Renaissance ARE UP THERE for serious pure prog fanatics especially those who grew up with the music from it's inceptions in the early 70's. I saw them with Gentle Giant in 1976. Annie then melted my young heart.
Song for All Seasons one of the greatest intro's to a track ever, absolute perfection with the wonderful voice of Annie Haslam. John Camp on base is awesome, can't understand how this amazing song is so underplayed or known,nothing like it!
For many of us who were in high school in the '70s, Renaissance is no secret. They are, perhaps, the greatest orchestral rock band in history and there will never be a more angelic voice than that of Annie Haslam.
Bought this as a single Loved it then as now. Love That voice, the bass, and finally, the ending.With the drum. Reminds me of the seventies. It was a sound of the times.Music doesn't come out of a vacuum. Some words or phrases make a song i don't know why, but just the sound of the words never mind the meaning.When you hear the words "the Northern Lights" ; sounds like yearning.
Renaissance did two albums before Annie joined the band, so as far as I'm concerned, this was their first album as Renaissance, just as "Fragile" was Yes' first album as Yes after acquiring Rick Wakeman, in my opinion. "Prologue" was that first album. It came out in 1972, the same year as "Close To The Edge". I'd never heard of Renaissance. One evening I was looking through the record section in K-Mart and came across this album in the cut-out section (anyone remember that?) for fifty cents. It had an interesting cover, and it was only fifty cents, so I thought "what the hell", and took it home. I was thoroughly enjoying it, but when it got to the last song, "Rajah Khan", I was blown away. I'd never heard a voice like that. The song has no lyrics. Annie plays her voice like an instrument and demonstrates the full range and capabilities of that voice. Check it out. ruclips.net/video/ox_hzO6SIAY/видео.html
I had the privilege of hearing Renaissance live when they were one of the guest bands aboard the third Moody Blues Cruise, in 2016. Annie sounds just as good as she did decades ago. I remember that in 1978 my mother asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and I told her an album by a band called Renaissance, with a song called Northern Lights. I still have that record.
Please find on RUclips the concert recorded by the BBC - Renaissance-Sight and Sound in Concert in 1977. These BBC concerts were a breakthrough as television programmes were in mono with pretty shoddy TV speakers. The BBC set it up so you could watch your TV with the sound turned off and listen through a simultaneous zfeed off a stereo radio receiver thereby using your Hifi system to get a much better quality listening experience. I didn’t know much about Renaissance at that time but I watched the concert, mainly because of the novelty value as this was the first concert to be broadcast in this format, and was blown away by Annie’s voice and from then on was hooked. On the ‘Song for All Seasons’ album is another single ‘Back Home once Again’ which was a theme song for a children’s TV show called ‘The Paper Lads’, a fictional series about kids growing up in North East England.
Saw Renaissance twice in 76 and 78. Many years later, I was at one of Ian Anderson's solo concerts and who does he bring out on stage? Annie Haslam! They did Northern Lights as a duet. One of the greatest concert moments ever!
I thought of this song immediately, when I saw the Northern Lights in beautiful Cornwall, UK last night, nearly fifty years after it came out. Underrated group, a mystery why it did not get to no.1.
To add: Renaissance didn't need singles back in the 1970s. Most cities seemed to have at least one FM station that played album tracks. In NY, we had WNEW, and they played good music, even full album side songs. Today, we have young people who largely have short attention spans and need to have a single rammed down their throats. Groups like Renaissance, Yes, ELP, Focus, etc got B-side airplay, etc from DJs who enjoyed sharing great music without major commercial overtones.
To me this is just about as perfect a pop song as I'm likely to find. But that's me. Another great longer one of theirs, and to my mind possibly their most intense song, is Touching Once (Is So Hard To Keep). The ending just leaves me with my jaw on the floor. Surprised no one in the comments seem to be mentioning it.
Was sitting with a group in a restaurant in Oxford, where i stayed a couple of days to attend a Seminar. I got an app from friend that there was a high chance of seeing the Aurora. I sort of dismissed it as i have been trying for over a year to see the Aurora in Rotterdam Netherlands where i live, but failed each time, light pollution, overcast, rain. On the internet i kept seeing photos, but those were from remote locations and i missed it each time. But then i though, wait, i am in a different surrounding now, maybe where my hotel is, i can find some field or dark space nearby where i could try and see if it is true and i could see it there. At the same time in our group a few people were playing guitar, we were sitting on the patio outside and one song someone sang was Northern Lights from Renaissance. I found out, like you said that the song wasn't about the Aurora, but seeing UK's harbour lights in the north when sailing away from it to the US. Maybe not sailing, but going by ship. I went to a field nearby and with the naked eye i saw mostly white ribbons dancing in the sky, though when i tried to photograph it, it was the most beautiful i had ever seen, every colour of the rainbow. It was the event of 10/11th of May this year and seemed to have been a rare event, so right time right place. Back home i scoured youtube about Renaissance and am now completely hooked on most of their albums right after the first album which i feel less attracted to as well as much later albums, except Song for Seasons with Northern Lights. Shehezerade, Ashes Burning, Turn of the Cards being my favourites. I am now completely hooked to the music. While i am from the 70's i sort of vaguely remember some of the music, but what the band was called i was not so aware of. In those days we mostly listened to the radio and many songs i taped now only with Shaza or what it is called recognition app i can find out what the song was called. Of course i know Genesis. And in The Netherlands we had Kayak, Earth and Fire and Focus as progrock bands.
I seem to remember that this was the theme to a kids TV series late 70's. The album it came from isn't a patch on earlier albums - this is the best track.
To be honest, anything from off the Argus album is worthy to be listened to repeatedly until the needle breaks. I had never heard of Wishbone Ash but attended a FREE concert at Stetson University in 1972. I saw and heard dual lead guitars for the first time on "Throw Down the Sword". It literally changed my life. I went and bought a used electric guitar at a pawn shop and haven't stopped playing. JP, Mark H. and I give you permission to consider anything from off this album. Thanks.
@@josephbabitz1643 I agree this one of an album. Every song on it is perfect. This album, I learned every bass lines on it. And still have fun to play them. Martin Turner is a big influence on y playing (which doesn't give him any credit in fact haha).
Suggestions for underrated bands: U.K.: especially their first album, check out their three part songs In The Dead Of Night / By The Light Of Day / Presto Vivace Reprise ... I usually don't like supergroups because they tend to present a watered down version of what members did much better in the past but this is the exception to the rule IMHO. Marillion: now this is a band with a deep , deep discography with songs both in a more modern poprock vein and songs in a (neo)progressive vein. They definetely always walk their own path following their muse. There is so much stuff to recommend but I would suggest to look into an album like Marbles (especially the song The Invisible Man) which has probably both their best prog material as well as some of their best pop songs (check out Don't Hurt Yourself). Oh, and you probably have heard about crowdfunding ... well, they basically invented that or at least did it for the first time in the music business, asking their fans to pay for an album upfront before it was recorded.
Your loss, there is some truly powerful music in the post Fish career which has now been much much longer then with Fish. Try the song Neverland, especially a good live recording.
Agree that Renaissance is able to imprint their progressive identity into this more main stream effort. Very enjoyable song to listen to even though it was created to be more of a hit than a masterpiece. Would love to hear your analysis on songs like "Can You Hear Me?" and "Midas Man" from their great Novella album.
I always saw this song as a perfect statement of them in shorthand, it made me buy the album and you can imagine my excitement as a progger to find what was through the back of the wardrobe. As to underrated bands, got to be Camel, as someone who loves instrumentals, Camel fed that need royally. One of the reasons they didn't hit the top maybe that they never had a GREAT singer, a couple of ok one's but no Phil Collins, Dave Gilmour, Peter Gabriel, Jon Anderson or Greg Lake. They did however have a long and productive career and produced a varied catalogue that maintained an impressive integrity right up to recent times and have a loyal following going to their shows.
What an amazing song performed by an extremely underrated band. Thank you Justin for covering this. I share in your enthusiasm of this band and this song in particular. When listening to Annie's voice on this song I am thinking Mama Cass Elliott. To your question on underrated progressive rock bands, three bands that I love and have followed since the early 70's come to mind. Firstly, Uriah Heep. Incredible lead and harmony vocals; sounding like Deep Purple. Secondly, Wishbone Ash (my all-time favorite): again incredible vocals and harmonies plus insane dual lead guitars that harmonize like voices. And finally, Emerson, Lake and Palmer; 'nuff said These three bands are all legendary in their own right and their contributions to Rock music is reaching. However, they all share the same unfortunate history...They all deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...BUT ARE NOT! Anyway, thanks again for another exhaustively thoughtful analysis. You Rock!
