Customer Reviews

Ashes Are Burning

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
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Once upon a time . . . back before the 80s marketing gurus dreamed up the term "classic rock" to describe anything that predated the Sex Pistols, there was a genre of popular music known as "classicAL rock," referring to rock musicians like Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson, and Renaissance, who borrowed from classical repertoire to give their music a more expansive feel. Today this genre is mostly called "prog-rock" ("progressive rock"), but "classical rock" remains the more accurate term. Throughout Renaissance's music, melodies by Rachmaninov, Debussy, Barber, Rimsky-Korsakov, and other classical composers can be heard in their musical palette. And while classical rock was never hip enough for [those] who wrote for magazines like Rolling Stone, to those of us who heard beauty in this music, it was (and still is) transcendent and glorious, a testament to humankind's desire to reach for something greater -- greater beauty, greater happiness, greater understanding.Renaissance was the classical rock band par excellence, and Ashes Are Burning is, to this reviewer, the band's undisputed masterpiece. From the opening piano torrent of "Can You Understand" through to the elegant jamming at the end of the title track, this album soars with richly-textured musicianship. This disc marked the first time Renaissance used an orchestra while recording, adding additional depth to their already-symphonic sound. Nowhere do the strings sound better than on "Carpet of the Sun," a light-hearted celebration of nature and light. That song, like "On the Frontier" before it, features lyrics that are confident and joyous; but songs like "At the Harbour" evoke a darker feeling of loss and grief--all is not sweetness and light in Renaissance's world. Lyrically, the album's finest moment is the title track, a meditation on journeying and vision which resolves in a mystical, somber affirmation of forgiveness and love. "Your sins you won't remember, and all you'll find there are love...ashes are burning the way." What is this referring to? The flames of purgatory? The fires of divine love? The singer (Annie Haslam, whose voice is utterly gorgeous) never says. We are left to interpret the words for ourselves, as the music plays out into a lovely coda. What a great album. They don't make 'em like they used to!

As most Renaissance fans will know the songs I'll simply focus on the remastering. Of the 3 that Repertoire has released(along with 'Turn of the Cards' & 'Scheherazade...') this is the best sounding. 'Turn of the Cards' & 'Scheherazade...' are both a bit over-ripe. You constantly feel like you have to turn down the stereo. The sound is definitely not muddled and much, much better than the earlier cd's. 'Ashes..' on the other hand has a warm feel to it & you can finally hear the orchestra and drums much clearer. There is even a moment in the song 'Ashes Are Burning' in which you can hear Annie Haslam's chair squeaking. As a vast improvement on the older cd's, I would recommend the remasters to any Renaissance fan. Buy them. You'll be glad you did.

Classical folk rock with a jazz influence - that's Renaissance, and by the time of Ashes Are Burning they had finally developed their distinctive sound. No one before (or since) had blended soaring melodies, complex orchestration and the occasional classical quote with the modern stylings of rock and jazz like this. Of course, it's also easy to recognize Annie Haslam's gorgeous voice by itself; her singing alone is worth the price. Her voice acts as an additional instrument, an integral part of the composition rather than following a vocal line 'over' the other instruments.

Apart from an occasionally awkward lyric ("Let It Grow," which is still a beautiful song nonetheless), this album is strong and consistent, start to finish. "Let It Grow," "Carpet of the Sun," and "On the Frontier" show the group's cheerful and sunny side. The longer pieces "Can You Understand" and the title track stretch out and cover more musical ground than many entire albums. Overall it's an eminently positive album - quite a marked contrast to the following Turn of the Cards, which can be downright depressing. This one is for a sunny autumn day, 40 minutes of life-enriching beauty not to be missed.

This recording, along with Turn of the Cards, mark Renaissance's peak as a band. The compositions and performance's, particularly Annie Haslam's vocals, are exceptional. The only flaw would be the occassionally awkward lyric(see Let it Grow). Following these two albums, and the follow up Sheherazade, the band succumbed to the pressures of the recording company to maintain a more contemporary sound. Sadly, this spelled the beginning of the end of the band as they lost that which made them unique and as a result, their audience.

