Self titled debut album from the British progressive group Renaissance formed out of the remnants of The Yardbirds. After splitting the band would reform in the early seventies, but without any of the original members. (UK:60)
“The dominant forces were co-founders Keith Relf and Jim McCarty. The duo had been the psychedelic half of the final line up of The Yardbirds. This means that in terms of musical history, Renaissance are the counterpart to Led Zeppelin of the groups that sprang up from their demise.”
“The long opening track Kings & Queens is one of the highlights of the album. There is also much flavouring from eastern music and psychedelia. Jane Relf sings on Island and Wanderer. Keith's vocals are reminiscent of his Yardbirds days on the longest track Bullet, which incorporates a heavy dose of psychedelia in his wild harmonica solo and an eastern music type chant, set over a great jazz and classically fused piano.”
“Although Jane Relf looks very like Annie Haslam in every picture of this incarnation of Renaissance, most of the vocal work is done by brother Keith, and the sound, is dominated by his guitar work. The result is that, like the later classic Renaissance, this record is dominated by quiet jamming on piano and lyrics, that often betray a significant social consciousness.”
“While Renaissance features quite a bit of keyboard work and longer tracks, this album is remarkably unpretentious and very listenable. Kings & Queens and Innocence are sophisticated, yet aggressive tracks, which sound like a progressive folk version of The Yardbirds.”
“The original group just about managed to scrape out a couple of albums before they imploded, and this one is a fine piece of early symphonic prog. Pianist Jim Hawken's playing is prominent in the mix, and the ethereal vocals of brother and sister team Keith and Jane Relf have a quality to them which hadn't been seen much before in rock music.”
“An ambitious and novel prog rock idea, but mostly missing the mark. There are far too many classical piano passages, supported by too little interesting material.”
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