Illusion
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1976-78) - Louis Cennamo – bass guitar - John Hawken (RIP 2024) -- keyboards synthesizers - John Knightsbridge -- electric and acoustic guitar - Jim McCarty – vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, drums - Eddie McNeil – drums, percussion - Jane Relf – vocals
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- Armageddon (Louis Cennamo) - Beehive (Jim McCarty) - Box of Frogs (Jim McCarty) - The British Invasion All-Stars (Jim McCarty) - Louis Cennamo - Chicago Line (Louis Cennamo) - Colosseum (Louis Cennamo) - Daughters of Albion (Louis Cennamo) - Herd (Louis Cennamo) - Holy Smoke (Jim McCarty, Jane Relf) - Gods of the West (John Hawken) - Hug ( John Knightsbridge) - Isadore (Eddie McNeil) - The Jim McCarthy Band (John Hawken, Jim McCarty) - McCarthy - Hite Project (Jim McCarty) - Medicine Head (Keith Relf) - Craig Moore and Friends (Jim McCarty) - The Nashville Teens (John Hawken) - Pilgrim (Jim McCarty) - Jim Powell and the 5th Dimensions (Louis Cennamo) - Pretty Things (Jim McCarty) - Jane Relf (solo efforts) - Keith Relf and Jim McCarty) - The Frankie Reid Band (John Hawken) - Renaissance (Jane Relf) - Riff Raff (Tommy Eyre) - Ruthless Blues (John Knightsbridge) - Shoot (Jim McCarty) - Spooky Tooth (John Hawken) - Stairway (Louis Cennamo, Jim McCarty, Jane Relf) - Strange Days (Eddie McNeil) - Steamhammer (Louis Cennamo) - Stratosphere (Jim McCarty) - The Strawbs (John Hawken) - The Third World War (John Hawken) - Together (Jim McCarty) - Topham McCarty Band (Jim McCarty) - Trifle (John Hawken) - Vinegar Joe (John Hawken) - The Yardbirds (John Knightsbridge and Jim McCarty) - Yardbirds Blues Band (Jim McCarty)
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Genre: progressive Rating: **** 4 stars Title: Out of the Mist Company: Island Catalog: ILPS
9489 Country/State: London, UK Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: small cut out notch on edge Available: 1 Catalog ID: -- Price: $15.00
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Tracking the relationship between Renaissance and Illusion is good way to see how personalities can mess up a good thing and an easy way to get confused and frustrated.
Renaissance formed in 1969. The original line-up featured former Yardbirds vocalist Keith Relf and drummer Jim McCarty. The pair were joined by bassist Louis Cennamo, keyboard player John Hawken and Relf's younger sister Jane on vocals. That line-up recorded 1969's 'Renaissance" and most of 1970's "Illusion" before internal and external pressures started to pile up, followed by a string of personnel changes. Burned out by touring and pressures for a second album, the first set of changes came when Cennamo, McCarty and Relf quit during recording sessions for the second album. Hawken and Jane Relf completed the album with three former members of The Nashville Teens - Terry Crowe (vocals), Michael Dunford (guitar), Neil Korner (bass), and former Sunshine drummer Terry Slade. After a European tour Relf quit and was replaced by American vocalist Binky Cullom. Keyboardist Hawken also quit, but recruiting new singer Annie Haslam as a replacement for Cullom. By the time the band released their third album "Prologue" none of the original members were still in the line-up. Dunford and Haslam were joined by former Roy, Peters & Friends singer/bassist Jon Camp, drummer Terry Sullivan and ex-Rupert's People keyboardist John Trout. Even weirder, though he was no longer a member of the group, McCarty continue to write material for the band.
With
a series of demos in-hand the band found a supporter in the form of Chris
Blackwell's Island Records (which had released the first two Renaissance
albums.) Co-produced by the band and Doug Bogie, the group went into
London's Island Studios turning in what I consider to be a criminally
overlooked slice of classically influenced progressive t
"Out of
the Mist" track listing: 1.) Isadora (Jim McCarty) - 6:56 rating: **** stars Apparently inspired by and dedicated to the late American dancer and choreographer Isadora Duncan, the ballad 'Isadora' was originally entitled 'Daydreaming'. Built on John Hawken's classical influenced keyboards, the song sported a breezy, semi-classical melody and was simply one of the prettiest songs I've ever heard. With McCarty and Relf sharing lead vocals and blending their voices on the backing harmonies, the results were mesmerizing. Guitarist John Knightsbridge added an equally charming pair of solos. Easy to see why Island released an edited version of this tune as a single:
- 1977's 'Isadora' b/w ''Beautiful Country' (Island catalog number IS-094-A/B)
2.) Roads to Freedom (Jim McCarty - John Hawken) - 3:53 rating: **** stars I've always loved Relf's somewhat brittle, crystalline voice. The multi-tracked vocals were perfectly suited to this pretty, keyboard powered ballad. Kudos to Hawken's work on this one. Picking up steam as it rolled along, this one would also have made a dandy single. 3.) Beautiful Country (Jim McCarty - John Hawken) - 4:21 rating: **** stars II think this is a first for me - two songs back-to-back off the same album. I'm not sure there is such an entity, but if it exists the British Travel Authority missed the boat by not appropriating the lilting ballad 'Beautiful Country' for an advertising campaign. Certainly the England of my dreams is just a figment of my imagination, but 'Beautiful Country' perfectly captures the vibe of my dreams. Pastoral and tranquil, the combination of Relf's gentle vocals and song's sublime melody ... this is the song celebrating England that Kate Bush always wanted to write. 4.) Solo Flight (Jim McCarty - John Hawken) - 4:23 rating: **** stars And just when I'd fallen in love with their classically-tinged sound along came the rocker 'Solo Flight'. John Knightsbridge contributed a great guitar solo.
