Fans of Renaissance and Annie Haslam
New releases by Repertoire
Repertoire releases Prologue in a mini-LP edition.
http://www.repertoirerecords.com/cgibin/catalogframeset.php?repcode...
What they say about it :
• Digisleeve edition. The most collectable version on the market of
this very rare 70s Progressive Rock album.
• Detailed, extensive liner notes, including quotes from Annie Haslam
and Mike Dunford of Renaissance, by respected author and journalist
Chris Welch.
• Expertly remastered – superb sound - top quality reproduction.
Please remember that our digisleeve release are always highly
collectable, so order NOW while stocks last to avoid disappointment!
Pop, folk and the classics meet with joyous results in the sounds
created by Renaissance, one of the most creative and popular groups of
the Seventies.
'Prologue' has long been hailed as their 'first album', as it showcases a
brand new line up of artists who replaced the original founder members,
when the group was relaunched in 1972.
Annie Haslam takes the lead role alongside keyboard player John Tout and
she sings like an angel on a selection of six beautifully performed
arrangements. Songs like 'Kiev', 'Sounds Of The Sea' and 'Spare Some
Love' exemplify the Renaissance style that would evolve over many more
classic albums.
Intriguingly, much of the material was written by founder Jim McCarty of
Yardbirds fame together with poet Betty Thatcher and subsequent full
time member Michael Dunford. More assistance comes from synthesiser
wizard Francis Monkman who plays the VCS3 solo on the album's longest
track 'Rajah Khan'.
Here is a superb album that will appeal to all fans of a group whose
melodic and sensitive music ushered in a real 'rock renaissance'.
• Digisleeve edition. The most collectable version on the market of
this very rare 70s Progressive Rock album.
• Detailed, extensive liner notes, including quotes from Annie Haslam
and Mike Dunford of Renaissance, by respected author and journalist
Chris Welch.
• Expertly remastered – superb sound - top quality reproduction.
Please remember that our digisleeve release are always highly
collectable, so order NOW while stocks last to avoid disappointment!
Pop, folk and the classics meet with joyous results in the sounds
created by Renaissance, one of the most creative and popular groups of
the Seventies.
'Prologue' has long been hailed as their 'first album', as it showcases a
brand new line up of artists who replaced the original founder members,
when the group was relaunched in 1972.
Annie Haslam takes the lead role alongside keyboard player John Tout and
she sings like an angel on a selection of six beautifully performed
arrangements. Songs like 'Kiev', 'Sounds Of The Sea' and 'Spare Some
Love' exemplify the Renaissance style that would evolve over many more
classic albums.
Intriguingly, much of the material was written by founder Jim McCarty of
Yardbirds fame together with poet Betty Thatcher and subsequent full
time member Michael Dunford. More assistance comes from synthesiser
wizard Francis Monkman who plays the VCS3 solo on the album's longest
track 'Rajah Khan'.
Here is a superb album that will appeal to all fans of a group whose
melodic and sensitive music ushered in a real 'rock renaissance'.
Views: 1135
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Simon on
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I'm interested in hearing anyone's opinion on the remastering of this issue. I have the Carnegie Hall Eroc version and it is the best yet of that album (since the vinyl). I'm hoping this will be of the same standard - i.e. little, or no, NR or compression.
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Yet? Does that mean you will?
Not too many users on here yet are there?
Jean-Luc said:Sorry, I don't know. I haven't ordered it yet.
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I've bitten the bullet and ordered. I have been quite successful in my choice of remasters with Renaissance albums. The first generation of CDs were a real mix - needledrops, hissy, bootleg issues etc. There have been some pretty awful re-issues as well, many with excessive NR and compression. As the Carnegie Hall Eroc was excellent I have high hopes of this one.
Does anyone else on here have any opinions regarding Renaissance album versions? There was a lot of talk on places like Steve Hoffman's forum but I'd like to see some discussions on here about which versions people preferred.
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Permalink Reply by Jean-Luc on
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Simon said:I've bitten the bullet and ordered.
Great. So you'll tell me what you think and I'll decide to order or not.
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Permalink Reply by Rob Gennarini on
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Hi folks. I have had this new, remastered mini-LP version of Prologue for about 2 months now. So it is officially the 5th time I have bought Prologue.
The other releases of it that I own, or have owned are:
Repetoire Records remaster release 1995
One Way Records release 1991
Capitol Records "In the Beginning" (Prologue/Ashes are Burning, both albums on 1 CD with 3 abbreviated tracks) release 1988
Sovereign/Capitol SMAS-11116, 1972. Gatefold cover (yes, that's vinyl!)
I find the sound quality on the new release to be a nice improvement over any of the previous releases of this album. The instruments and vocals are brought more to the front, and are a little more clear than the other releases of this album. It is not a huge improvement, but noticeable. Given 15 years between releases and big changes in technology (1995 to 2010), I would have expected bigger improvements to the sound, but I am pleased that is good.
The booklet has some great info in it, and some quotes from Annie and Michael. It provides good background for the cd. But the new booklet is word for word identical to the previous Repetoire Records release from 1995, even though Chris Welch's noted writing dates are 15 years apart. The font and readability is improved in the new booklet, and presented a little more "artfully" than the previous release from 1995. However, I find the photographs of the band inside the booklet of the older 1995 release and the vinyl record to be of better quality than the ones in the new booklet! (but neither contain anything that original album did not have either).
Albeit minor, one other thing I do appreciate about the new release is that the cd comes in a Tyvek sleeve which serves to better protect the cd as it is removed and replaced in the cardboard sleeve.
I would recommend buying the new release of this cd. If you have the money to spare, it is worth it for the sound quality improvement. As a fan, you are showing continued interest in Renaissance, and you get what's probably the best sounding version of the album Prologue!
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Permalink Reply by Alan St. John on -
Hi, I'm new here,
I asked about this reissue on Progressive ears and someone kindly provided a link.
On the strength of these comments, this seems to be the Prologue to get - it isn't among the Renaissance CDs I have. The tyvek' sleeve is no small advantage, too, IMO. Too many card sleeve issues are let down by absence of this.
Alan.
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Permalink Reply by Alan St. John on
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Thanks again, Jean-Luc. I've ordered the disc from amazon.
If the 'tyvek' inners are the ones with a window, they're okay, but the best ones I've seen are the semi-transparent ones resembling an antistatic LP inner, like Nagoaka's LP inners. These don't graze the disc at all. Unfortunately they only seem to be available from Japan, or were last time I looked.
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I had so many of those crappy, scratchy cardboard sleeves that I bought a load of Tyvek sleeves as replacements/inserts. I had to go to the states for them (surely there must be one supplier in the UK?) but it was well worth it. I quickly used a couple of hundred and had to order some more but they are disc savers for sure.
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Thanks for that Rob, just what I like to see regarding an issue, so I'm glad I ordered it now. I had the original vinyl, which went years ago, along with my t/t. The only CD I had was the One Way version. I never liked their Renaissance issues and I have a feeling it may even have been a needle-drop, certainly their Ashes was. They were all lifeless and flat.
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