Search - Renaissance :: Innocents & Illusions

First two Renaissance albums

kireviewer | Sunnyvale, Ca United States | 02/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great deal. It is the first two Renaissance albums plus 6 bonus tracks. The sound quality on the first disc is good. The second disk has a tape hiss that is noticible between tracks, and maybe during the very quietest moments.



If you already own the albums, this is not worth buying for the bonus tracks. The bonus tracks are 2 to 5 minutes long. Some were demos recorded in a home studio. I don't think any of them feature the complete band. These bonus tracks have been released before on a number of different albums.



This is the first Renaissance, which has a completely different personnel than the more famous Annie Haslam version. The band was a spin off from the Yardbirds. The band was a cohesive unit when it recorded the first album, which was released worldwide. Kings and Queens got mild FM radio play in the US. The second album, called Illusion, had a sordid history, with band members coming and going. It never got full release and was very hard to find at times.



The music on both these albums is great. It is very similar to the newer version of Renaissance, but has even more art rock and classical music orientations. The harpsicord is featured a lot, but there are no synthesizers. At the same time, the sound is a little rougher and a little edgier than the newer Renaissance.



Renaissance was started by Keith Relf and Jim McCarthy from the Yardbirds. This is the band that gave Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Pages their starts. Dazed and Confused was originally done by the Yardbirds.



During the recording of Illusion, the band broke apart and some members of the newer Renaissance joined. Jim McCarthy continued doing projects under the name Illusion. In 2002, all the original members of Renaissance (except Keith Relf) got back together and recorded a CD under the name Renaissance Illusion.



Kieth Relf went on to form a band called Armageddon, which was famous for the song Silver Tightrope. They played a unique mixture of blues and hard rock with some progressive elements thrown in. Some of the bonus tracks on this CD set sound more like Armageddon than Renaissance. Armageddon disbanded after the first album because Relf was electrocuted while playing his guitar in the bathtube (no joke).

"

What an underrated group!

M. Costan | savannah GA | 08/20/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Renaissance is probably my all time favorite group. I had never heard of "innocents & Illusions" until recently though. I did not realize at first was not Annie Haslam singing, finding the credits in the little paper that came with the CD is too challenging for me!



The style is differant than Haslam Renaissance but just as good. Actually, since they are not making any new music, I find the change refreshing as I will be less likely to get tired of it. It's hard to describe the style, kind of folky/classical, instead of rock/classical.



Renaissance is my "excape" music. Innocents & illusions doesn't fail to deliver!"