Search - Renaissance :: Azure D'Or

Last Great Renaissance Album

Jim Dalcourt | Sparta, NJ USA | 08/18/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Renaissance is one of my favorite bands of all time. I bought this album when it first came out in 1979, and recently purchased the CD. It has remained one of my favorite albums. This is a transitional album for the band. It was the first album not to use an orchestra. This was due to the unionization of professional orchestral musicians. Using orchestras became too costly, instead synthesizers were used. Some fans had trouble with this, but I did not. This is also the first album not to have long songs. All of them are short in comparison to previous albums. In my opinion, this is a perfect album. There are no bad songs on the album. Although prior Renaissance albums contained great masterpieces, they also contained at least one terrible song. For example, my favorite Renaissance album is Song For All Seasons, but even it has the regrettable 'She is love'. I can listen to Azure d'Or without ever pressing the forward button. The masterpiece on this album is 'Golden Key'. The lyrics are great and describe a star who has sold out for fame and success. The song has a good mixture of softer music with louder, energetic music. In the Summer of 1979, I actually remember hearing 'Secret Mission' played once on the radio, which was unusual even then. 'The Discovery' is a memorable instrument. Usually, you do not remember instrumentals on albums, but I always remember this one. I like 'Jekyll and Hyde' because of the lyrics. It is about the psychology of 'Jekyll and Hyde'. Renaissance was never the same after this album. However, Renaissance is one of the unique bands in history, like the Doors, whose music is beyond and outside of the time period it was recorded. This means that their music sounds as fresh and extraordinary now as it did in the late 1970's."

The Golden Era Of Renaissance Ends

Alan Caylow | USA | 09/01/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"1979's "Azure D'Or" was the last Renaissance album with the classic 70's line-up of Annie Haslam, Michael Dunford, Jon Camp, John Tout and Terry Sullivan, with both Tout and Sullivan leaving the band after the tour for this album ended. "Azure D'Or" also marks a turning point for the band in another way, as they created every single note for the album *without* any orchestral accompanyment, a long-standing trademark of the band (perhaps this was done as an attempt to adapt with the changing musical climate at the time? After all, punk and disco had just happened and all that...). This shift in musical direction resulted in a more keyboard-heavy sounding album, and some fans were disappointed with it. Even Renaissance themselves don't look back upon "Azure D'Or" with too much fondness! But let's be fair: while "Azure D'Or" may not be the band's finest acheivement, this is still an excellent album. Heck, it's got "Forever Changing" on it, EASILY one of the band's most dreamiest, beautiful songs ever (and it was co-authored by, surprise surprise, drummer Sullivan---way to go Terry!). Other winners include such solid songs as "Jekyll And Hyde", "The Winter Tree", "Golden Key", "Kalynda", the excellent instrumental "The Discovery", and the concluding "The Flood At Lyons". And, as always, Annie Haslam's lovely voice simply melts you, and the band's performances are superb. After "Azure D'Or", the remaining trio of Haslam, Dunford and Camp soldiered on as a very "revamped for the 80's" Renaissance, and released a couple of decent but unspectacular albums, "Camera Camera" and "Timeline", before stopping altogether until the reunion in 2001. So, "Azure D'Or" certainly marks the end of an important chapter in the career of this remarkable band, and, while not their best work, it's still a wonderful album that all diehard Renaissance fans should have in their collections."