RENAISSANCE
Running Hard – The Albums 1974-1976 ESOTERIC
A wondrous purple patch of symphonic prog-folk from Annie Haslam and co.
The Moody Blues and Deep Purple’s Jon Lord might have beaten them to it, but Renaissance’s Turn Of The Cards (1974), Scheherazade And Other Stories (1975) and Live At Carnegie Hall (1976) still stand as shining examples of the symphonic approach. Reissued as a four-CD clamshell box set, these albums are a reminder of the singular Renaissance magic that largely stemmed from John Tout’s Rick Wakeman-adjacent piano flair, and Annie Haslam’s agile, crystalline voice.