Renaissance actually had quite a history, which I wont' go into here. But the "original" Renaissance more or less disbanded after their initial album ("Islands" I believe it was called), and the second lineup (or most of it) formed to release what many consider to be the band's "first" album, "Prologue". "Ashes Are Burning" is that lineup's second effort (though for both albums, members from the original lineup were involved in some degree).

This second effort solidly followed up and established the musical direction that Renaissance would take. The band consisted of outstanding musicians (keyboards -- John Tout, bass -- Jon Camp, drums/percussion -- Terence Sullivan, guitars -- Michael Dunford) as well as what I consider the best female vocalist I've ever heard, Annie Haslam.

The album opens up with a true classic, "Can You Understand" -- the piano work is exquisite and as the rest of the band comes into play, it becomes clear that this band knows its chops. Annie's vocals fit in perfectly, and on the basis of this song alone the album would be better than 95% of any other so-called "progressive rock" bands' efforts.

But there's more... indeed pretty much every song on the album is a worthy effort. Other standouts, though, include "Carpet of the Sun" (a short, especially by Renaissance's standards, song) and the title cut itself. Indeed, the title cut features much the same musical excellence and vocal hi-lites that the opening cut establishes for the album. "Ashes Are Burning" would become Renaissance usual encore song, getting an extended working with each band member contributing flourishes (check it out on the "Live and Carnegie Hall" album). Yet unlike some other bands where long songs featuring solos don't work well as a "group" effort, the ability of Renaissance to maintain and relate the individual musical efforts within a group arrangement never comes into doubt.

This album is, in my opinion, one of the top two Renaissance efforts (the other being the "Scheherazade and Other Stories" album). That says a lot -- this is a band that knew its stuff. If you are a Renaissance fan and don't have this one -- get it. Now. Don't take that chance that it goes out of print (which I hope will never happen) before you buy it.

Half of the half-dozen songs on Renaissance's second album from 1972 are prime examples of the group's progressive (nee classical) rock sound. "Can You Understand?", "Carpet of the Sun" and "Ashes Are Burning" are all performed on the 1976 "Live from Carnegie Hall" album. The title track is undoubtedly the ultimate Renaissance encore piece. Indeed, it serves as the final track on not only that pair of albums but also the two volume "Tales of 1001 Nights" set, where it is moved from its contemporary pieces on the first volume to the last track on the second. "Ashes Are Burning" is the perfect encore piece because it serves so well as an extended showcase for solos by the group's members.

In contrast, "Can You Understand?" has always been the ideal opening song for a Renaissance album, with its driving piano melody that spurns the rest of the band to match it as the song progresses. Yet within this 10 minute epic we are also treated to Annie Halsam singing accompanied only by acoustic guitar, before the song again builds upon a larger them appropriated from a Russian classical composer.

"Carpet of the Sun" remains the group's best known "single," not only because it is one of the few songs short enough to be given airplay, but also because Annie Halsam's vocals with that dazzling trill continues to delight. More than any other singer of her time, Halsam's singing voice was an instrument integral to the composition and performance of each song, which is why she is as effective singing a series of la's as she is singing Betty Thatcher's lyrics.

Michael Dunford wrote the music for all but one of the songs on this album, which marked his official return to the group. Jim McCarty did the music for the remaining track ("On the Frontier) while Richard Hewson wrote and conducted the orchestral arrangements that became a defining element of Renaissance's work. In retrospect, what is most impressive about "Ashes Are Burning" is how quickly the group found its voice after the release of their first album, "Prologue." For the next six years things would only be getting better with many considering their next effort, "Turn of the Cards" to be their best album.