I remember when my girlfriend discovered A Song For All Seasons in the early '80s. We listened to it endlessly for quite a while. There was an English TV show that Renaissance did the theme song for, I think it was called The Paper Lads, but I could be wrong. The whole album is good. I don't know why they weren't bigger, other than the fact that it's progressive rock.
The perception of radio and long songs just don't work, would be the primary reason some talented bands fall through the cracks. For me the biggest discovery of such a band is "Camel" I also believe publications like "Rolling Stone Magazine" influence the perception on what is supposedly good. Jimmy Page once said, if you buy all the records RSM suggested, you'd have the worst record collection in the world. Lastly on a grander scale from a western world pov, you have to make it in the USA or the UK to be successful. Therefore you could have bias towards local groups vs foreign groups. I came across this type of bias in documentaries like "The Story of Anvil" and Rush's "Beyond the Lighted Stage". I'm sure there are a loads of other reason why some talented bands don't make it or get the recognition they deserve. Justin I think you should do another reaction to Al Stewart. Some of his songs have a progressive feel in the folk genre. "Roads to Moscow" is a great song but not as popular has his radio hit "Time Passages" Both are long songs, not sure why one got radio play and the other didn't.
Hey, it’s a fine pop song. I saw Annie Haslam live at the now-defunct (probably for quite a while by now) Bottom Line in NYC...when she sang this song, I instantly liked it, and I remember over the next 1-2 months snatching up all of Renaissance’s classic albums in the also long-gone HMV record store. Annie’s warm vocal and harmonies, the lush acoustic guitar, the regal ascending fills of the keyboard...it’s like a cup of hot chocolate with peppermint Schnapps on a cold snowy day...
Well said, mate. As you say, the single "Northern Lights" was for many people the first piece of music by Renaissance that they ever heard. This was then an enticement to listen to the album "A Song for all Seasons', and what a fine album that is! Then of course, all of the preceding albums (and I particularly like "Scheherazade" and "Novella"). An exceptionally talented and most underrated band as you most aptly say.
What a beautful song! It was successful in its own time but did not top the charts. However, more than four decades later you can see that it has a quality that will take it to many new ears in the ages to come. It is going to be delighting and uplifting new listeners for a long, long time.
Well, answering your first question: from the bands you still don't know, probably Van der Graaf Generator and german band Eloy are the most underrated. There are a couple of reasons to why Renaissance is often forgotten when it concerns about progressive music: 1) The lead vocalist. Ok ok, Annie is practically a goddess, but back in the 70's the female singers, to be known as rock stars, needed an attitude similar to Janis Joplin, or even Sonja Kristina. Annie seems like an angel, which goes against the "rebel" idea of rock (think the same way people on that days). 2) The lack of solos, especially guitar ones. If you listen closely, the songs of Renaissance are keyboard-driven (in the sense that John Tout is the bridge between the main parts of the composition) and the shining star is the bass player Jon Camp, which is very unusual. In fact, he does three things at the same time when playing every single bass note, and that gives a whole other dimension to the song. 3) The lyrics. Back on that days, the lyrical content that people seemed to like was very characterized by the silly Beatles and Zeppelin's lyrics, which turn out very difficult for bands such as Renaissance and Van der Graaf Generator (VdGG) to stand out with remarkable ones. Since Renaissance's lyrics are literature based and VdGG are kinda existentialist philosophical essay, it was difficult for the audience to get caught in those narratives. It is far easier to sing "Whoooooooa Aqualung!" than "Now, who's outside, inside Jekyll and Hyde?".
Thanks Augusto! I've only done one song from VdGG here, though hopefully there'll be more soon. I've also listened to Ocean by Eloy a few months ago on my own😉
@@JustJP That's great. I'll see your review, then. And about Eloy, if you listen any album from 1975 Power and the Passion to 1982 Time to Turn, you will see that it's very unfair they are so underrated. Frank Bornemann is a genius.
@@shyshift Yeah, I remember now he made a video listening to Ocean Gypsy. But the truth is that Renaissance is underrated in the main prog scene, and the reasons are very clear to me.
@@sidecardog5244 There was that theory back in the '70s, ex-Beatles were in the group working with other musicians. Of course Capitol Records did nothing to squash those rumors.
Triumvirat, definatly deserves more attention. Their first 5 LP's (and esp the first three) Totally progressive. "Illusions on a Double Dimple" is truly amazing. That album & "Sparticus" are often compared to Emerson, Lake & Palmer's classic period albums. Like ELP, they were a power trio and there keyboards are quite similar.
Everyone comes to a favorite band from different times, different places in their lives... and though Renaissance was pretty consistent in their sound over the years... this song kinda stood out for its attempt at ‘hit’ status. In the minds of most fans, it just sounded light and repetitive.... the band had been around several years by then and ‘captive heart’, another catchy but somehow more intrinsic tune, was well respected but still not a hit. They were big in the UK, but translated in the US to only a select group on the eastern seaboard. My theory is that while America loved prog, Renaissance was a little too medieval folk-tinged, and had a female lead singer... both of which repelled young white males from diving in. Not me... the band was huge in PA, and at Penn State, where I was at school during the late 70’s
The polish band Riverside, the Dutch Earth & Fire; especially the album 'the song of the marching children' , Dead can dance, jeff beck's blow by blow and wired.
if you are "new" to Renaissance, you might want to react to Mother Russia, Ocean Gypsy (which I believe was actually played on the radio (way back in the day), or Running Hard. If you enjoyed what you have heard so far, I really think you would like those suggestions. I am a big fan of their early stuff , not so much of their newer (later) releases.
I was looking for someone to suggest Mother Russia - their definitive song - I have fond memories of seeing this performed live. I think the first one JP did was Ocean Gypsy - quite a rave review! And I agree their early to mid-70s releases are their best..
That's one of the very first songs I loved as a kid, and I still love it now. Good bands around at the moment are Anathema, Pineapple Thief, and obviously Nightwish.
Did you know that Annie Haslam got a pearl stuck in her ear in childhood and it ended up destroying her eardrum? Or that she got thrown out of a school choir for singing too loud? I find those little details make it all more fun, somehow.
I recommend - Twelfth Night - anything from their Fact & Fiction/Live & Let Live and Sequences records. They were the most interesting of the second wave UK progressive bands having a strong punk feel too. Singer Geoff Man was an amazing front man and the band were incredible.
It's hard to tell if they consciously wrote it as a single or it just clicked. From what I have read, they were touring (as usual) in the US when they heard that it had broken into the top 10 and were surprised. So they didn't expect the success. In later albums, they consciously fished for 'another Northern Lights' and failed. I don't think they truly understood, in that moment in time, what actually made the song tick. It's that the piano-bass riff has a rhythmic pulse that their previous songs didn't have. Previously, they wrote beautiful parts that were interesting harmonically or melodically but this actually has a foot-tapping quality. It's that foot-tapping quality that made it popular; rhythm rules the roost in popular music over the last few decades. That's what they needed (and not necessarily multi-tracked choruses).
Most underrated prog/fusion artist by far is Steve Tibbetts. Start with the Yr album, the first song "Ur" is killer. Also, they're not underrated, but Porcupine Tree is definitely worth exploring. Start with Sound of Muzak or Trains.
Great analyzing of the song Justin! A song for all seasons were their last epic song, and is also one of their best in my opinion. I also feel this album and Azure d’or who comes after are quite similar,but Ado lacks the grand epic like A song for all seasons is. But lot’s of good songs on both albums. Both albums produced by Dave Hentchsel if i remember correctly, perhaps that’s one of the reasons they sound similar to me?
@@JustJP Starcastle first 3 albums are superb. They were considered as Yes clones, and that stopped their career I think. But they are a lot more, they have their own personality. Please give them a try with “Diamond Song” on their 3rd album, Fountain.
Yes! Starcastle! They were a but Yes-like, particularly with their bass and vocals (a bassist who actually rivals Chris Squire, believe it or not), but they wrote songs Yes would never have written. You'll love them! Try their self-titled first album, or 'Fountains of Light'
I am not sure if this qualifies as underrated, but you really oughta consider giving a spin to something from Hawkwind's Space Ritual album. Try either "Born To Go" or "Space Is Deep" or "Brainstorm."
Some underrated, or forgotten, prog rockers are: Van Der Graf Generator, Caravan, Soft Machine, Gentle Giant, and Ten Years After. The last a more bluesy band. Jethro Tull, Can, Hawkwind. All British except Can who were German.
