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Critic's Review
Mike DeGagne, All Music Guide
Best known for their light progressive sound, Renaissance combines startling vocals with resonant classical arrangements that results in a truly unique musical concoction. Songs From Renaissance Days is a mixture of both released and unreleased material that features Annie Haslam, Michael Dunford, and Jon Camp. With five different keyboard players strewn across the album's ten songs, the progressive air is well established, but not to be outdone by Haslam's enchanting voice. A timelessness is passionately felt on "Africa" and again on "Dreamaker," as the music washes over the lyrics conveying wispy aural illusions. The mystical atmosphere of "Northern Lights" is enhanced by the ghost-like vocal chorus, and exemplifies this band's sound better than any song of the set. While the synthesizer isn't powerfully dominating as in other progressive music, it's use is wisely intermingled with acoustic guitar and shimmering vocals as one of the most effective devices in each song. The beauty of Renaissance's music hides within the richness of the vocals, but it's the aid of the surrounding music that adds the extra element of mysteriousness to their sound. Other compilations offer a better insight into this group's music, but Songs From Renaissance Days is a stunning example of this band's unconventional progressive flavor.