With their second post Relf album, Renaissance took the same approach that they had on "Prologue" -- John Tout's piano and Annie Haslam's soprano combining to make pleasant and enjoyable "classical" rock considerably less overbearing than acts like Emerson, Lake, and Palmer etc. made. The results are also quite similar to "Prologue," although, at its best, "Ashes Are Burning" is a somewhat more accessible effort.

The first half of the album is a bit uneven. "Can You Understand," which opens the album, is a nice if not terribly remarkable start, while Haslam's vocals venture on slightly shrill territory of "Let It Grow."

But things pick up considerably for the second half. "Carpet of the Sun" is a brief song with a strong melody that is perfectly complimented by Annie Haslam's lovely vocal turn, while "At The Harbor" is a more "traditional" Renaissance song -- longer in length (nearly seven minutes) while projecting a more somber mood than the cheery "Carpet." But it is the closing title track that really highlights the album.

Clocking in at nearly eleven and a half minutes, the title track showcases the entire band and in the process creates an epic song that "progressive" rock is both famous and, in some cases, infamous for. Yet this song brings a more accessible approach to the genre with a strong melodic sense that so often got lost among so many of the genre's other acts.

Ashes are Burning and the follow up album, Turn of the Cards were the highlight of this band's recording output. The only weak cut on the album is Let It Grow, whose lyrics, unfortunately, bury the song. Otherwise, the performances of the band are wonderfully creative and skillful in their support of the remarkable vocals of Annie Haslem. A unique band, that sadly succumbed to the pressures of the recording industry to update their sound which eventually led to them losing that which made them unique. This recording is highly recommended...Simon

I have been reading several reviews, several, several, and the motto has been always the same, "The spectacular Haslam's voice, the spectacular Haslam's voice" again and again and again, hey, you all, pay attention please; Ok her voice is the first impact and the trade mark of this band, and I love her voice too, but everybody has forgotten that Michael Dunford always composed all the songs, virtually all the songs since the first time, and mainly on this album where he composed all the songs, simply the entire album, he was the genius of the band, "he was the Renaissance soul". You can replace eventually a singer, a bassist, but try to replace the genius composer, try to replace Michael Dunford here in this case and for sure Renaissance wouldn't have existed. Only later John Camp started to contribute and share the compositional task with Dunford, but Dunford kept himself as the main composer untill the end. Remember Annie has never composed anything. I repeat, I love Annie Haslam's voice it is superbly beautiful but you all have forgotten the real hero here. This album in my opinion it doesn't have only one weak moment, or a weak composition, it is perfect and the best Renaissance work, and don't forget John Tout's unbelievable piano playing ability he is a real piano genius, all the group was on their peak, superb work, "Ashes are burning" is the best song, but you can recognize that is a masterpiece since the first piano notes of the "Can you understand". Simply perfect. Moving, Essential to all progressive rock fans.

I am a Progressive Rock fan and a "Yes" fanatic. I am not alone in liking both groups as there is a 'Listmania' that is nothing but Yes and Renaissance listed. I was told that if one loves Yes' "Close to the Edge" that there is 95% that you will love this album. I borrowed a friends CD and am now addicted to it and buying my own.

This fits into the "Golden Age" Progressive/Art-Rock/Sympho-rock genre that Yes/ELP and others pioneered in the early 1970s. In America, Renaissance, did not get catapulted into the same popularity as Yes. This group is as talented as Yes and very similar in terms of raw indivdual talent, composition and creation of their own sound which blends the Structure of Classical Music with Rock. Whereas Yes, particularly in the Rick Wakeman era, blends together Symphononic Music (heavy on Mozart motifs) with Rock; Renaissance blends English medival folk and chamber structures with Rock to produce a very pleasent sound indeed. I assume more people are familiar with Yes, so I am continuing the comparision. Renaissance is most like Yes' Close to the Edge album, but a little more mellow/orchestral. Highly recommend to anyone, but in particular Yes' fans.