Renaissance is the band’s self-titled album and their debut as a group. Released in 1969, it’s a proto-progressive rock/psychedelic/art rock/symphonic rock (I didn’t even know symphonic rock was a thing) album with guitar, bass, keys, drums, and vocals. There are also some extra instruments like harmonica and auxiliary percussion thrown in at times. It has a lot of classical-sounding moments, like Mozart and Beethoven-esque. It also has a romantic era influence, along with tinges of Indian sound. It has plenty of complex rhythms accented by drums and bass with classical-sounding pitch and harmony. More modern, groovy rock drums play alongside the classical-sounding music often in Renaissance.

Opinion Time: A lot of the instrumental breaks are super cool and complex in their rhythm, without being abrasive and hard like other prog rock I’ve heard. It’s cool, catchy, and eclectic. It’s always catching me off guard with what instrumentals they’ll throw at me next. The keys and bass are absolutely the stars of the show playing super cool lines and leading the songs into really cool places. In fact, the third track, “Island,” is only saved by exciting bass and piano lines, otherwise, it’s super basic. It eventually swaps in feel and it gets cooler, but before that, it’s insanely forgettable. Also, some of these tracks are long, like 8 and even 10 minutes long. There’s nothing wrong with that especially given how eclectic and varied one song often is, but if you’re not into a song, you’re gonna have to listen to it for a while if you wanna get through the album. The final song, “Bullet,” being nearly 20 minutes long is intimidating, of course. The first half is a super cool bluesy jam with catchy bass work, and cool improvisation and embellishments. It then becomes very atmospheric and sparse with harsh and haunting harmonies, weird sounds, and limited instrumentation before cutting back to another catchy and straightforward bluesy jam. It then ends with a reprise of “Island.” The contrast is definitely effective, but it doesn’t save “Island” from being lame, or save the song from being nearly 20 minutes long.

 Renaissance self-titled is neat. The insane and deep haunting atmosphere of the final track was not something I was expecting. Nor was it something I was really into, but the contrast it created was cool. The second track, “Innocence,” is a huge highlight, and really cool. If I were you, I would listen to the first two tracks and call it there unless you want some more basic rock and haunting ambiance. Track four, “Wandering,” is kind of cool too. In a word, I’d describe the album as interesting.

Best Song: “Innocence”

Worst Song: “Island”