RENAISSANCE : UNPLUGGED - 'LIVE' AT THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC, PHILADELPHIA USA

1. Can You Understand
2. Carpet of the Sun
3. Midas Man
4. Okichi-San
5. I Think Of You
6. Black Flame
7. Mother Russia
8. Northern Lights
9. Young Prince & Princess
10. Trip to the Fair
11. The Vultures Fly High
12. Running Hard

Label : Mooncrest Records

Venue : Academy Of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Recording Date : 1985

Release Year : October 17, 2000

Length : 56:03

Review (AllMusic) : Live Renaissance albums have become so ubiquitous that they're no longer intrinsically special. This particular recording dates back to 1985, at a point when Annie Haslam and Michael Dunford were the only remaining original members of their generation of the band - Raphael Rudd handled the piano and harp, Mark Lambert played guitar, and Charles Descarfino played percussion. The designation "unplugged" seems a little redundant - apart from a few contributions by Andy Powell and Francis Monkman on the early albums of this version of the band, it's not as though amplification has ever played a big role in their sound. The addition of Rudd's harp and Descarfino's range of orchestral percussion instruments, however, did give this lineup a lean yet rich sound to work from, incorporating some of the best elements of rock quintet and an orchestra in one. Annie Haslam is in good voice generally, although there are moments when the intonation by the backup singers is less than spot-on. The repertory ranges across the group's history, as far back as "Can You Understand" and "Carpet of the Sun," although most of it is derived from Turn of the Cards, etc. The highlight is "Okichi-San," a hauntingly beautiful piece off of the little-heard 1981 Camera Camera album, although even such familiar fare as "Black Flame" and "Mother Russia" comes off in fairly impressive manner, and the sound and timbres are different from that of most other live albums from the various permutations of the group.

