The Judge
RAVES!
Date: 06/03/14
Renaissance - "A Song For All Seasons" (1978)
Going back to this for a moment, shortly after I put that page out here I took the time to listen to the LP that Northern Lights featured on, namely A Song For All Seasons. I had the album for a Christmas present in 1978, and immediately liked almost all of it (not sure to this day about She Is Love).
What then happened as an inevitable result of revisiting it is that the title track ended up as an earworm. It buggered off for a week or two, but has now returned with a vengeance; I had it going round and round in my head at work all day today.
The track is probably closer to Renaissance's usual style than Northern Lights, in that it features classical-style elements, from the extended instrumental section at the start, via a slow vocal section through to the build up to a climactic finish. In this, the band were aided by the Royal Philharmonic orchestra under the baton of Harry Rabinowitz with an arrangement by Louis Clark. Renaissance are in there too, of course, with Annie Haslam's vocals, and with Jon Camp's bass being particularly in evidence.
Some will call it 'pretentious' or dismiss it as 'pomp rock', but I think it's quite magnificent and it's my website, so there.
