“Novella” is the seventh studio album of Renaissance and was released in 1977. The line up on the album is Annie Haslam, Michael Dunford, John Tout, Jon Camp and Terence Sullivan. The album also has the participation of Richard Hewson.
When we talk about the years of 1976 and 1977 we mustn’t forget the arising of the punk movement. So, those years were a big problem for all progressive rock bands. Those were times of great turbulence and obscurity for all the progressive rock music. Renaissance was able to manage and to last longer than most of the other progressive rock bands before beginning their period of musical decline. During the period of 1977 and 1978, when bands such as Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant and Emerson, Lake & Palmer fell part way or whole way into pop, Renaissance managed to come up with a great progressive album, “Novella”, in 1977, and one very good album “A Song For All Seasons”, in 1978.
While AOR radio and to a lesser extent punk were undermining the creative license of many other progressive rock bands, Renaissance managed to escape relatively unscathed, for a few years at least. Why did it happen? It’s really quite simple. It happened because in fact Renaissance had a different audience base than many other progressive rock bands. In reality, they didn’t need to go through the channels of “rock and roll” or “hit radio” to keep their audience. And, as such, they were able to keep going with elaborate musical ventures even while Yes were being paired back to “Tormato” with “Don’t Kill The Whale”. However, the band didn’t pass unscathed to that and Renaissance began to experience certain problems by 1979. Perhaps no band can outrun the market forever. But the fact remains that they kept their credibility longer than most of their compatriots. And it was a blessing for all their progressive fans, indeed.
Musically, “Novella” followed in the footsteps of the previous albums, but the mood was slightly mellower. The material was maybe also a bit less accessible, and the album requires several listens before you’re able to grasp the melodies. But once you’re into it you’ll find that it has almost all of the qualities from the band’s best albums. It was also the last album where Renaissance still remained a pure progressive band. The 13 minute opener “Can You Hear Me?” has a kind of a melodramatic feel to it, and the instrumental passages are a lot more muted and humble than before. This track glides straight over in the beautiful and atmospheric “The Sisters” that maintains the mellow mood. The acoustic “Midas Man” features one of the last examples of Tout’s sparse use of synthesizers before he unfortunately would take over much of the band’s sound with it. “The Captive Heart” is a piano dominated ballad with some fine harmonies, but the closing epic “Touching Once (Is So Hard To Keep)” is a lot more interesting. It builds up from a medieval styled tune to a symphonic and dramatic crescendo before it gets back to the start again. This is very striking indeed. From: https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/72129/Renaissance-Novella/