(side
2) The album's first disappointment, 'Everywhere You Go' sounded like it had been written with an ear to radio exposure. That didn't make it a failure as the song had a nice, pop feel. Relf's vocals were dazzling and John Knightsbridge turned another awesome solo. The big drawback came in the form of the horrible orchestration. The song would have been so much stronger without arranger Robert Kirby's hideous strings. Always wondered why Island didn't tap it as a single. 2.) Face of Yesterday (Jim McCarty) - 5:45 rating: **** stars The classically-tinged ballad 'Face of Yesterday' drags you back to the intertwined paths of Renaissance and Illusion. Featuring Jane Relf on lead vocals the song originally appeared on the second Renaissance album - 1970's "Illusion". The Illusion version sounds very similar. Propelled by Hawken's lovely piano and Relf's stunning vocals, it provided another breath taking performance made even better by the classical inspirations that ran through the song. For anyone curious, recorded in May, 1970 for Belgian television, YoiuTube has a lovely clip of the Renaissance Mark III line-up with Relf's replacement Binky Cullom on lead vocals: Renaissance (transitional line-up ) - Face of Yesterday (1080p HD) 3.) Candles Are Burning (Jim McCarty) - 7:10 rating: **** stars The album's heaviest and most progressive sounding performance, 'Candles Are Burning' also sounded a lot like something out of the Annie Haslam Renaissance catalog. Featuring McCarty and Relf sharing vocal duties. Once again Hawken's keyboards and synthesizers provided the song's soul, though the multi-tracked backing vocals were gorgeous and gave the song an unexpected commercial zing.
© Scott R. Blackerby
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Having
departed Renaissance the original members scattered. Cennamo brief
joined Colosseum, recorded and album with Daughters of Albion and briefly
joined Steamhammer before hooking up with Relf to record an excellent album
with their new band Armageddon. Hawken briefly joined Spooky Tooth,
followed by some time with Vinegar Joe and several albums with The Strawbs.
McCarty formed the band Shoot, recording an album for EMI. Keith Relf
recorded an album with Medicine Head and became active in production.
Jane Relf recorded a 1970 solo single ('Without a Song from You') and worked
in commercial music recording advertising jingles. In 1976 Renaissance
Mark I members Cennamo, Hawken, McCarty and Keith and Jane Relf decided to
reunite the original Renaissance. Tragically Keith Relf was fatally
electrocuted while playing a guitar at home. Under the name Illusion (yes
the name of the second Renaissance album), the remaining members decided to
continue their "reunion". McCarty switched over to guitar
and, perhaps as insurance, former Hug guitarist John Knightsbridge was
brought into the project along with Strange Days drummer Eddie McNeil. 
unes.
With keyboardist Hawken and guitarist McCarty handling the songwriting
duties the end result was an album of classically influenced progressive
moves for people that don't think they like progressive music.
Hawken's keyboards dominated the song, but he was a rarity given his playing
was economical and seldom spilled over into the pretentiousness so many
progressive albums collapse under. With the exception of the rocker
'Solo Flight' the album featured a collection of keyboard powered
ballads that were entertaining, yet highly melodic. Both McCarty and
Relf shared lead vocals. On tracks like the opener 'Isadora' and the
closer 'Candles are Burning' their blended voices were lovely. And as
good as McCarty was, Relf's calm, crystalline voice was even
better. In fact, on songs like the dazzling 'Beautiful Country' and
'Face of Yesterday' she sounded positively Angelic. All hyperbole
aside, "Out of the Mist" was one of my top-10 2024
discoveries. Simply a seamless collection that I enjoy from start to
finish. I should give it an extra star for the Keith Morris's cover
photo and the fact the album's still readily available and can be found at
an extremely reasonable price.