Justin, some other underrated prog bands that you should check out are Glass Hammer, Moon Safari (check out their 2010 CD Lover's End), Camel, RPWL, and Kayak (I HIGHLY recommend their album Phantom Of The Night).
Another Progressive Rock band for the comments! Somebody mentioned the German group "Truimvirat" -- and here are the two songs to look for: "Triangle" from the album "Illusions on a Double Dimple" (it starts with a triangle being played), and also "The March to the Eternal City" from "Spartacus" (which leads to the gladiator's ultimate doom).
@@JustJP YW! -- I forgot about "Triangle", it's cut short, and wouldn't sound right without a minute and a half followup track called "Illusion" - those dang concept albums!
Okay, I missed the third one too, so it's a medley -- "Triangle / Illusion / Dimplicity" -- I think that's what I had in mind! Double dang those concept albums!
I would say Renaissance is more influenced by classical music than folk... I believe that there are some Russian composers that were big influences. As usual, I agree with your review and appraisal of the tune. I love this tune for the 3 or 4 minutes that it lasts, but that's enough... then on to something better. I'll echo a previous poster to recommend the title track, A Song For All Seasons. I also really love the first song on the album, Opening Out... so good! Hell, The Day of the Dreamer is pretty great, too.
Underrated Prog bands? Dozens of them...but one I’d recommend you hear soonest are Pavlov’s Dog, specifically their debut lp Pampered Menial. You’ve never heard a vocalist like David Surkamp. 👍
I can’t believe that I’m not familiar with this group at all. Reminds me of bits and pieces of several bands. It also seems to me that this song is one that needs to be listened to in context of the entire album(?). I’ll check them out myself.
I dont know how much sence it makes to comment this now, but another criminally underrated prog band is 10cc. They had one song on the charts, its dreadlock holiday.
One of my fave 70's songs. If you like Annie's vocals the please listen to All About Eve - Self Titled album and let me know what you think of that album.
Nice song, innit? Annie's stacked vocals have the same effect as Greg Lake's, IMO. Another song of theirs with commercial-leanings was "Back Home Once Again", used for a BBC TV show. So they were actually flirting with mass appeal in the 70s. The other top prog bands from the 70s that never made it big but should have are Camel and Gentle Giant. After that you get into the bands who maybe had a song or album here and there, or they had too short a run. That includes bands like Greenslade, Nektar, and Happy the Man.
Sounds like Petula Clark if she was more prog. Kind of a Canterbury sound type song...pastoral, medieval, folky. Good but not great. Underrated prog? Gentle Giant, IQ, Spock’s Beard, Echolyn, Transatlantic, Big Big Train, Riverside. Ps, BBTrain’s song “ London Plane” from the Folklore album is my current fav prog song...along with S Wilson’s Home Invasion/ Regret #9.
I totally agree with JP on this one, Renaissance are very and unjustly underrated - go and listen to Prologue, Ashes Are Burning, Scheherazade and this one, A Song for All Seasons. You've gotta be kidding, Spock's Beard better then Renaissance?
@@sidecardog5244I'm sorry, neither you or I are joking, I should have been more careful with my choice of words. But yes, I do mean it: Renaissance are better than Spock's Beard, these ones may be technically better but so what? Renaissance are also very good and, more important in my opinion, they are better composers, and they have such beautiful songs! For me that does it. But this is only my opinion, of course.
Paulo Pinheiro If you re read my original comment, I never said or implied one band was “better” than another. JP said that Renaissance is underrated...what other bands do you feel are underrated? I simply listed 7 Prog bands and my two favorite current songs (neither by the way are by Spock’s Beard). I like all those bands listed but I would never say one was superior to the other, or that someone else’s opinion was inferior to my own. Music tastes are subjective. I enjoyed all the Renaissance songs JP has played. I’m sorry if you got the impression that I didn’t like them or that I thought they were not as good as the seven bands I listed as underrated. ✌️🐾 Ps, my first reply was me being a sarcastic dick
@@sidecardog5244 Ops, you're right 😳! My bad! 😬 It wasn't you who passed a wrong impression, I did not read what you wrote with enough attention! Right now I'm almost 😴, tomorrow I'll mention a few bands I think don't get the recognition they deserve! Sorry for the misunderstanding. Good night to all good people 🙂
I enjoyed this as a radio hit when it was released, while knowing nothing about the wider world of Prog. It still sounds good to me. A song in a similar vein you might like is Moonlight Shadow by Mike Oldfield and Maggie Reilly. I think Steve Hogarth era Marillion is underrated. Too many great songs to list them all, but if they'd recorded nothing other than Neverland it would be enough. Brave is possibly the greatest album ever made. It's only my opinion.
Hi JUSTIN, first, I must apologize, you look like my nephew Jason, and I keep calling you Jase in my comments. Sorry. Must be why you haven’t taken my stellar suggestions. My faves by Annie/Band is Golden Key from Azure D`Or. WinterTree is very nice from that record as well. You asked about unsung prog awesomeness, you need to check out the UK rabbit hole, In The Dead Of Night, (the complete 13 minute suite!) with drummer Bill Bruford from King Crimson and Yes, Bassist/vocals John Whetton from King Crimson and Asia, and not so well known at the time, but known giants now, Allan Holdsworth on guitar, and Eddie Jobson on keys and violin. I’ve added links below for your suggestion compliance convenience. Be well friend, you’re doing great, doing the tunes NONE of the other reactors are doing! That makes you special, and sorely needed here! Back in the ‘70s we used to have to go to Windsor, Canada, across the river from Detroit, to get ANY Kate Bush, or Renaissance records. Thankfully they also always released the Rush records a week earlier than the US release, so I usually got the record a week earlier than the other kids on my block! Renaissance: Golden Key ruclips.net/video/Ct4ZPpVF65U/видео.html UK : In The Dead Of Night ruclips.net/video/pwK0CLJKzBE/видео.html
Rush spent decades in semi-obscurity while playing packed shows. Try some of the different King Crimson lineups. Quicksilver Messenger Service... big hit was Fresh Air, they have many good tunes too long for pop radio.
Very excited to see Renaissance pop-up, but a little disappointed to see Northern Lights, not a favorite of mine - so many other tastier choices with them. Running Hard, Mother Russia, Prologue, Carpet of the Sun, Ashes are Burning, Can you Understand... Anything on the Live at Carnegie Hall Album.
Wishbone Ash - Songs you could try - "The King Will Come", "Warrior", "Throw Down The Sword" (these three tell a story and go together), "Time Was", "Blowin' Free", "Phoenix" and my favourite "Persephone". If you're looking for something a little different how about electric folk, specifically Fairport Convention. They made three albums in 1969 with Sandy Denny as their lead singer evolving from folk rock (fusion of rock and folk) to electric folk (folk music played on electric instruments) as they did so. The albums are "What We Did On Our Holidays", "Unhalfbricking", and "Leige and Leif". Sandy Denny was a fine songwriter, guitarist and had perhaps the most beautiful voice I've ever heard. Check out Fairport's version of her song "Who Knows Where The Time Goes?", she wrote that when she was 19. Also notable on that song is some wonderfully understated guitar playing by a teenage Richard Thompson. This is going to be my funeral song, by the way, not a dry eye in the house and people will think I was really popular :D ruclips.net/video/OkOB57UcYk8/видео.html
I am writing this in a separate comment because it would get too long otherwise, lol. Writing this to say your analysis of Annie's vocals was spot on. Mind if I ask you are a singer? You are absolutely right that (a) even on soft portions, Annie's voice sounds strong and (b) you don't need to belt all the time to establish presence. She is using awesome technique to adjust the dynamic intensity rather than actually dropping the volume several notches. That also makes her voice sound so consistent regardless of whether she is singing high or low or soft or loud. And she doesn't actually belt in the way a pop diva or a Broadway singer might. She just maintains a wide open throat throughout, adjusting the intensity. I could write on and on about her singing. So I will stop here and leave this analysis here for you or anyone else who might want to read (but it's LONG!): rothrocks.wordpress.com/2020/12/16/the-incredible-annie-haslam-an-analysis/
You are absolutely right they should have been much more popular. It may be that it was a bit too sophisticated for general listeners and more appeal to those with an intent ear or like things a bit more melodic!
