Illusion - RENAISSANCE***

Love Goes On/Golden Thread/Love Is All/Mr Pine/Face Of Yesterday/Past Orbits Of Dust

Illusion, the second album from Renaissance, was released at a turbulent time for the group as important founder members departed. Matters did not improve as they would soon suffer a complete change of personnel.

“What we have here is what a band sounds like in the middle of total meltdown. Due to the fact that they hated touring, the two founding members Jim McCarty and Keith Relf jumped ship leaving the rest of the band to fend for themselves. Jane Relf is still here but she sounds lacklustre and hardly any songs have the same musicians.”

“The first side has some pretty tracks like Love Is All and Golden Thread, plus the incredibly boppy Love Goes On. A lot of the rest is an odd cobbler. Mr Pine was written by someone who wasn't really in the band and sounds like a throwaway psychedelic relic married with pieces from other songs. The lengthy Past Orbits Of Dust really goes nowhere in the last ten minutes.”

“Despite the constant shifting personnel, Illusion is an incredibly even record, although not as aggressive as their debut. The classical influences are also toned down concentrating more on the folk aspect of their sound. The four tracks initially recorded for the album are the strongest. Mr. Pine has its moments, although it sounds unfinished and not fully realized. Past Orbits Of Dust starts out an excellent track, but soon devolves into pointless jamming and eventually just loses steam.”

“This is the second Renaissance album, the last before they change all the musicians. This record is sometimes piano oriented, but less than the Renaissance of the Annie Haslam-era; the baroque piano parts are absolutely delightful and unforgettable. The omnipresent electric guitar is inoffensive. The female singer Jane Relf has a very good voice, even though Annie Haslam is better. There are tons of catchy and mellow backing vocals. Many parts have rather delicate psychedelic rock tendencies, not unpleasant at all.”

“With all the internal turmoil, one would expect Illusion to be very uneven. As it turns out, though, in many ways, it's a better album than their debut. The band cuts down on the winding jams and concentrates more on melody. Two of the contributions, Love Is All and Love Goes On are delightfully catchy pop songs, with nice vocal harmonies and rather dated hippy-dippy lyrics, but that's OK.”