Review (The Northern Lights Website) : Remarkable as it may be, the fourth album from a band that went seperate ways in 1986 has emerged from a label responsible for the last three this year alone. Renaissance 'Unplugged' 'Live' at The Academy of Music, Philadelphia USA (Mooncrest Records (UK) CRESTCD 056, 2000), recorded live in 1985, a year before the band's final breakup, is comprised of twelve tracks more or less from the classic period. The year began with the BBC Sessions (Wounded Bird (USA) WOU-101, 2000) two-CD set (review) and Day Of The Dreamer (Mooncrest (UK) CRESTCD 053, 2000) (review) both featuring the full mainstream period lineup. Pictures in the Fire (Mooncrest Records (UK) CRESTCD 054, 2000) (review), a collection of rarities by Annie Haslam, Michael Dunford and John Camp with other artists under the monniker "Nevada" followed quickly on the prior album's heels and included previously unreleased Renaissance bonus tracks to round out the album's running time. Fans have been most critical of the recording quality of the most recent release and are approaching Unplugged cautiously. Not to worry-this one is much better. Unlike the live albums before it, this one features an interesting alternative lineup with only Annie Haslam and Michael Dunford from the mainstream period remaining. Raphael Rudd (keyboard, piano and harp), Charles DesCarfino (drums) and Mark Lambert (guitars) complete the group. The tracks are faithfully reproduced with "Okichi-San" from Camera Camera being the only one not heard in a live setting before this release. Interestingly, every one of the tracks chosen by the artists for this album was written by Dunford/Thatcher with the exception of "Young Prince and Princess" (from Scheherazade and other Stories which was written by Dunford/Newsinger/Tout. One of our correspondents commented on the lineup, "Charles played the drums. He's a friend of Mark and Raphael and frequently played the US Renaissance shows in the mid-80s. He's better known as a classical percussionist and conductor-particularly with the renowned New Jersey Percussion Ensemble-than as a rock drummer. He also plays in Broadway show pit bands and at modern jazz venues like the Knitting Factory, and has made a number of recordings including Mark's debut solo album on Chartmaker Records." Prior live recordings of the opening two tracks "Can You Understand" and "Carpet Of The Sun" are actually better versions; while these new versions are instrumentally fine, the vocals come across weak by comparison. The album comes to life with Annie's lead and the others' backing vocals in "Midas Man." Mike Dunford's introduction of "Okichi-San" is a refreshing surprise since he has been rarely heard speaking in prior live recordings. The song is preciously performed with Annie's lead vocal soaring well above the lovely instrumental arrangements making this rarity the prize of the album. The band return to their earliest roots with "I Think Of You" and "Black Flame" with Annie's stunning lead vocal, Dunford's acoustic guitar and Raphael Rudd's tremendous keyboard work. A key difference in the version of "Mother Russia" on Unplugged and the track's former appearances is Raphael Rudd's delicate piano work and Annie's extremely emotional vocal delivery. This alone justifies the track appearing a second time in as many live performance releases. The Unplugged version of "Northern Lights" differs from those before it with dynamic acoustic guitar and lovely piano excursions. Vocal harmonies during the chorus add to the texture of this version. Annie introduces the three songs from Scheherazade and other Stories which begin with "Young Prince and Princess." Live acoustic guitar and harp perfectly compliment Annie's stunning lead vocal. A similar arrangement is used in "Trip To The Fair" with harp adding great effect to the opening sequence. Annie's vocal takes on more of a Camera Camera style in several of the lead passages while the harmonies provided by the others in the lineup create a different texture to the song than other versions. Raphael Rudd's harp solo during one instrumental bridge is especially notable as is Mark Lambert's acoustic guitar solo during another. "The Vultures Fly High" is another one of the album's prizes. Annie's lead vocal shares the style with "The Vultures Fly High" but the pace of the song is carried by Raphael Rudd's tremendous keyboard work and Mike's and Mark's guitar work. Keyboard work during the instrumental bridge and vocal harmonies breathe fresh new life into this classic track. The album concludes with an epic version of "Running Hard" performed more or less true to its classic roots. Annie's vocals are perfectly complimented by Raphael Rudd's fast paced piano work. Vocal harmonies from the others provide texture in the richer choral sections of the track. Wild audience applause demonstrate their appreciation as the song concludes. In the run-up to the band's reunion album Tuscany due out in Japan during October 2000, this is clearly an album that many of the band's loyal following will find a valuable addition to their collection and appropriate to whet their appetite for what is yet to come. Recording quality is quite good and an improvement over some of the other albums released this year. Liner notes are spartan (again) with less information than some would appreciate but two new photos are provided on front and back of the booklet accompanying the compact disc. With (limited edition cardboard sleeve) Japanese reissues of Prologue and Ashes Are Burning and the new album Tuscany yet to come, 2000 looks like it will be a seven-album year for Renaissance completists. Although five new albums draw four from previously archived material, seven releases in one year is quite good for the band!

Review (Wikipedia) : Renaissance Unplugged; Live at The Academy of Music, Philadelphia USA is een livealbum van Renaissance. Het album werd opgenomen in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) in een tijd dat de band door de fans van progressieve rock al lang dood was verklaard, maar de band wist het zelf nog niet. De band viel in 1987 definitief uit elkaar, vanaf toen zijn er diverse reünies geweest, die uiteindelijk zouden uitmonden in Tuscany. Deze opnamen van een concert van 1985 laten een band tijdens de aftakeling horen. De eens zo zuivere stem van Haslam laat het relatief vaak afweten, net zoals op de studioalbums die dit werkje voorafgingen. De twee belangrijkste leden van de band Annie Haslam en Michael Dunford wisten al welke richting het zou opgaan; bijna het gehele repertoire bestond uit nummers uit de succesperiode van de band.