I agree that Renaissance is truly an underrated band. I think the reason they're not as recognized as some of the other big ones is because they weren't as "edgy" as some of the more well known prog rock bands of the time. Renaissance music is beautiful and easy on the ears, but, due largely to the lack of electric guitar, it lacked a lot of the rock edge of the other prog bands of the time. This song for instance (and a lot of their songs from this late 70s era) reminds me a bit of ABBA, a group that had some great tunes, but doesn't exactly have a lot of rock cred. There were a lot of great prog bands that were underrated. Strawbs is another folk prog band that had a lot of the same problems Renaissance did. They were too folky and didn't have the "rock edge" of the more popular prog bands. Compare them to another, more popular folk prog band like Jethro Tull. Sure they were folky, but they also had a lot of straight up ass kicking hard rock songs on each of their albums. Also, it's important to note that all these bands have their roots in the 60s, so none of them were "late to the game". But Renaissance struggled a lot with finding a steady lineup in the beginning and it wasn't until 1972/73 that the main lineup that established their signature sound came together. They didn't get around to releasing a side long epic (Scheherazade) until 1975, around the time the popularity of the prog rock era was already starting to wane in England. Even though prog rock was just starting to catch on in North America in the mid 70s (Rush was just starting to hit it big around this time) they were an English band and had a lot more trouble building audiences in their home country than some of the more well known pioneers of prog. Still they were fairly successful in America until the 80s. Few classic prog bands survived the 80s. And those that did changed their sound significantly to adapt to the 80s pop sound.
Underrated prog rock. Hmmm, how about most of Canterbury other than Caravan? People just get turned off by the weird names (of both artists and tracks!) and their forays into eccentricity from time to time but a lot of the music is lovely. Egg, Hatfield and the North, National Health, Supersister are my favourites in Canterbury. Curved Air who had one of the few other female prog rock singers of the 70s - Sonja Kristina - are also well worth exploring. There are plenty other bands who are fantastic but might be difficult to crack because they ARE more complex, more challenging. Of these, I might venture to suggest Gentle Giant as they have a certain goofiness that is catchy.
@@JustJP Cool! There's plenty other stuff. It's an ocean out there. If language is not a problem, then Italian prog from that period is well worth exploring. Some of the French prog too. I don't understand any of it but it sounds beautiful, that's all I know. :) There's plenty of fusion too from that decade. Seeing as you are into jazz, that may be to your liking too. Not just the big names like Mahavishnu, RTF, ADM, JLP but some of these Canterbury bands went into a fusion direction in the mid 70s, notably Gong and Soft Machine. Those albums were great too and mark the emergence of the legendary Allan Holdsworth.
'Northern Lights' is a lovely song which brought them to wider attention but Renaissance really only made their mark in the folk venues. Another band that came through the folk route were Strawbs (you reacted to 'Part of the Union' before - not a typical song from them). Their album 'Grave New World' is a classic and anything from that would be worth a listen. My choice would be 'Benedictus' or 'Is It Today, Lord?'. Three massively under-appreciated proggy bands would be 1) Argent, try 'Man for all Reasons' or 'It's Only Money Pt 2' or 2) Barclay James Harvest, try 'Medicine Man' or 'The Poet/After The Day' and 3) Manfred Mann's Earth Band, try 'Be Not Too Hard' or 'Waiter There's a Yawn in my Ear' - perhaps the best track ever! Thanks for your efforts and keep it up.
The problem Renaissance faced was that their chronological development was towards the end of the prog era. When Steve Hackett left Genesis and they drifted into mainstream rock, it was pretty much the death of prog in a business sense. Also, the death of free form radio (Allison Steele at WNEW and Kid Leo at WMMS were the queen and king) with the commercialization of FM radio left Renaissance with less access to air play. Rock critics in general and Rolling Stone Magazine in particular denigrated the whole genre and as Bands like Genesis and Yes started poppyizing their music (is that a word?) that attitude snowballed in music. This is not one of my favorite Ren songs. As others have said, the Title Track from this album is superior in my humble opinion. But this is where Ren tried to commercialize (poppyize) their music. But their virtuosity is still apparent. Uriah Heep....July Morning is an underrated prog band. They are the Godfathers of Progressive Metal.
Not the death of prog, though, despite so many pundits declaring it. It faded into the background but re-emerged as at least an *element* of the music of bands like Muse, and now there's a more thriving prog scene than there has been at any time since the 70s.
It sounds better now. Back then, when young and more sensitive it was immediately rejected as music for old people because the vocal delivery reminded me of a band my Mum used to like ... Australians, The Seekers. Totally inoffensive TV family band but not the sort of music a testosterone inflamed teenage male would want to listen to.
Hi Justin, very much enjoying your channel. Underrated bands? Try some Van der Graf Generator and have a listen to a track called "Laughin' Tackle by the band Quatermass (doubt you'll find it on Spotify).
I saw the band on the tour for this album.. Very decent band indeed jp. Might i just add a recommendation for you. The band uk. Short lived supergroup Bill bruford John wetton Alan holdsworth And eddie jobson The remarkable debut album which may well blow your mind Track recommendation.. Nevermore. Trust me Check it out my friend
This is a magnificent album. Holdsworth's guitar solo in the first track is a thing of beauty. As is the intro guitar on the track..Nevermore Essential listening.
You could continue your channel for years and years just reacting to more songs by artists you've already sampled but I see you like to listen to new artists too so here is one for you I think you might appreciate, Traffic, try their song 40,000 Headmen. Psychedelic? Jazz Fusion? Progressive?
Renaissance ARE UP THERE for serious pure prog fanatics especially those who grew up with the music from it's inceptions in the early 70's. I saw them with Gentle Giant in 1976. Annie then melted my young heart.
Song for All Seasons one of the greatest intro's to a track ever, absolute perfection with the wonderful voice of Annie Haslam. John Camp on base is awesome, can't understand how this amazing song is so underplayed or known,nothing like it!
For many of us who were in high school in the '70s, Renaissance is no secret.
They are, perhaps, the greatest orchestral rock band in history and there will never be a more angelic voice than that of Annie Haslam.
Renaissance is a GREAT band. A fantastic classical / progressive group. As good as Genesis, Yes, ELP, Tull, etc.
Absolutely
Bought this as a single Loved it then as now. Love That voice, the bass, and finally, the ending.With the drum. Reminds me of the seventies. It was a sound of the times.Music doesn't come out of a vacuum. Some words or phrases make a song i don't know why, but just the sound of the words never mind the meaning.When you hear the words "the Northern Lights" ; sounds like yearning.
She sings like an angel and this song shows it
Amen ...
This is a song I grew up with having first heard it as a 4 year old in 1978, thinking I’d never hear it in the future…
Renaissance did two albums before Annie joined the band, so as far as I'm concerned, this was their first album as Renaissance, just as "Fragile" was Yes' first album as Yes after acquiring Rick Wakeman, in my opinion. "Prologue" was that first album. It came out in 1972, the same year as "Close To The Edge". I'd never heard of Renaissance. One evening I was looking through the record section in K-Mart and came across this album in the cut-out section (anyone remember that?) for fifty cents. It had an interesting cover, and it was only fifty cents, so I thought "what the hell", and took it home. I was thoroughly enjoying it, but when it got to the last song, "Rajah Khan", I was blown away. I'd never heard a voice like that. The song has no lyrics. Annie plays her voice like an instrument and demonstrates the full range and capabilities of that voice. Check it out.
ruclips.net/video/ox_hzO6SIAY/видео.html
I love Annie Haslam’s voice and style!
I had the privilege of hearing Renaissance live when they were one of the guest bands aboard the third Moody Blues Cruise, in 2016. Annie sounds just as good as she did decades ago. I remember that in 1978 my mother asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and I told her an album by a band called Renaissance, with a song called Northern Lights. I still have that record.
Annie 's voice is just so ethereal and evocative on this song...this song was made for Annie !.
Agree Billy!
Running Hard blows Northern Lights away. A song For All Seasons is the best song from that album. This was their stab at commercial fame.
Day of the Dreamer LIVE at the tower philadelphia is the one that blows my mind
This song is one of my favourites from Renaissance, personally.
Nice tune !! As for underrated prog bands, I'd say Camel. Check out "First Light", "Skylines" or "Unevensong".
You are right about Camel. Don't forget "Lady Fantasy Encounter" or "Lunar Sea"...two wonderful tunes
Unevensong......absolutety !
Please find on RUclips the concert recorded by the BBC - Renaissance-Sight and Sound in Concert in 1977. These BBC concerts were a breakthrough as television programmes were in mono with pretty shoddy TV speakers. The BBC set it up so you could watch your TV with the sound turned off and listen through a simultaneous zfeed off a stereo radio receiver thereby using your Hifi system to get a much better quality listening experience. I didn’t know much about Renaissance at that time but I watched the concert, mainly because of the novelty value as this was the first concert to be broadcast in this format, and was blown away by Annie’s voice and from then on was hooked. On the ‘Song for All Seasons’ album is another single ‘Back Home once Again’ which was a theme song for a children’s TV show called ‘The Paper Lads’, a fictional series about kids growing up in North East England.
