Illusion (album)

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illusion
Renaissance studio album

Publication
(s)

1971

admission

1970

Label (s) Island Records

Format (s)

LP

Genre (s)

Art rock , progressive rock

Title (number)

6th

running time

44m31s

occupation
  • Keyboards: John Hawken
  • Bass: Louis Cennamo

production

Keith Relf

Studio (s)

Olympic Studios
Island Studios

chronology
Renaissance
(1969)
illusion Prologue
(1972)

Illusion is the second studio album by the British progressive rock group Renaissance . It was recorded in 1970 but wasn't released until 1971.

background

In the course of recording this album, the line-up that had recorded the debut album the year before fell apart. Jim McCarty was the first to leave the band because he didn't feel like going on a European tour. Keith Relf and Louis Cennamo then also split from Renaissance, their paths crossed again later with the band Armageddon . McCarty stayed with Renaissance for some time as a songwriter and he brought Michael Dunford to the band.

Guitarist Michael Dunford recruited new members: singer Terry Crowe, drummer Terry Slade, bassist Neil Korner. This new line-up recorded Mr. Pine , the only (published) Renaissance piece in which founding members (John Hawken & Jane Relf ) can be heard along with a member of the "classic" line-up (Michael Dunford). It contains a theme that is used again in the better-known piece Running Hard from the album Turn of the Cards .

To complete the not-yet-complete album, the original line-up (except John Hawken) came together again to record Past Orbits of Dust . Don Shinn helped out on the keyboards. Betty Thatcher, a friend of Jane Relf, ​​wrote the lyrics for the songs Love Is All and Past Orbits of Dust . The cast Dunford, Hawken, Korner, Crowe, Slade and Jane Relf went on a European tour after the recording was completed.

The first publication of Illusion was 1971 in Germany, 1973 followed the release in France and Israel, only 1977 in Great Britain and Japan.

Track list

page 1

  1. Love Goes On - 02:51 (Relf)
  2. Golden Thread - 8:15 am (McCarty / Relf)
  3. Love Is All - 03:40 (McCarty / Thatcher)
  4. Mr. Pine - 7:00 am (Dunford)

Page 2

  1. Face of Yesterday - 06:06 (McCarty)
  2. Past Orbits of Dust - 14:39 (McCarty / Relf / Thatcher)

Reviews

"The two" Love "songs are really bad. The flower power pop-like Love Goes On sounds quite nice in its naive hippie bliss, but the constant "ba ba ba ba ba love goes on" is quite annoying in the long run. After all, Love Is All is simple cuddly pop, where only the classically inspired piano playing by John Hawken makes you sit up and take notice. "

- Jochen Rindfrey on babyblaue-seiten.de

"Past orbits of dust" is at the end a longtrack, which not only seems to anticipate "Rajah Kahn" from the "Prologue" album, but which is also a worthy successor to "Bullet": an exquisite composition (sounds like chocolate advertising) of harpsichord, bass and drums, which becomes more and more experimental towards the end and is still by no means a copy of "Bullet". This is exactly the kind of music that can be stretched endlessly on live performances and made into an evening filler with ever new improvisations, and because of this piece alone I would have liked to see this band perform (especially since there are hardly any corresponding recordings of Pink Floyd from the same period there). Despite the two weaker songs, I can recommend this album without hesitation. "

- Henning Mangold on babyblaue-seiten.de

"Definitely not as good as the debut, Illusion is a confused and patchy album, but surprisingly still good and a definitely a Renaissance-worthy album, that should not be overlooked, but investigated in a second or third wave."

- progarchives.com

"The moods Renaissance create on the album are really great, and with the exception of the two short and rather hippie like songs Love Goes On and Love is All, the album is a masterpiece in my ears."

- progarchives.com

Individual evidence

  1. a b The History Of Renaissance , nlightsweb.com, accessed September 4, 2012 (English)
  2. Renaissance Discography , nlightsweb.com, accessed September 4, 2012 (English)
  3. The two "Love" songs are really bad. , babyblaue-seiten.de, accessed on September 4, 2012
  4. Even in spite of the two weaker songs, I can recommend this album without hesitation. , babyblaue-seiten.de, accessed on September 4, 2012
  5. ^ Illusion is a confused and patchy album , progarchives.com, accessed September 4, 2012
  6. the album is a masterpiece in my ears , progarchives.com, accessed September 4, 2012

Web links