Renaissance
Prologue

"Prologue" is the third album released by Renaissance, a group born from the ashes of the Yardbirds. By 1972, the year of this album's release, none of the original members remained. It is, in fact, the first work of the lineup known for masterpieces such as "Ashes Are Burning" and "Scheherazade And Other Stories", characterized by the presence of the singer Annie Haslam, famous for her remarkable vocal range. The other band members are Jon Camp on bass, Rob Hendry on guitar, Terrence Sullivan on drums, and John Tout on piano.

The album is a perfectly balanced mix of symphonic rock and classical music, with the piano being the mainstay of the entire work. The instrument frequently references classical and baroque themes, and the musician's skills are evident, drawing notes in the air both in solo phases and as an accompaniment to Haslam's splendid and warm voice, which could be described in endless lines. Gifted with a unique, warm, and enveloping timbre, as well as a five-octave vocal range (not bad, eh!), she knew how to give the song a gentle, sparkling, and at times melancholic, almost autumnal atmosphere, but never redundant. The rhythmic section is also top-notch, with intelligent drumming that avoids covering the crafted textures. Often, not to smother the voice-piano combination, it steps back a bit, yet still manages to highlight the salient features of the songs. The string instruments also do an excellent job, with the bass always present and clean, and the guitar, unlike other bands, evidently plays a secondary role in the band's sound.

But let's get to the album, released in '72, whose cover was created by the photographic studio Hipgnosis, famous for also working with Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and Genesis. Much of the album's lyrics were written by the English poet Betty Thatcher, a friend of the singer. The first of the six tracks is "Prologue", opened by a remarkable piano digression over which Haslam's high notes are "limited" to following the melody without articulating any meaningful words, according to the vocalese technique. In the middle, there's an enjoyable variation with piano in full baroque style that reintroduces us to the main theme. Next is "Kiev", where the singing is entrusted to the bassist's male voice, faithfully accompanied by Haslam. The result is a track with excellent piano moments, rather grandiose in its progression, rich in choruses and virtuosity.

"Sounds of the Sea" is much more delicate, with a heartbreaking piano intro and singing that perfectly fits the recorded sea waves and the distant seagulls. A fantastic song that, if we just close our eyes, takes us to a cliff to gaze at the sea water. An absolute masterpiece. The challenging task of continuing with the album after such beauty falls to "Spare Some Love", another delicate piece interrupted by a brief electric interlude. The singing is impeccable, accompanied by choruses, always charged with emotion and atmosphere. We continue to dream with "Bound for Infinity", a piece with a very slow progression in which the grace of the voice reaches very high levels, peaking in the chorus where syllables are pronounced without meaning but with an impressive emotional charge. It's hard to find adequate words for such beauty; the only advice: listen to it.

The work closes with the psychedelic quasi-suite "Rajah Khan", so mistreated by critics but which I find particularly evocative and well-achieved. Certainly a track that deviates from the group's style, especially in the albums that will follow, where we can find an Annie Haslam a bit more aggressive, matching the atmospheres created by the electric guitar (abandoned by the group after this album). A VCS3 synthesizer is also present, played by Francis Monkman of Curved Air.

Thus ends the album, marking the debut on the scene of one of the most beautiful female voices in the music panorama of that time, in my opinion, still unmatched. For those who don't know them (a rather serious fact), it's certainly a welcome discovery.