Conference cookie::notes$archive:cd_v1

So, Jerry.  I have one Renaissance LP, Live at Carnegie Hall.  I've always 
enjoyed the whole thing, particularly Mother Russia.  With this in mind, which 
of their CDs that are available (if any) should I buy?

						     
							- JP

    The line-up was almost completely changed between their second
    and third albums ("almost" because one of the session people on
    the second album -- Mike Dunford -- was a mainstay of the later
    line-up). If you like LIVE AT CARNAGIE HALL (which I do not have,
    incidentally, but I can extrapolate with the best of them), you
    will most likely like AZURE D'OR. RENAISSANCE (the first album)
    and ILLUSIONS (the second) are quite different.
    
    --- jerry

    Didn't Renaissance have an album titled something like "Turn of
    a friendly card"?  I know that Alan Parsons has a title similar
    to that.  Also, didn't they have a female vocalist that had a
    fantastic voice, or am I thinking of some other group?
    
    My best friend from high school had one of their albums and I
    remember how good it was.  Could someone list all of their album
    titles, at least those that haven't already been listed?
    
    thanks,
            Don

    re:.3
    
    Yes, you're thinking of Annie Haslam, whose voice is marvelous.
    
    Their albums are:
    
    Original line-up (fronted by ex-Yardbirds Keith Relf & Jim McCarty):
    
    	RENAISSANCE
    	ILLUSION
    
    Second lin-eup:
    
    	PROLOGUE
    	ASHES ARE BURNING
    	TURN OF THE CARDS
    	SCHEHERAZADE AND OTHER STORIES
    	LIVE AT CARNEGIE HALL
    	NOVELLA
    	A SONG FOR ALL SEASONS
    	IN THE BEGINNING
    	AZURE D'OR
    	CAMERA CAMERA
    
    --- jerry

>    Yes, you're thinking of Annie Haslam, whose voice is marvelous.
    
Oh, my yes.  Excellent voice!!!

I've got     
    	PROLOGUE
    	ASHES ARE BURNING
    	TURN OF THE CARDS
    	A SONG FOR ALL SEASONS
    	AZURE D'OR

on LP so I'm really looking forward to getting them on CD.  Has anybody heard
about WHEN they plan to release the others?

        re .4 and Jerry's list of all the Renaissance albums - note
        that _In The Beginning_ is _Prologue_ and _Ashes Are Burning_
        (more or less) repackaged into a single (two-record) set.
        (Although I just noticed for the first time that "At The
        Harbour" is marked, on _ITB_, as "edited for this record".) 
        
        Jerry also missed _Time-Line_, which could be considered
        "third line-up", as it only has Haslam, Camp and Dunford
        from the second line-up.  (The last two on his list may
        be this same line-up; I don't have either album to check.)
        
Jim Stratton
        

    re:.5
    
    God only knows when (or if) the others will be issued on CD.
    The three so far have all been UK imports.
    
    re:.6
    
    Thanks for the corrections. I *thought* ITB might be a combined
    reissue, but I wasn't sure (I don't have it, needless to say).
    Also, TIME LINE was released after the cut-off point of the
    older edition of ROCK RECORD that I had at home.
    
    CAMERA CAMERA had just the three (Haslam, Dunford, Camp), but
    AZURE D'OR also has John Tout and Terence Sullivan.

    re: .4
    
    Jerry,
            Thanks for the answers!  I knew I wasn't imagining that title.
    I'll be anxiously awaiting that title to come out on CD.
    
    Don

    As I mentioned earlier, BCD is having a big clearance sale. I
    happened to notice both of the first two Renaissance CD's in the
    sale bins for $14.00 each. Considering that the regular (import)
    price is half again as much, this is a bargain.
    
    --- jerry

    I was at Rockit Records earlier this evening and they had gotten
    in a CD of ASHES ARE BURNING, but *sniff* they were sold out.
    
    The news is even better. The clerk said that (1) it's a (domestic)
    "mid-priced" CD (I forgot to ask which label), and (2) much to
    his surprise, since it wasn't advertised as such, it's a two-in-
    one with IN THE BEGINNING.
    
    (Since, as a previous reply mentioned, IN THE BEGINNING is a
    two-in-one reissue of PROLOGUE and ASHES ARE BURNING, someone
    is mixed-up somewhere.)
    
    Somehow, a two-in-one "mid-priced" CD sounds too good to be true,
    but I'm definitely keeping my eyes open.
    
    --- jerry

    Well, I found a copy today at Newbery Comics. It's a Capitol
    "Starline Series" disc, for $10.99 (Newbery's price) and it
    is indeed a double-length CD, clocking in at 74 minutes even!
    There is some noticible hiss, but it in no way interferes with
    the recording. Annie Haslam's vocals really shine through,
    especially on "Rajah Khan".
    
    The actual title is IN THE BEGINNING...PROLOGUE/ASHES ARE BURNING,
    so it would appear to be just a CD release of the IN THE BEGINNING
    twofer. While the total time seems to be reasonable, there are only
    6 selections (albeit long in some cases) per "album". Since I
    don't have the LP of either, separately or together, can anyone
    tell me if this is indeed complete?
    
    It's interesting that Capitol, whom some are castigating for their
    "greed" with issuing short CD's (eg. the Beatles), would offer a
    74 minute CD for a mere $10.99.
    
    Definitely a bargain, and definitely recommended.
    
    --- jerry

    Re: .11
    
    I can't seem to find my Ashes are Burning LP to make sure about
    tha one (silly me!), but all of the tracks from Prologue are on
    the CD.
    
    B
    

    Renaissance -  
      Prologue contains   Prologue
                          Kiev
                          Sounds of the Sea
                          Spare Some Love
                          Bound for Infinity
                          Rajah Khan
    
      Ashes Are Burning contains   Can You Understand
                                   Let It Grow
                                   On the Frontier
                                   Carpet of the Sun
                                   At the Harbour
                                   Ashes Are Burning
    
    The original album cover is one of those bizarre HIPGNOSIS covers
    like the ones ELP and Pink Floyd used.
    I can't wait for the TURN OF THE CARDS album to get on disc.  My
    vinyl copy sounds like a rice crispys commercial and has a skip
    near the end of side two.   It's my favorite and I'd like to hear
    it sounding brand new again.
    

    re: last two
    
    OK, great, then the CD is complete.
    
    re:.13
    
    I'm looking forward to *all* of the others on CD. The only one I'm
    leery of is CAMERA CAMERA, and that only because they would have
    to make sure to get rid of the awful distortion at the beginning
    of "Okichi-san", which appears to be on the master (I have both an
    LP and cassette of this album, and the distortion is on both).
    
    --- jerry

    This boy is a *very* happy camper.
    
    I had special-ordered some import titles with Nashua Compact Disc,
    and three of the six came in, one of them being a German issue of
    CAMERA CAMERA. It doesn't sound perfect, but the distortion that
    appears at the beginning of "Okichi-san" on the LP/cassette is gone!
    Not *totally* -- there is a slight distortion, and I'm convinced
    that it's Annie's voice punching the mike (the microphone, not
    Dunford :-)). But it's just barely noticible, unlike the LP/cassette,
    in which it's painful to listen to.
    
    It's Line Records LICD 9.00042 O, for any of you who have the
    urge and resource to order one. NCD had a price for it of $19.99.
    
    --- jerry