Always loved both this song, and Annie Haslam's voice, ever since it was first released, back in 1978 (I was at the tender age of 13).
Saw Renaissance twice in 76 and 78. Many years later, I was at one of Ian Anderson's solo concerts and who does he bring out on stage? Annie Haslam! They did Northern Lights as a duet. One of the greatest concert moments ever!
The title song "A Song For All Seasons" is the best on the album!❤️🎶🎧
Agreed!
"Song For All Seasons" is one of the two greatest songs EVER written (the other being ELP's "Pirates")
As for Renaissance being underrated, don't talk to ME! I've been promoting them relentlessly since 1978. My branded surname is a tribute to them.
ALSO "Back Home Once Again" title to the British series Paper Lads was on that album as well.
I thought of this song immediately, when I saw the Northern Lights in beautiful Cornwall, UK last night, nearly fifty years after it came out. Underrated group, a mystery why it did not get to no.1.
I am with you on that ending of Scheherazade ... it never ceases to give me goosebumps.
The Carnegie Hall Live album has a very good performance too - the bassoon sounds better, and Annie hits an unbelievable high note at the end.
To add: Renaissance didn't need singles back in the 1970s. Most cities seemed to have at least one FM station that played album tracks. In NY, we had WNEW, and they played good music, even full album side songs.
Today, we have young people who largely have short attention spans and need to have a single rammed down their throats.
Groups like Renaissance, Yes, ELP, Focus, etc got B-side airplay, etc from DJs who enjoyed sharing great music without major commercial overtones.
Regardless of likes this music has always touched my soul,
To me this is just about as perfect a pop song as I'm likely to find. But that's me. Another great longer one of theirs, and to my mind possibly their most intense song, is Touching Once (Is So Hard To Keep). The ending just leaves me with my jaw on the floor. Surprised no one in the comments seem to be mentioning it.
A great prog song. I love it! Opening Out/Day of the Dreamer is fantastic too.
Was sitting with a group in a restaurant in Oxford, where i stayed a couple of days to attend a Seminar.
I got an app from friend that there was a high chance of seeing the Aurora.
I sort of dismissed it as i have been trying for over a year to see the Aurora in Rotterdam Netherlands where i live, but failed each time, light pollution, overcast, rain. On the internet i kept seeing photos, but those were from remote locations and i missed it each time.
But then i though, wait, i am in a different surrounding now, maybe where my hotel is, i can find some field or dark space nearby where i could try and see if it is true and i could see it there. At the same time in our group a few people were playing guitar, we were sitting on the patio outside and one song someone sang was Northern Lights from Renaissance.
I found out, like you said that the song wasn't about the Aurora, but seeing UK's harbour lights in the north when sailing away from it to the US. Maybe not sailing, but going by ship.
I went to a field nearby and with the naked eye i saw mostly white ribbons dancing in the sky, though when i tried to photograph it, it was the most beautiful i had ever seen, every colour of the rainbow. It was the event of 10/11th of May this year and seemed to have been a rare event, so right time right place. Back home i scoured youtube about Renaissance and am now completely hooked on most of their albums right after the first album which i feel less attracted to as well as much later albums, except Song for Seasons with Northern Lights. Shehezerade, Ashes Burning, Turn of the Cards being my favourites. I am now completely hooked to the music. While i am from the 70's i sort of vaguely remember some of the music, but what the band was called i was not so aware of. In those days we mostly listened to the radio and many songs i taped now only with Shaza or what it is called recognition app i can find out what the song was called. Of course i know Genesis. And in The Netherlands we had Kayak, Earth and Fire and Focus as progrock bands.
I seem to remember that this was the theme to a kids TV series late 70's. The album it came from isn't a patch on earlier albums - this is the best track.
Another good one from this album - "Back Home Once Again" is from the kids' TV show, called Paper Lads! There might be a clip of it available.
@@bobholtzmann You're right! it wasn't Northern Lights, but back Home Once Again for that Tv show. God that was SO long ago!!
Take a listen to 'The King Will Come' by Wishbone Ash from their classic album Argus. I think you will like it.
Ty Mark!
To be honest, anything from off the Argus album is worthy to be listened to repeatedly until the needle breaks. I had never heard of Wishbone Ash but attended a FREE concert at Stetson University in 1972. I saw and heard dual lead guitars for the first time on "Throw Down the Sword". It literally changed my life. I went and bought a used electric guitar at a pawn shop and haven't stopped playing. JP, Mark H. and I give you permission to consider anything from off this album. Thanks.
@@josephbabitz1643 Absolutely agree! Such a fine album! I think we all know that Justin would love it!
@@josephbabitz1643 I agree this one of an album. Every song on it is perfect. This album, I learned every bass lines on it. And still have fun to play them. Martin Turner is a big influence on y playing (which doesn't give him any credit in fact haha).
Totally agree - I saw them live at the Reading Festival in the early 70s - I’ve only seen one reaction to them.
Suggestions for underrated bands:
U.K.: especially their first album, check out their three part songs In The Dead Of Night / By The Light Of Day / Presto Vivace Reprise ... I usually don't like supergroups because they tend to present a watered down version of what members did much better in the past but this is the exception to the rule IMHO.
Marillion: now this is a band with a deep , deep discography with songs both in a more modern poprock vein and songs in a (neo)progressive vein. They definetely always walk their own path following their muse. There is so much stuff to recommend but I would suggest to look into an album like Marbles (especially the song The Invisible Man) which has probably both their best prog material as well as some of their best pop songs (check out Don't Hurt Yourself). Oh, and you probably have heard about crowdfunding ... well, they basically invented that or at least did it for the first time in the music business, asking their fans to pay for an album upfront before it was recorded.
Thanks Chris!
Ocean Cloud
Agree with that totally
Marillion died for me when Fish left. They just didn't habe the same impact.
Your loss, there is some truly powerful music in the post Fish career which has now been much much longer then with Fish. Try the song Neverland, especially a good live recording.
Agree that Renaissance is able to imprint their progressive identity into this more main stream effort. Very enjoyable song to listen to even though it was created to be more of a hit than a masterpiece. Would love to hear your analysis on songs like "Can You Hear Me?" and "Midas Man" from their great Novella album.
I love the harmonic and rhythmic tension in this song
Good point!
I always saw this song as a perfect statement of them in shorthand, it made me buy the album and you can imagine my excitement as a progger to find what was through the back of the wardrobe. As to underrated bands, got to be Camel, as someone who loves instrumentals, Camel fed that need royally. One of the reasons they didn't hit the top maybe that they never had a GREAT singer, a couple of ok one's but no Phil Collins, Dave Gilmour, Peter Gabriel, Jon Anderson or Greg Lake. They did however have a long and productive career and produced a varied catalogue that maintained an impressive integrity right up to recent times and have a loyal following going to their shows.
What an amazing song performed by an extremely underrated band. Thank you Justin for covering this. I share in your enthusiasm of this band and this song in particular. When listening to Annie's voice on this song I am thinking Mama Cass Elliott. To your question on underrated progressive rock bands, three bands that I love and have followed since the early 70's come to mind. Firstly, Uriah Heep. Incredible lead and harmony vocals; sounding like Deep Purple. Secondly, Wishbone Ash (my all-time favorite): again incredible vocals and harmonies plus insane dual lead guitars that harmonize like voices. And finally, Emerson, Lake and Palmer; 'nuff said These three bands are all legendary in their own right and their contributions to Rock music is reaching. However, they all share the same unfortunate history...They all deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...BUT ARE NOT! Anyway, thanks again for another exhaustively thoughtful analysis. You Rock!
Ty Joseph! So many deserve the crown...
Annie sounds more 'English' than Momma Cass......Annie 's voice is just so ethereal and evocative on this song...this song was made for Annie !.
Well, they played Carnegie Hall, so they weren't *completely* without recognition! :)
I remember when my girlfriend discovered A Song For All Seasons in the early '80s. We listened to it endlessly for quite a while. There was an English TV show that Renaissance did the theme song for, I think it was called The Paper Lads, but I could be wrong. The whole album is good. I don't know why they weren't bigger, other than the fact that it's progressive rock.
Northern lights is not about a person is about a place and time
Beautiful song
Totally agreed Katie!
