Renaissance - A Song For All Seasons

**aith01** · 11-20-2016

Originally Posted by JeffCarney

Btw, ATTWT has a fantastic cover, IMO. That sky is positively haunting.

I 100% agree. "Haunting" is the word I was looking for -- thank you!

**ProgMusician** · 11-20-2016

Originally Posted by JeffCarney

Dig the album. Dig the cover.

Btw, ATTWT has a fantastic cover, IMO. That sky is positively haunting.

One thing I've never known about the And Then There Were Three cover. Is that the band members on there... or just some Hipgnosis peeps? What are they doing? haha

**Progbear** · 11-20-2016

Originally Posted by ProgMusician

One thing I've never known about the And Then There Were Three cover. Is that the band members on there... or just some Hipgnosis peeps? What are they doing? haha

I don’t think it’s actually them, come to think of it. As to what they’re doing...“painting” with light? They spell out the band’s name with a flashlight, thanks to the magic of holding the shutter open on the camera, on the back cover.

**aith01** · 11-20-2016

Originally Posted by Progbear

I don’t think it’s actually them, come to think of it. As to what they’re doing...“painting” with light? They spell out the band’s name with a flashlight, thanks to the magic of holding the shutter open on the camera, on the back cover.

I believe you are correct, it's not the G-men on the cover.

Although I never noticed them spelling out the band's name. That's interesting! I'll have to go look at it more closely.

**bill g** · 11-21-2016

Originally Posted by JeffCarney

Beauty?

Hmm. I do hear some beauty in 'Carpet of the Sun', but hear a lot more in many other tracks, 'Opening Out', 'Forever Changing', and many others just hit me a lot deeper personally for some reason. 'Carpet...' sounds more straightforward and poppy to my ears than most of their music from that period. Just me.

**ProgArtist** · 11-21-2016

Help! This Renaissance thread has turned into a Genesis thread, which is a shame since we don't talk about Renaissance enough around here.

Originally Posted by ProgMusician

A Song For All Seasons is my favorite Renaissance album,... and the title track is one of my 3 favorite songs (the other two are Nevermore by UK and Awaken by Yes)....

It's always interesting to hear what people's favorite songs are. I share "Awaken" as my favorite, (as if it wasn't obvious from my signature!). "A Song For All Seasons" is one of my favorite songs, too, but "Nevermore" doesn't even make it into my top 2000. Funny that the other two songs both reach us so profoundly yet the third is not even close.

Originally Posted by ProgMusician

For me it's kind of like Yes's That, That Is. Love the tune,... and the production is pretty good. But if it had a rougher edginess it would really be classic!

At the risk of turning this into a Yes thread (after complaining about it turning into a Genesis thread), "That, That Is" came up randomly in my music listening on Saturday and I was surprised at how good it was. I think when I first heard it I was turned off by the snare drum hitting on the off beat ever so predictably throughout all of the fast parts of the song. It's funny what little things can make a difference.

**ProgMusician** · 11-21-2016

Enjoyed your post ProgArtist... If you look on youtube there are others that see Nevermore as a transcendent piece of music as well (so I'm not crazy haha)... but it is funny how we find overlaps with people, and then there's arises some 90 degree "no man, no way!".

To clarify,... the 2nd quote above that mentions That, That Is (getting back to Renaissance)... was where I was referring to the production on the new material by Renaissance (not anything off of Song for All Seasons). Song for All Seasons is a masterwork in my opinion (owed in part to David Hentchel I'm guessing - and coincidentally a contributor to said And Then There Were Three).

Btw: I always tell people that if I could have been in any band of my choosing,... it would be Renaissance (Jon Camp's position preferably).

**ProgArtist** · 11-21-2016

Originally Posted by ProgMusician

Enjoyed your post ProgArtist... If you look on youtube there are others that see Nevermore as a transcendent piece of music as well (so I'm not crazy haha)... but it is funny how we find overlaps with people, and then there's arises some 90 degree "no man, no way!".

To be fair, I haven't really connected with UK very much at all. I know some people really love them, but I just don't get the appeal. I'll probably at least listen to "Nevermore" tomorrow and try to open my mind to it again. On the other hand, I do really like "The Raven" by APP and "Nevermore" by Queen.

Originally Posted by ProgMusician

To clarify,... the 2nd quote above that mentions That, That Is (getting back to Renaissance)... was where I was referring to the production on the new material by Renaissance (not anything off of Song for All Seasons). Song for All Seasons is a masterwork in my opinion (owed in part to David Hentchel I'm guessing - and coincidentally a contributor to said And Then There Were Three).

Btw: I always tell people that if I could have been in any band of my choosing,... it would be Renaissance (Jon Camp's position preferably).

Jon Camp was certainly a driving musical force in the band, and "Tuscany" and "Insert Italian Name Here That I Can't Remember" really suffer from the lack of Camp's sound. Clearly Annie's voice is one of the Renaissance trademarks, but the lead bass lines are nearly as important. I'll also add that I appreciate Camp's added creative input during the Novella / A Song For All Seasons era, as I think a lot of their best compositions are found here.

**JeffCarney** · 11-22-2016

Originally Posted by bill g

Hmm. I do hear some beauty in 'Carpet of the Sun', but hear a lot more in many other tracks, 'Opening Out', 'Forever Changing', and many others just hit me a lot deeper personally for some reason. 'Carpet...' sounds more straightforward and poppy to my ears than most of their music from that period. Just me.

