Novella

Artist: Renaissance
Label: Wea International
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 766482309825
EAN: 0075992651622
ASIN: B0000073BC

Release Date: 2004-03-30

Novella

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Tracks:

Can You Hear Me?
Sisters
Midas Man
Captive Heart
Touching Once (Is So Hard to Keep)

Similar Items:

Scheherazade & Other Stories
Song for All Seasons
Azure d'Or
Prologue
Turn of the Cards

Album Description

The prog legend's 1977 album for Sire. Five tracks, including 'Can You Hear Me?' and 'The Sisters'.

Album Description

The prog legend's 1977 album for Sire. Five tracks, including 'Can You Hear Me?' and 'The Sisters'.

Album Details

Progressively rocking, Surrey, England-formed Renaissance's 1977 release for Sire. Features the siren-like vocals of Annie Haslam on tracks like the epic 'Can You Hear Me', 'Touching Once (Is So Hard to KEEP)' & three more.

Customer Reviews:

"Novella" Good Place to Start Your Renaissance Journey.......2001-11-17

I first heard of Renaissance in 1977 when, while working as a DJ, I took home a vinyl copy of "Novella." It didn't take long to hook me on the beautiful melodies of the songs and haunting voice of Annie Haslam. Her unique vocal quality and 5-octave range is easily recognizable. To this day, all I need to hear is the first couple of bars and I know it's Annie singing.

I compare Renaissance's style to Emerson, Lake and Palmer because of their ability to blend classical and rock music into unforgettable songs. Novella easily fits into this category.

Among my favorite songs are "Midas Man" and "Can You Hear Me Call Your Name." But any song on Novella is worth a listen. Plus if you've never experienced the pleasure of hearing Annie Haslam, here's your opportunity.

Pleasant, but far from memorable.......2001-03-06

The disappointing "Live at Carnige Hall" seems to be the beginning of the end of Renaissance. The band's unwillingness (or inability) to show a little spontaneity in their note for note reworking of some of their songs suggested that the band was either beginning to run out of ideas, a notion that was sadly confirmed by its follow-up studio effort "Novella."

The fatal flaw here is that the band seemed to be putting more effort on expanding the orchestral sound that worked so well on their two best albums, "Turn of the Cards, and "Scheherazade" at the expense of writing actual songs. Sadly, "Novella" seems almost devoid of melodies that one remembers 20 seconds after the song is over ("The Captive Heart" comes close). This is all pleasant, competent stuff, but ultimately it is an album that fails to excite.

Annie Haslam's Voice Pierces.......2000-12-30

Renaissance used classical instrumental arrangements and an operatic lead singer to experiment with the interface between rock and older forms. In its time, this type of music was sometimes dismissed by critics for its pretension, but in hindsight the critics were wrong. In "Novella", Renaissance perfected a sound that was neither fish nor fowl, with the driving insistence of rock but a texture that might be described as folk, light jazz, or even the dreaded "art song". Annie Haslam's vocal stylings drive the action--her multi-octave range and incisive, insistent phrasing is impressive and effective. Lyrically, the songs are somewhat inconsistent. In "Can You Hear Me?", we get the unfortunate phrasing "like a bird without winging" in the midst of an otherwise breathtaking song. On the other hand, "The Sisters" features a good narrative---this band really worked best with folk-type story lyrics. Overall, this is an interesting, impressive and tuneful collection. This band and this album have been overlooked over time, but they are certainly worth a listen.

The most collaborative effort from Renaissance.......2000-09-30

Renaissance's 1977 album "Novella" represented some interesting changes in the career of the British progressive (nee classical) rock group in the wake of their most ambitious and most collaborative effort with the Scheherazade cantata. "Midas Man" is the only song on the album by Michael Dunford and Betty Thatcher, the pair who usually wrote everything except one song on the group's albums. Dunford teamed up with Jon Camp to write "The Captive Heart" and "Touching Once (Is So Hard To Keep)," with Thatcher and keyboard player John Tout on "The Sisters," and Dunford, Thatcher and Camp worked together for the 14-minute "Can You Hear Me?" that opens the album.

For me the high points of the album are hearing Annie Haslam harmonize with herself in "The Captive Heart" while the closing of "Touching Once..." gives the singer another one of those awesome high notes she powers through from time to time. That particular piece is also interesting because it represents so many diverse musical styles, from the band's traditional fascination with Russian composers to the incorporation of jazz. The orchestrations by Richard Hewson are centrainly another step closer to the classical tradition than on previous albums, but are impressive integrated into the band's music. Again, Renaissance kept producing length works that would make their music impossible to get into rotation on the radio but keep their hardcore following happy and content. Plus, there is just something classy about the cover art that seem so perfectly suited to the group and its music.

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