The perception of radio and long songs just don't work, would be the primary reason some talented bands fall through the cracks. For me the biggest discovery of such a band is "Camel" I also believe publications like "Rolling Stone Magazine" influence the perception on what is supposedly good. Jimmy Page once said, if you buy all the records RSM suggested, you'd have the worst record collection in the world. Lastly on a grander scale from a western world pov, you have to make it in the USA or the UK to be successful. Therefore you could have bias towards local groups vs foreign groups. I came across this type of bias in documentaries like "The Story of Anvil" and Rush's "Beyond the Lighted Stage". I'm sure there are a loads of other reason why some talented bands don't make it or get the recognition they deserve.
Justin I think you should do another reaction to Al Stewart. Some of his songs have a progressive feel in the folk genre. "Roads to Moscow" is a great song but not as popular has his radio hit "Time Passages" Both are long songs, not sure why one got radio play and the other didn't.
Hey, it’s a fine pop song. I saw Annie Haslam live at the now-defunct (probably for quite a while by now) Bottom Line in NYC...when she sang this song, I instantly liked it, and I remember over the next 1-2 months snatching up all of Renaissance’s classic albums in the also long-gone HMV record store. Annie’s warm vocal and harmonies, the lush acoustic guitar, the regal ascending fills of the keyboard...it’s like a cup of hot chocolate with peppermint Schnapps on a cold snowy day...
I like that description!
Well said, mate. As you say, the single "Northern Lights" was for many people the first piece of music by Renaissance that they ever heard. This was then an enticement to listen to the album "A Song for all Seasons', and what a fine album that is! Then of course, all of the preceding albums (and I particularly like "Scheherazade" and "Novella"). An exceptionally talented and most underrated band as you most aptly say.
Renaissance is a cherished band - been following them since the mid seventees. Annie Haslam kills it!
Agreed Even!
What a beautful song! It was successful in its own time but did not top the charts. However, more than four decades later you can see that it has a quality that will take it to many new ears in the ages to come. It is going to be delighting and uplifting new listeners for a long, long time.
Its their best song that's why it was the most successful.
Well, answering your first question: from the bands you still don't know, probably Van der Graaf Generator and german band Eloy are the most underrated. There are a couple of reasons to why Renaissance is often forgotten when it concerns about progressive music:
1) The lead vocalist. Ok ok, Annie is practically a goddess, but back in the 70's the female singers, to be known as rock stars, needed an attitude similar to Janis Joplin, or even Sonja Kristina. Annie seems like an angel, which goes against the "rebel" idea of rock (think the same way people on that days).
2) The lack of solos, especially guitar ones. If you listen closely, the songs of Renaissance are keyboard-driven (in the sense that John Tout is the bridge between the main parts of the composition) and the shining star is the bass player Jon Camp, which is very unusual. In fact, he does three things at the same time when playing every single bass note, and that gives a whole other dimension to the song.
3) The lyrics. Back on that days, the lyrical content that people seemed to like was very characterized by the silly Beatles and Zeppelin's lyrics, which turn out very difficult for bands such as Renaissance and Van der Graaf Generator (VdGG) to stand out with remarkable ones. Since Renaissance's lyrics are literature based and VdGG are kinda existentialist philosophical essay, it was difficult for the audience to get caught in those narratives. It is far easier to sing "Whoooooooa Aqualung!" than "Now, who's outside, inside Jekyll and Hyde?".
Thanks Augusto! I've only done one song from VdGG here, though hopefully there'll be more soon. I've also listened to Ocean by Eloy a few months ago on my own😉
@@JustJP That's great. I'll see your review, then. And about Eloy, if you listen any album from 1975 Power and the Passion to 1982 Time to Turn, you will see that it's very unfair they are so underrated. Frank Bornemann is a genius.
Augusto Vasconcellos I think Ocean Gypsy was JP’s introduction to Renaissance.
@@shyshift Yeah, I remember now he made a video listening to Ocean Gypsy. But the truth is that Renaissance is underrated in the main prog scene, and the reasons are very clear to me.
One prog album that gets little to no recognition is "Hope" by Klaatu. It has some memorable tunes that will stick with you and a mix of styles.
Yog-Sothoth : You mean The Beatles right? 🤔
@@sidecardog5244 There was that theory back in the '70s, ex-Beatles were in the group working with other musicians. Of course Capitol Records did nothing to squash those rumors.
Yeah, I bought their first record on the belief they were The Beatles in disguise. The Music was still good though.
@@sidecardog5244 Their first album is very good, "Hope" is even better.
The B side of this single is called Opening Out. It’s a fabulous song. Give it a listen. 😃👍🏻
Triumvirat, definatly deserves more attention. Their first 5 LP's (and esp the first three) Totally progressive. "Illusions on a Double Dimple" is truly amazing. That album & "Sparticus" are often compared to Emerson, Lake & Palmer's classic period albums. Like ELP, they were a power trio and there keyboards are quite similar.
Renaissance is probably the most underrated prog band I know, but Curved Air is another.
There will never be another band like Renaissance.
I really love Renaissance, great band and specialy GREAT mixes
Everyone comes to a favorite band from different times, different places in their lives... and though Renaissance was pretty consistent in their sound over the years... this song kinda stood out for its attempt at ‘hit’ status. In the minds of most fans, it just sounded light and repetitive.... the band had been around several years by then and ‘captive heart’, another catchy but somehow more intrinsic tune, was well respected but still not a hit.
They were big in the UK, but translated in the US to only a select group on the eastern seaboard. My theory is that while America loved prog, Renaissance was a little too medieval folk-tinged, and had a female lead singer... both of
which repelled young white males from diving in.
Not me... the band was huge in PA, and at Penn State, where I was at school during the late 70’s
The polish band Riverside, the Dutch Earth & Fire; especially the album 'the song of the marching children' , Dead can dance, jeff beck's blow by blow and wired.
Renacence:They deserve their place in the top progressive rock
Renaissance by far the best!!
if you are "new" to Renaissance, you might want to react to Mother Russia, Ocean Gypsy (which I believe was actually played on the radio (way back in the day), or Running Hard. If you enjoyed what you have heard so far, I really think you would like those suggestions. I am a big fan of their early stuff , not so much of their newer (later) releases.
I was looking for someone to suggest Mother Russia - their definitive song - I have fond memories of seeing this performed live. I think the first one JP did was Ocean Gypsy - quite a rave review! And I agree their early to mid-70s releases are their best..
Ty Jenn :) Ocean Gypsy was actually the first song I heard from them
I recommend a band called IQ. They're still going strong, but I suggest their album 'Ever' from a while back for a first listen.
That's one of the very first songs I loved as a kid, and I still love it now. Good bands around at the moment are Anathema, Pineapple Thief, and obviously Nightwish.
Did you know that Annie Haslam got a pearl stuck in her ear in childhood and it ended up destroying her eardrum? Or that she got thrown out of a school choir for singing too loud?
I find those little details make it all more fun, somehow.
Had no idea!🦪
Not a lot of people know that .. poor girl! She's got an amazing voice and natural beauty.
I recommend - Twelfth Night - anything from their Fact & Fiction/Live & Let Live and Sequences records. They were the most interesting of the second wave UK progressive bands having a strong punk feel too. Singer Geoff Man was an amazing front man and the band were incredible.
It's hard to tell if they consciously wrote it as a single or it just clicked. From what I have read, they were touring (as usual) in the US when they heard that it had broken into the top 10 and were surprised. So they didn't expect the success. In later albums, they consciously fished for 'another Northern Lights' and failed.
I don't think they truly understood, in that moment in time, what actually made the song tick. It's that the piano-bass riff has a rhythmic pulse that their previous songs didn't have. Previously, they wrote beautiful parts that were interesting harmonically or melodically but this actually has a foot-tapping quality. It's that foot-tapping quality that made it popular; rhythm rules the roost in popular music over the last few decades. That's what they needed (and not necessarily multi-tracked choruses).
Rajah Kahn is another must from their early years
Most underrated prog/fusion artist by far is Steve Tibbetts. Start with the Yr album, the first song "Ur" is killer. Also, they're not underrated, but Porcupine Tree is definitely worth exploring. Start with Sound of Muzak or Trains.
Great analyzing of the song Justin! A song for all seasons were their last epic song, and is also one of their best in my opinion.
I also feel this album and Azure d’or who comes after are quite similar,but Ado lacks the grand epic like A song for all seasons is. But lot’s of good songs on both albums. Both albums produced by Dave Hentchsel if i remember correctly, perhaps that’s one of the reasons they sound similar to me?
