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Musicians:
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Annie Haslam : vocals
Michael Dunford : acoustic guitars, vocals
Terence Sullivan : drums, percussion
Mickey Simmonds : keyboards, vocals
Rave Tesar : piano and additional keyboards
David Keyes : bass, vocals
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- Released :
2002
- Label:
GEP
- Catalogue
number :
GEPCD 1032
- Total
playing time :
CD 1 :
51’19” CD 2 : 53’36”
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- Website:
Renaissance :
www.nlightsweb.com
Annie Haslam : www.anniehaslam.com
- Recorded
live at Koseinenkin Hall, Tokyo, Japan on 16th march 2001
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Tracklist:
CD 1 : Carpet of the sun (3’49”) / Opening
out (4’24”) / Midas man (6’31”) / Lady from Tuscany
(7’07”) / Pearls of wisdom (4’41”) / Dear landseer (5’40”)
/ Northern lights (4’21”) / Moonlight shadow (4’08”) /
Precious one (4’48”) / Ananda (5’42”)
CD 2 : Mother Russia (10’31”) / Trip to the
fair (11’53”) / One thousand roses (7’53”) / I think of you
(3’20”) / Ashes are burning (19’57”)
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Cristalclear. I’m convinced the word has been
invented solely in order to describe the voice of Annie Haslam. If ever
there was a voice who could match this description best it is the voice of
Annie. Should I say ‘is’ the voice or ‘was’ the voice because to be
honest a long period of time has elapsed since the band’s debut many, many
years ago.
Hot on the heels of a brandnew studio album
called “Tuscany” it looks like the friendship with Michael Dunford is as
strong as it ever was whilst the companionship with Terence Sullivan and
Mickey Simmonds can be heard throughout the new and old material. Recorded
on just one day (as opposed to three days from which the previous live
collection “Live at Carnegie Hall” was pulled), of course Annie needs
some time before her vocal chords are fully lubricated, before it sounds
like no time has passed. With Mickey Simmonds taking care of the orchestral
arrangements luckilly the wonderful material from days gone by still sound
as fresh and exciting as if they were recorded yesterday. Opening with the
favourite ‘Carpet of the sun’ it’s ideal for Annie to settle her voice
as it’s backed by good clean drumming suporting her all the way. During
the opening section for ‘Opening out’ there’s a little hesitation in
the ‘naked’ passages but due to the power of the melody all is soon
forgotten as the Haslam trademark sets in fairly quickly. ‘Midas man’
from their “Novella” album for the first time offers some wonderful
harmonies whilst piano and tubular bells accompany the hard sounding bass.
Addressing the audience with the word
‘arigato’ is like unlocking a treasure chest with a golden key. It also
marks a section in the concert where the then newly released studio album is
being promoted by means of three consecutive tracks. The pure Haslam voice
fills the intro for ‘Lady from Tuscany’ where Simmonds tries to evoke
the sound of violin on his synth yet it would have been marvelous to have
the real instrument available ! Piano and acoustic percussion form the main
ingredients for ‘Pearls of wisdom’ yet one can hear how much more
bombastic this song could sound if a real orchestra would be at hand.
‘Dear landseer’ is build around a strange melody, not an easy song to
digest when you hear it for the very first time so I ask myself why they
picked this one to promote the “Tuscany” album ? Maybe it’s because of
the high pitched vocal solo Annie delivers ? Then the band goes back in time
with their British top ten hit ‘Northern lights’ sporting the great
immortal trumpet parts on synth. Also the flute is a synth and slightly
introduces a medieval feel to what is undoubtedly a rock classic. Then a
solo spot for Annie is introduced kicking off with the Mike Oldfield cover
‘Moonlight shadow’ which can be found on Annie’s solo album from 1989
as produced by the legendary Larry Fast. The first disc closes with
‘Precious one’ and ‘Ananda’ two songs from Annie’s solo album
“The dawn of Ananda”.
Disc two will please the fans more as the
material here mainly consists of longer tracks such as ‘Mother Russia’.
Again it’s difficult to place this live rendition against the live take on
“Live at Carnegie hall” because the latter contains the New York
Philharmonic adding a sound no samples can match. Almost pure classical
piano forms an integer part of ‘Trip to the fair’, one of my alltime
favourites. The sound of the bass is nicely mixed within the arrangement
complementing piano and choir before the music takes a trip through
jazz-land. Although I don’t ave the actual setlist as performed that
particular night it sounds as if the ‘normal’ setlist ended with ‘One
thousand roses’, yet another new song from their “Tuscany” album. As
kind of an encore the acoustic ‘I think of you’ from the “Turn of the
cards” album is performed but everyone is waiting for the final epic which
is delivered by means of ‘Ashes are burning’. Here, for the first time
on the album, Annie’s voice is back the way it should be : high, sharp,
crisp and above all entertaining and storytelling. In certain sections she
sounds like a siren emerging from the Renaissance seas. Certainly the superb
bass solo is an interesting part of the song as well. Just like everyone is
waiting for that ultimate cry when Joe Cocker performs ‘With a little help
from my friends’ so are we waiting for that extremely high note of Annie
at around the fifteen minute mark. It’s there allright yet not as
convincing as it used to be. The music however builds and builds like a true
classical concerto with the piano as a focal point.
“In the land of the rising sun” is a
statement of one particular night in the life of Renaissance. It shows the
band as it is right now as a sixpiece without any orchestra at all.
Annie’s voice still has that distinctive quality yet it lacks the youth
and sparkle which was so typical during the band’s heydays. So if I’d
have to chose a live album I’d go for “Live at Carnegie Hall” any day.
Reviewed by : John
‘Bo Bo’ Bollenberg
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