet there is almost more of a mainstream pop rock vibe at play, too. |
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Pearls of Wisdom
The piano really brings something special to this song. This really feels like quintessential Renaissance. Symphonic instrumentation is a great touch. Folk, rock and classical all seem to merge in the arrangement. |
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Eva’s Pond
Mellow piano starts this. The vocals come over the top of that backdrop. This piece remains sedate and Annie Haslam's vocals are the biggest selling point. It's a ballad that has some definite classical vibes at play. |
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Dear Landseer
I really like the trademark organic Renaissance symphonic folk prog on this song. It has a great acoustic instrumentation angle to it. It's energetic and moving, but also quite melodic. |
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In the Sunshine
There are no big surprises here. It's another song that's instantly recognizable as Renaissance. This gets a bit more rocking and has some soaring moments. |
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In My Life
This track is more of a ballad. It's also not any kind of stretch from the rest of the music here, or what one expects from Renaissance. |
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The Race
Now this is very interesting. I love the bass sound on the tune, and this has a great energy and some cool melodies. It's without question one of the highlights of the set. The instrumental break features plenty of cool keyboard work. |
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Dolphins Prayer
This is a rather unusual piece of music. It's largely acapella. There are multiple layers of Haslam's voice at times. It has a classical, soundtrack vibe to it. |
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Life in Brazil
There are some intriguing twists and turns here. This even includes some hints of Brazilian music. Yet, it is unmistakable as Renaissance. It has some pretty special bass work at times, too. |
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One Thousand Roses
Another highlight, this is one of the dynamic and varied tracks here. It's also precisely what one expects from Renaissance. |
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CD Two
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In the Land of the Rising Sun
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Live in Japan 2001
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Carpet of the Sun
This live set starts with a sheer classic. I've always loved this song, and this version is so good. The recording is excellent, too. |
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Opening Out
Another classic, this is powerful and dramatic in this live telling. |
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Midas Man
Here we get another live performance of one of my favorite Renaissance tracks. They do such a great rendition here. Then again, you can't go wrong with this song, as far as I'm concerned. |
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Lady from Tuscany
This, essentially the title track from the main album, gets a live performance that fits in well with all the classics. The arrangement's intricacies are captured nicely here.
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Pearls of Wisdom
Continuing in order from the studio disc, I really love the piano work on this piece. They put in another solid showing on this. |
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Dear Landseer
Here we get another from the first disc of the set. I really dig the sort of world music vibe at play on here. This really gains something in the live performance. |
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Northern Lights
We find ourselves back into Renaissance classic territory with another great live telling. I really love some of the bass work on this so much. Then again, the whole song is great. |
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Moonlight Shadow
This comes in trippy and a little strange, but it works out to a solid folk rocking jam. This isn't the proggiest thing here, but it's a lot of fun and it does get more involved than pure folk rock would. |
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Precious One
On the one hand, the string and piano dominated musical arrangement might be seen as a little precious. That said, it works to create a lot of drama and magic, rather than making it feel over-done. Of course, Haslam's vocals really deliver the goods. |
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Ananda
This track features some world music along with psychedelia. Beyond that, it's more standard Renaissance. It's another solid live tune, but not one of my favorites from the live discs. |
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CD Three
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In the Land of the Rising Sun
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Live in Japan 2001
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Mother Russia
The extended introduction on this classic epic is so cool. The track is packed full of magic and drama. This thing really works so well here. Then again, it's always an amazing piece of music. The contrast between delicate and soaringly powerful is so potent here. |
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Trip to the Fair
Here we get another that's of epic length. The piano that gets us underway is so powerful. The opening extended instrumental section is very classical, but it also makes me think of Keith Emerson to a large degree. There are some jazzy moments at times as this continues. It's about three-and-a-half minutes in before it drops back to something akin to a music box for the entrance of the first vocals. It gradually builds outward from there. There is some powerful prog that emerges as it continues. There is also a great jazzy jam As strong as the whole live set is, this is actually one of the highlights. |
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One Thousand Roses
Another track from the studio album, this has a lot of melodic, almost soundtrack like sound at the start that has both electronic and classical angles to it. The vocals come in over the top of that sort of backdrop. Some of the bass work on the more rocking section later really stands out. There is some powerhouse prog jamming further down the road, but it resolves out to mellower zones again at the end. |
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I Think of You
This folk based number has some guitar that makes me think of The Beatles for some reason. It's all Renaissance, though. At less than three-and-a-half minutes long, this is the shortest and most basic piece on this third disc. |
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Ashes Are Burning
While we've had some other epics that landed in the neighborhood of ten minutes long, this is about double that, coming it at almost exactly twenty minutes long. This epic is a Renaissance classic, and it has so much variety and drama built into it. They put in a great live performance, too. There are some moments that shine higher than others here, despite everything being awesome. One of those things is the bass and piano jazz-like jam that emerges near mid-track. The bass solo that comes out of that is on fire. They take it out to some smoking prog meets fusion jamming beyond that point. There is a cool organ dominated movement beyond that point. After the extended instrumental movement, the vocals return around the 14-minute mark over the top of just keyboards. This reaches a really intense peak further down the road and piano soloing ensues over a bass-led backdrop. Haslam's voice climbs over the top in non-lyrical ways. |
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