It's definitely "straightforward and poppy."

Should have been a huge hit. Manages to stay within their signature style, too.

**Casey** · 11-22-2016

Spurred on by this thread I went back & listened to all of my Renaissance CDs. I was surprised that the song I care for least, "She is Love" was penned by Dunford/Thatcher. Go figure! My favorite song is "Forever Changing" which, I believe, is the one song co-authored by Terry Sullivan. Finally, for those fans who like their live music to sound just like the studio versions, Renaissance is the band for you. In their defense, I'm just not sure how they could have changed things up during the live renditions. Maybe because I'm just too conditioned by how things are.

**cazz** · 11-22-2016

I miss the lead bass too. Was Camp using a bass pedal like Rutherford used to use. The new band plays better with the new songs obviously. The current tour is playing songs that are better suited to the new line up, a good thing IMO.

**ProgArtist** · 11-23-2016

Originally Posted by Casey

Spurred on by this thread I went back & listened to all of my Renaissance CDs. I was surprised that the song I care for least, "She is Love" was penned by Dunford/Thatcher. Go figure! My favorite song is "Forever Changing" which, I believe, is the one song co-authored by Terry Sullivan. Finally, for those fans who like their live music to sound just like the studio versions, Renaissance is the band for you. In their defense, I'm just not sure how they could have changed things up during the live renditions. Maybe because I'm just too conditioned by how things are.

Not only was "She is Love" a Dunford/Thatcher tune, but so was "Friends", which might be the worst song off of "Azure D'Or". Scratch that, I just remembered "Only Angels Have Wings", which was by Camp and is much worse. As for Sullivan's writing credits, the whole band is credited on "A Song For All Seasons" (the track). I wonder if the band collectively wrote the extended intro, and then the bulk of the song was Dunford?

**timmy** · 11-23-2016

Originally Posted by cazz

I miss the lead bass too. Was Camp using a bass pedal like Rutherford used to use. The new band plays better with the new songs obviously. The current tour is playing songs that are better suited to the new line up, a good thing IMO.

He did use bass pedals. You can see and hear him playing them during this live concert.

**Progbear** · 11-23-2016

Originally Posted by ProgArtist

Not only was "She is Love" a Dunford/Thatcher tune, but so was "Friends", which might be the worst song off of "Azure D'Or". Scratch that, I just remembered "Only Angels Have Wings", which was by Camp and is much worse. As for Sullivan's writing credits, the whole band is credited on "A Song For All Seasons" (the track). I wonder if the band collectively wrote the extended intro, and then the bulk of the song was Dunford?

To be honest, those are the only two songs off of Azure d’or I dislike. There’s no big epics there, but the rest of that disc is golden.

**ProgArtist** · 11-23-2016

Originally Posted by Progbear

To be honest, those are the only two songs off of Azure d’or I dislike. There’s no big epics there, but the rest of that disc is golden.

Actually, I agree with you. I gave the wrong impression by saying those songs were the "worst" on the album, as if everything else is bad. Although I like the previous albums better, I'm still quite fond of Azure D'Or.

**aith01** · 11-24-2016

Originally Posted by Progbear

To be honest, those are the only two songs off of Azure d’or I dislike. There’s no big epics there, but the rest of that disc is golden.

Totally agree. Azure D'Or was actually my first Renaissance album, and I still love it (apart from those two songs). It helped me to get into more of their earlier catalog. Was listening to this just a few days ago actually.

**chescorph** · 11-24-2016

Originally Posted by ca1ore

Really, who cares about covers? Song for All Seasons is probably my favorite, or second favorite behind Scheherazade, of the studio albums - I much prefer the live albums though.

You must have grown up in the CD era.

**Rarebird** · 11-24-2016

Originally Posted by chescorph

You must have grown up in the CD era.

Not sure about that one. But in the end it's about the music. A nice cover can be an extra, but I rather have good music and an ugly cover, than drivel, packaged in a fantastic cover.

**ThomasKDye** · 11-24-2016

Originally Posted by chescorph

You must have grown up in the CD era.

Every Rolling Stones cover sucks, and yet they are one of the most revered bands in rock and roll.

**wilcox660** · 11-24-2016

Scheherazade / Novella / A Song For All Seasons / Azure D'Or all thrill me end to end. Not a single song bothers me! Gawd I love them!

**Progbear** · 11-25-2016

Originally Posted by Rarebird

Not sure about that one. But in the end it's about the music. A nice cover can be an extra, but I rather have good music and an ugly cover, than drivel, packaged in a fantastic cover.

You bought that Dschinn album too, huh?

**Halmyre** · 11-26-2016

Originally Posted by wilcox660

Scheherazade / Novella / A Song For All Seasons / Azure D'Or all thrill me end to end. Not a single song bothers me! Gawd I love them!

Is 'Ashes Are Burning' not up to scratch then? It's the only one I've got, but I will be remedying that.

**Man In The Mountain** · 11-26-2016

Originally Posted by Halmyre

Is 'Ashes Are Burning' not up to scratch then? It's the only one I've got, but I will be remedying that.

Ashes are Burning is a great album. Is it "The Best" album? No, but I certainly wouldn't leave it out of the string of great Renaissance albums, even if it's at the lower end. And he left off "Turn Of The Cards", perhaps the best album IMO.