RENAISSANCE – Turn Of The Cards

For British progressive and art rock, the relatively short period between March 1973 and December 1974 was particularly fruitful. Roxy Music released ‘For Your Pleasure‘ and ‘Stranded’, Genesis released two of their most ambitious works in ‘Selling England By The Pound’ and ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’, while King Crimson gave us ‘Larks’ Tongues In Aspic’ and Emerson, Lake & Palmer tipped the scales of self-indulgence with their ‘Brain Salad Surgery’. Meanwhile, Yes continued their long voyage into the epic with the help of ‘Relayer’, and Pink Floyd and Mike Oldfield released albums that would eventually become worldwide all-time best-sellers. Given the quality and love for each of these records, it’s hardly surprising that, in comparison, ‘Turn of The Cards’ – the fourth studio release from British symphonic rock combo Renaissance – hardly ever gets talked about.

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New Eric Burdon & The Animals box set coming from Esoteric in February

When most people think of Eric Burdon, they think of The Animals.  More specifically, they think of The Animals’ hit-making period between 1964-66.  They might even think about Eric’s recordings with War, a brief association that spawned cult albums in 1970.

Between these two high profile periods, Burdon continued to record.  Much like Fleetwood Mac’s “wilderness period” that caused a drought of UK success between 1971 and 1975, Burdon’s output in 1967 and 1968 is often overlooked, yet in a little over a year, he released a string of non-charting albums credited to Eric Burdon & The Animals.

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Brand new Anthony Phillips album released in October

It’s a good time to be an Anthony Phillips fan.  Following the October release of Rocking Horse Club’s excellent tribute album ‘Which Way The Wind Blows’ [a full review can be found here], the original Genesis guitarist will release a new solo album on 25th October.

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GREENSLADE – Time & Tide

Greenslade’s first three studio albums presented a band experiencing a period of rapid growth. In ‘Bedside Manners Are Extra’, released at the tail end of 1973, they released an album with a bigger focus on songs than their debut recording of just a few months earlier. Their third LP, ‘Spyglass Guest’ (released in the summer of ’74) found Dave and his eponymously named group delving further into jazz rock, unleashing something which sometimes came closer to Hatfield & The North than previous Greenslade recordings.

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