Renaissance - A Song For All Seasons
SKU
15-WARNER759925959
Given its date of release (1978), 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. 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."-The Christopher Currie/ TentativeReviews.com