Volume I:
This 75-minute compilation and its companion volume are just about the only acknowledgments on the part of Sire Records that it ever had a progressive rock catalog, somewhere in between signing the Ramones and Madonna. The song lineup on this first volume heavily favors the group's early repertory, including songs originally done for the Sovereign label, represented here in concert recordings from Renaissance Live at Carnegie Hall. How attractive that is depends upon how one feels about those performances, versus the original studio renditions (available from One Way Records domestically and, in superior versions, from HTD Records in England). They were never too impressive on vinyl, although the digital remastering and re-equalization of the material seems to have solved much of that problem. The original Sire studio material, including "Running Hard" and "Black Flame," sound better here than they did on their original vinyl releases, which had fairly noisy pressings and were somewhat top-heavy on the bass. The accompaniments all sound crisper on the CD, the nuances and fine balances between the band and the orchestra much easier to appreciate, and the only major flaw -- and it is a big one -- is the absence of "Song of Scheherazade," their biggest orchestral-accompanied piece ever. Only a four-minute excerpt is included; admittedly, the work as a whole is somewhat overblown, taking up a little more time than it is worth, but it was the centerpiece of two separate albums, which should have told the programmers something about how much it registered to fans.
Volume II:
The second volume of Sire Records' retrospective compilation on Renaissance is not as impressive musically as its predecessor, devoted as it is primarily to the lesser of the group's late-'70s repertory. The intelligent thing to have done with this volume would have been to put "Song of Scheherazade" on this volume, which would have shored up its value -- perhaps this would have been an awkward fit, as the disc was to include the 23-minute live version of "Ashes Are Burning," but one or two of the lesser songs that are here might've been sacrificed. As it is, the material is less concise and accessible than that of the preceding volume, though it still has very attractive vocal and piano flourishes, and stunning melodies. There are also a few of what could be considered "offbeat" numbers for the group, most notably the folk-like "Northern Lights," and "Midas Man," on which the dominant instrument for much of the song is Mick Dunford's acoustic guitar rather than John Tout's piano. Much of the music seems more of a reach, however, in terms of subject matter, making this volume more of an acquired taste than its companion, and a choice more appropriate for hardcore fans of the group than those with a casual interest.
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Originally Posted by zeprogmeister
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