Opening Out - The Albums 1977-1979

Featuring highly gifted vocalist Annie Haslam, Michael Dunford (acoustic guitars), John Tout (keyboards, vocals), Jon Camp (bass, vocals) and Terry Sullivan (drums, percussion), Novella was issued in 1977 and was the band’s first album to be released on the Warner Bros. label in the UK. Featuring featured the epic ‘Can You Hear Me?’ along with the classic tracks ‘Midas Man’, ‘Touching Once (Is So Hard to Keep)’ and ‘The Sisters’, the album was a top 50 hit album in the USA and assisted in growing the band’s following in Britain.

A Song for All Seasons was issued in March 1978, the album featured the song ‘Northern Lights’, a Top Ten hit single in the UK and Europe. The album was also a successful hit in the UK and Japan. The band worked with producer David Hentschel, (who had also produced albums for Genesis) and the material recorded was some of the most carefully crafted work of the band’s career. Flying in the face of the prevailing musical fashions of the time, ‘A Song for All Seasons’ would be the band’s most successful album in Europe and is one of their best-loved works.

Azure D’Or would be the final Renaissance album to feature their so-called ‘classic’ line- up. Once again the band worked with producer David Hentschel and the record featured excellent material such as ‘Jekyll and Hyde’, ‘Kalynda’ and ‘The Flood at Lyons’.

Opening Out- The Albums 1977-1979 is a wonderful collection of timeless music.