Time-Line

End of the Line

     

This is a peculiar album. It is vastly improved over Camera, Camera, their 1981 first offering on Miles Copeland's IRS label in that the synthesizer has been toned down and used more appropriately. If I had been unfamiliar with the history of Renaissance, I would likely have thought this album moderately engaging and that they showed promise. In actuality, it is the swan song of a band that once used complex orchestral and rock arrangements to be near the forefront of the prog movement in the 1970s. As it is, Time-Line is clearly a step down from the grandeur of that level of music. Taken on its own terms, however, it is quite listenable and has some songs that are very good (Flight, The Entertainer, Distant Horizons come to mind) and remind us that Jon Camp and Mick Dunford can still write good music. One gets the feeling that Annie Haslam's voice is not suited to the material, though, and she strains to keep up with the tempo and chord changes throughout the album. Time-Line is worth the price of a pickup but don't expect Scheherazade.