Gentle Giant, Starcastle ,
Hmm, never heard of Starcastle. Like the name though
@@JustJP Starcastle first 3 albums are superb. They were considered as Yes clones, and that stopped their career I think. But they are a lot more, they have their own personality. Please give them a try with “Diamond Song” on their 3rd album, Fountain.
Yes! Starcastle! They were a but Yes-like, particularly with their bass and vocals (a bassist who actually rivals Chris Squire, believe it or not), but they wrote songs Yes would never have written. You'll love them! Try their self-titled first album, or 'Fountains of Light'
so true on starcastle and GG
I am not sure if this qualifies as underrated, but you really oughta consider giving a spin to something from Hawkwind's Space Ritual album. Try either "Born To Go" or "Space Is Deep" or "Brainstorm."
I really like Hawkwind's The Demented Man
Orgone accumulator 👍🏻
Some underrated, or forgotten, prog rockers are: Van Der Graf Generator, Caravan, Soft Machine, Gentle Giant, and Ten Years After. The last a more bluesy band. Jethro Tull, Can, Hawkwind. All British except Can who were German.
Thanks David; some I've listened to, some I have on the way!
Justin, some other underrated prog bands that you should check out are Glass Hammer, Moon Safari (check out their 2010 CD Lover's End), Camel, RPWL, and Kayak (I HIGHLY recommend their album Phantom Of The Night).
A bit of Yes as when Yes went “popular”. Nice sweet song.
Another Progressive Rock band for the comments! Somebody mentioned the German group "Truimvirat" -- and here are the two songs to look for: "Triangle" from the album "Illusions on a Double Dimple" (it starts with a triangle being played), and also "The March to the Eternal City" from "Spartacus" (which leads to the gladiator's ultimate doom).
Ty Bob!
@@JustJP YW! -- I forgot about "Triangle", it's cut short, and wouldn't sound right without a minute and a half followup track called "Illusion" - those dang concept albums!
Okay, I missed the third one too, so it's a medley -- "Triangle / Illusion / Dimplicity" -- I think that's what I had in mind! Double dang those concept albums!
I would say Renaissance is more influenced by classical music than folk... I believe that there are some Russian composers that were big influences.
As usual, I agree with your review and appraisal of the tune. I love this tune for the 3 or 4 minutes that it lasts, but that's enough... then on to something better.
I'll echo a previous poster to recommend the title track, A Song For All Seasons. I also really love the first song on the album, Opening Out... so good! Hell, The Day of the Dreamer is pretty great, too.
Underrated Prog bands? Dozens of them...but one I’d recommend you hear soonest are Pavlov’s Dog, specifically their debut lp Pampered Menial. You’ve never heard a vocalist like David Surkamp. 👍
I can’t believe that I’m not familiar with this group at all. Reminds me of bits and pieces of several bands. It also seems to me that this song is one that needs to be listened to in context of the entire album(?). I’ll check them out myself.
Hope you enjoy what you listen to! Try Ashes are Burning
I dont know how much sence it makes to comment this now, but another criminally underrated prog band is 10cc. They had one song on the charts, its dreadlock holiday.
Thanks for the Renaissance love. For more criminally underrated / unknown prog gods, check out Gentle Giant.
Ty David! I've done all of Octopus and am currently going through Power and Glory from GG :)
One of my fave 70's songs.
If you like Annie's vocals the please listen to All About Eve - Self Titled album and let me know what you think of that album.
Nice song, innit? Annie's stacked vocals have the same effect as Greg Lake's, IMO. Another song of theirs with commercial-leanings was "Back Home Once Again", used for a BBC TV show. So they were actually flirting with mass appeal in the 70s.
The other top prog bands from the 70s that never made it big but should have are Camel and Gentle Giant. After that you get into the bands who maybe had a song or album here and there, or they had too short a run. That includes bands like Greenslade, Nektar, and Happy the Man.
Underrated:
UK - Van der Graaf Generator
USA: Ambrosia (2 first albums)
Japan: Kenso
Italy: Maxophone
Finland: Wigwam
Happy The Man
Russia: Gourishankar
And PFM from Italy. Their album Chocolate Kings.’
Sounds like Petula Clark if she was more prog. Kind of a Canterbury sound type song...pastoral, medieval, folky. Good but not great.
Underrated prog? Gentle Giant, IQ, Spock’s Beard, Echolyn, Transatlantic, Big Big Train, Riverside.
Ps, BBTrain’s song “ London Plane” from the Folklore album is my current fav prog song...along with S Wilson’s Home Invasion/ Regret #9.
I totally agree with JP on this one, Renaissance are very and unjustly underrated - go and listen to Prologue, Ashes Are Burning, Scheherazade and this one, A Song for All Seasons. You've gotta be kidding, Spock's Beard better then Renaissance?
Paulo Pinheiro you got to be joking, Renaissance better than Spock’s Beard?
@@sidecardog5244I'm sorry, neither you or I are joking, I should have been more careful with my choice of words.
But yes, I do mean it: Renaissance are better than Spock's Beard, these ones may be technically better but so what? Renaissance are also very good and, more important in my opinion, they are better composers, and they have such beautiful songs! For me that does it. But this is only my opinion, of course.
Paulo Pinheiro If you re read my original comment, I never said or implied one band was “better” than another. JP said that Renaissance is underrated...what other bands do you feel are underrated? I simply listed 7 Prog bands and my two favorite current songs (neither by the way are by Spock’s Beard). I like all those bands listed but I would never say one was superior to the other, or that someone else’s opinion was inferior to my own. Music tastes are subjective. I enjoyed all the Renaissance songs JP has played. I’m sorry if you got the impression that I didn’t like them or that I thought they were not as good as the seven bands I listed as underrated. ✌️🐾
Ps, my first reply was me being a sarcastic dick
@@sidecardog5244 Ops, you're right 😳! My bad! 😬
It wasn't you who passed a wrong impression, I did not read what you wrote with enough attention!
Right now I'm almost 😴, tomorrow I'll mention a few bands I think don't get the recognition they deserve! Sorry for the misunderstanding. Good night to all good people 🙂
I enjoyed this as a radio hit when it was released, while knowing nothing about the wider world of Prog. It still sounds good to me. A song in a similar vein you might like is Moonlight Shadow by Mike Oldfield and Maggie Reilly. I think Steve Hogarth era Marillion is underrated. Too many great songs to list them all, but if they'd recorded nothing other than Neverland it would be enough. Brave is possibly the greatest album ever made. It's only my opinion.
Mike Oldfield's vocal stuff is awesome! Crime of Passion was like a different take on Moonlight Shadow
Did you do a reaction video for Scheherazade?
If not, you must do it!!!!!
Epic!!!!!
Thanks Jack! I have not since I listened to it (and the rest of the album) on my own
Hi JUSTIN, first, I must apologize, you look like my nephew Jason, and I keep calling you Jase in my comments. Sorry. Must be why you haven’t taken my stellar suggestions. My faves by Annie/Band is Golden Key from Azure D`Or. WinterTree is very nice from that record as well. You asked about unsung prog awesomeness, you need to check out the UK rabbit hole, In The Dead Of Night, (the complete 13 minute suite!) with drummer Bill Bruford from King Crimson and Yes, Bassist/vocals John Whetton from King Crimson and Asia, and not so well known at the time, but known giants now, Allan Holdsworth on guitar, and Eddie Jobson on keys and violin. I’ve added links below for your suggestion compliance convenience. Be well friend, you’re doing great, doing the tunes NONE of the other reactors are doing! That makes you special, and sorely needed here! Back in the ‘70s we used to have to go to Windsor, Canada, across the river from Detroit, to get ANY Kate Bush, or Renaissance records. Thankfully they also always released the Rush records a week earlier than the US release, so I usually got the record a week earlier than the other kids on my block!
Renaissance: Golden Key ruclips.net/video/Ct4ZPpVF65U/видео.html
UK : In The Dead Of Night ruclips.net/video/pwK0CLJKzBE/видео.html
Haha no worries :) Ty for the rec, I have UK on the list
Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air.............sigh.
...it's coming....
🕊
Rush spent decades in semi-obscurity while playing packed shows. Try some of the different King Crimson lineups.
Quicksilver Messenger Service... big hit was Fresh Air, they have many good tunes too long for pop radio.
Kings x - we were born to be loved!!
Very excited to see Renaissance pop-up, but a little disappointed to see Northern Lights, not a favorite of mine - so many other tastier choices with them. Running Hard, Mother Russia, Prologue, Carpet of the Sun, Ashes are Burning, Can you Understand... Anything on the Live at Carnegie Hall Album.