Review (ProgArchives) : This is one of several retrospective Renaissance releases by Mooncrest. It was recorded live in Philadelphia in 1985 during a period when the band was fragmenting - indeed, only Annie Haslam and Michael Dunford remain from the classic 70s lineup as they changed direction in an unsuccessful attempt at greater commercial success. Aside from a single 80s song (Okichi-San), all the material is drawn from their classic 70s repertoire, and presented in the now familiar Unplugged format. All songs on the setlist should be familiar to Renaissance devotees, but though they offer a fair representation of their style, the choices are mostly from a very narrow period. Thus, all but 3 tracks originated in the period 1973-1975 on the albums Ashes Are Burning, Turn Of The Cards and Scheherazade And Other Stories, plus 1 each from Novella (1977), Song For All Seasons (1978) and Camera Camera (1981). Performance-wise, the highlight is the sequence of 3 tracks from the Scheherazade And Other Stories album: Young Prince And Princess, Trip To The Fair and The Vultures Fly High. Here, the musicians seem to gel as a unit, combining to produce some fine ensemble playing, nice solos on guitar, piano and harp, some nice bass runs, and excellent emotional singing by Annie. Technically, the mix seems to have improved too, with a better and more even spread than is evident elsewhere. These 3 tracks are a worthy addition to the catalogue. The remainder of the album is patchy though, and it is clear that it takes them a little while to get into their stride, especially Annie Haslam who struggles to hit the spot on the first 2 songs: Can You Understand is altogether ropey, with some timing issues to add to Annie's difficulties, but is saved by some excellent piano playing; Carpet Of The Sun drives along quite well; Midas Man has some lovely harmonies but is spoiled by an over-powering piano; Okichi-San comes across well despite some sound issues; both I Think Of You and Black Flame are enjoyable but unspectacular; while Mother Russia (one of my favourite songs), Northern Lights and Running Hard are spoilt by disappointing ploddy arrangements and some insensitive over-bearing plonking on the piano. Individually, the musicians' performances vary somewhat. As already mentioned, Annie begins uncertainly, but once she gets into the flow her singing is as assured and accomplished as always. Raphael Rudd plays well, with some excellent runs and twirls, but often his piano playing is over-bearing - sounds like he is hammering the keys too hard. The other 3 are more or less anonymous: occasionally an acoustic guitar appears out of the mush to produce a lovely solo (eg Trip To The Fair), which I assume is Michael Dunford, but the percussionist is barely audible and doesn't really contribute much. The audience are quiet with respectful applause between numbers, but there is very little interaction other than a few "thankyous" and "the next number is .... ", though one track is introduced by Michael Dunford - a rare event! Moving on to other matters, the sound leaves a lot to be desired and is well below average for a modern CD - it is more akin to the quality one expects from a bootleg. Clearly it has been mastered from an old source of doubtful origin with minimal post processing as there are a number of problems which have not been rectified. These include several minor drop-outs and shifts, compressed upper registers, overblown highlights, and generally a muddiness which makes it sound like it was recorded in a tube! The mix is also indifferent: the 2 guitars are indistinguishable for most of the time (best when one is playing bass); poor separation, especially with acoustic guitars and piano often occupying the same aural space; compressed stereo field placing; a plodding/clanking piano banging out power-chords which swamp everything on several tracks (eg Northern Lights and Running Hard); and a percussionist who can barely be heard. Overall, not bad if it were a bootleg, and I have heard a lot worse than this. Presentation is minimal: aside from recording details and setlist, there is a short descriptive 'blurb', and a couple of nice pics, including one of Annie in full flight devouring a microphone. It is hard to see how this album would appeal to anyone other than a devotee and collector, as their 70s material is already well represented by some excellent live releases by all the original artists. Of the 12 tracks here, only 2 - Okichi-San and Black Flame - do not already appear on one of the 4 'mainstream' live albums, while Carpet Of The Sun is on all of them! A casual buyer should first investigate Live At Carnegie Hall (recorded 1976), followed by the pair of King Biscuit albums (recorded in 1977 but released under varying titles), The Day Of The Dreamer (released in 2000 but recorded at various shows in the 70s), and Live In Japan (recorded in 2001 by the reformed 70s lineup). I am sorry if this review comes across too negatively, but when I analyse something I compare it with 'perfect'. This album is clearly well below 'perfect', but is nevertheless enjoyable, an interesting alternative slant on the material, and a useful addition to a collection which already includes the other Renaissance live albums.