Wishbone Ash - Songs you could try - "The King Will Come", "Warrior", "Throw Down The Sword" (these three tell a story and go together), "Time Was", "Blowin' Free", "Phoenix" and my favourite "Persephone".
If you're looking for something a little different how about electric folk, specifically Fairport Convention. They made three albums in 1969 with Sandy Denny as their lead singer evolving from folk rock (fusion of rock and folk) to electric folk (folk music played on electric instruments) as they did so. The albums are "What We Did On Our Holidays", "Unhalfbricking", and "Leige and Leif". Sandy Denny was a fine songwriter, guitarist and had perhaps the most beautiful voice I've ever heard. Check out Fairport's version of her song "Who Knows Where The Time Goes?", she wrote that when she was 19. Also notable on that song is some wonderfully understated guitar playing by a teenage Richard Thompson. This is going to be my funeral song, by the way, not a dry eye in the house and people will think I was really popular :D ruclips.net/video/OkOB57UcYk8/видео.html
Thank you Steve! I keep forgetting about FC, ty for the reminder
Is Sigur Ros progressive? Are they underrated?
I am writing this in a separate comment because it would get too long otherwise, lol. Writing this to say your analysis of Annie's vocals was spot on. Mind if I ask you are a singer? You are absolutely right that (a) even on soft portions, Annie's voice sounds strong and (b) you don't need to belt all the time to establish presence. She is using awesome technique to adjust the dynamic intensity rather than actually dropping the volume several notches. That also makes her voice sound so consistent regardless of whether she is singing high or low or soft or loud. And she doesn't actually belt in the way a pop diva or a Broadway singer might. She just maintains a wide open throat throughout, adjusting the intensity. I could write on and on about her singing. So I will stop here and leave this analysis here for you or anyone else who might want to read (but it's LONG!):
rothrocks.wordpress.com/2020/12/16/the-incredible-annie-haslam-an-analysis/
You are absolutely right they should have been much more popular. It may be that it was a bit too sophisticated for general listeners and more appeal to those with an intent ear or like things a bit more melodic!
I agree that Renaissance is truly an underrated band. I think the reason they're not as recognized as some of the other big ones is because they weren't as "edgy" as some of the more well known prog rock bands of the time. Renaissance music is beautiful and easy on the ears, but, due largely to the lack of electric guitar, it lacked a lot of the rock edge of the other prog bands of the time. This song for instance (and a lot of their songs from this late 70s era) reminds me a bit of ABBA, a group that had some great tunes, but doesn't exactly have a lot of rock cred.
There were a lot of great prog bands that were underrated. Strawbs is another folk prog band that had a lot of the same problems Renaissance did. They were too folky and didn't have the "rock edge" of the more popular prog bands. Compare them to another, more popular folk prog band like Jethro Tull. Sure they were folky, but they also had a lot of straight up ass kicking hard rock songs on each of their albums.
Also, it's important to note that all these bands have their roots in the 60s, so none of them were "late to the game". But Renaissance struggled a lot with finding a steady lineup in the beginning and it wasn't until 1972/73 that the main lineup that established their signature sound came together. They didn't get around to releasing a side long epic (Scheherazade) until 1975, around the time the popularity of the prog rock era was already starting to wane in England. Even though prog rock was just starting to catch on in North America in the mid 70s (Rush was just starting to hit it big around this time) they were an English band and had a lot more trouble building audiences in their home country than some of the more well known pioneers of prog. Still they were fairly successful in America until the 80s. Few classic prog bands survived the 80s. And those that did changed their sound significantly to adapt to the 80s pop sound.
Makes sense, ty Drakus.
Underrated prog rock. Hmmm, how about most of Canterbury other than Caravan? People just get turned off by the weird names (of both artists and tracks!) and their forays into eccentricity from time to time but a lot of the music is lovely. Egg, Hatfield and the North, National Health, Supersister are my favourites in Canterbury.
Curved Air who had one of the few other female prog rock singers of the 70s - Sonja Kristina - are also well worth exploring.
There are plenty other bands who are fantastic but might be difficult to crack because they ARE more complex, more challenging. Of these, I might venture to suggest Gentle Giant as they have a certain goofiness that is catchy.
Ty Madan! I've done a bit from Egg, Hatfield, and Curved Air :) Oh, and all of Octopus from GG ;)
@@JustJP Cool! There's plenty other stuff. It's an ocean out there. If language is not a problem, then Italian prog from that period is well worth exploring. Some of the French prog too. I don't understand any of it but it sounds beautiful, that's all I know. :) There's plenty of fusion too from that decade. Seeing as you are into jazz, that may be to your liking too. Not just the big names like Mahavishnu, RTF, ADM, JLP but some of these Canterbury bands went into a fusion direction in the mid 70s, notably Gong and Soft Machine. Those albums were great too and mark the emergence of the legendary Allan Holdsworth.
'Northern Lights' is a lovely song which brought them to wider attention but Renaissance really only made their mark in the folk venues. Another band that came through the folk route were Strawbs (you reacted to 'Part of the Union' before - not a typical song from them). Their album 'Grave New World' is a classic and anything from that would be worth a listen. My choice would be 'Benedictus' or 'Is It Today, Lord?'. Three massively under-appreciated proggy bands would be 1) Argent, try 'Man for all Reasons' or 'It's Only Money Pt 2' or 2) Barclay James Harvest, try 'Medicine Man' or 'The Poet/After The Day' and 3) Manfred Mann's Earth Band, try 'Be Not Too Hard' or 'Waiter There's a Yawn in my Ear' - perhaps the best track ever!
Thanks for your efforts and keep it up.
Thank you Philip!
The problem Renaissance faced was that their chronological development was towards the end of the prog era. When Steve Hackett left Genesis and they drifted into mainstream rock, it was pretty much the death of prog in a business sense. Also, the death of free form radio (Allison Steele at WNEW and Kid Leo at WMMS were the queen and king) with the commercialization of FM radio left Renaissance with less access to air play.
Rock critics in general and Rolling Stone Magazine in particular denigrated the whole genre and as Bands like Genesis and Yes started poppyizing their music (is that a word?) that attitude snowballed in music. This is not one of my favorite Ren songs. As others have said, the Title Track from this album is superior in my humble opinion. But this is where Ren tried to commercialize (poppyize) their music. But their virtuosity is still apparent.
Uriah Heep....July Morning is an underrated prog band. They are the Godfathers of Progressive Metal.
Not the death of prog, though, despite so many pundits declaring it. It faded into the background but re-emerged as at least an *element* of the music of bands like Muse, and now there's a more thriving prog scene than there has been at any time since the 70s.
It sounds better now. Back then, when young and more sensitive it was immediately rejected as music for old people because the vocal delivery reminded me of a band my Mum used to like ... Australians, The Seekers. Totally inoffensive TV family band but not the sort of music a testosterone inflamed teenage male would want to listen to.
I think you should give a listen to Gentle Giant...you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Ty Elliot, ive done all of Octopus from them and a few other songs 😀
Answer to your question.... simple, The Strawbs 1000%
Hi Justin, very much enjoying your channel. Underrated bands? Try some Van der Graf Generator and have a listen to a track called "Laughin' Tackle by the band Quatermass (doubt you'll find it on Spotify).
Thanks Chris! I'm gonna try to get some more Vdgg on here soon
You might want to react to Jekyl and Hyde from Azur D’OR!
Kraftwerk, Gentle Giant and Mr. Bungle are all different types of Prog but deserve more appreciation I think!
I saw the band on the tour for this album..
Very decent band indeed jp.
Might i just add a recommendation for you.
The band uk.
Short lived supergroup
Bill bruford
John wetton
Alan holdsworth
And eddie jobson
The remarkable debut album which may well blow your mind
Track recommendation..
Nevermore.
Trust me
Check it out my friend
This is a magnificent album. Holdsworth's guitar solo in the first track is a thing of beauty. As is the intro guitar on the track..Nevermore
Essential listening.
Planning on it :D
Maybe time for an album listen: ELO's El Dorado
You could continue your channel for years and years just reacting to more songs by artists you've already sampled but I see you like to listen to new artists too so here is one for you I think you might appreciate, Traffic, try their song 40,000 Headmen. Psychedelic? Jazz Fusion? Progressive?
Thank you Rob!
In your intro, you mention "Awaken" as if you have heard it. Is that true?
🤐🤭🤐🤭
@@JustJP OK, fine! I hope that doesn't mean we won't get to see you do a reaction to it!
DANG!! That would break my heart!
:(
@@MissAstorDancer I pushed it back since I finished echoes. Next Friday 😉
@@JustJP OK, Fine!! ;)
Looking forward to it!!! ;)