A Song for All Seasons

This article is about the Renaissance album. For the Jefferson Airplane song, see this album.

A Song for All Seasons

Cover design by Hipgnosis
Studio album by Renaissance
Released March 1978[1]
Recorded November 1977–January 1978, Advision, CTS and Trident Studios, London
Genre Progressive rock, symphonic rock
Length 44:31
Label Warner Bros. (UK)
Sire (North America)
Producer David Hentschel
Renaissance chronology
Novella
(1977)Novella1977		 A Song for All Seasons
(1978)		 Azure d'Or
(1979)Azure d'Or1979
Singles from A Song for All Seasons
  1. "Back Home Once Again" / "The Captive Heart"
    Released: 1977 (UK only)
  2. "Northern Lights" / "Opening Out"
    Released: 1978
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]

A Song for All Seasons is the eighth studio album by the British progressive rock band Renaissance, released in 1978. It marked the return of electric guitars to the band's music after several years of absence.[3]

Overview

"Northern Lights" was a Top 10 hit on the U.K. charts and is the band's best selling single.[4]

A shortened recording of "Back Home Once Again" was used as the theme song for the short-lived 1977 British TV series The Paper Lads.

"She Is Love," sung by Jon Camp, was meant to be sung by Annie Haslam, but the orchestral backing track turned out to have been recorded in the wrong key for her.[5] This is Jon Camp's version; another version is from an Annie Haslam interview, where she confirmed she was too exhausted to get in to her car and drive too the studio and sing the song. According to her, the producers were "devastated", because the song was clearly orchestrated for her to sing, and at the time studio technique was advanced enough to transform the backing track to any key that would have suited her — with her three-octave range it would be difficult to find a key that did not suit her.

Drummer Terry Sullivan had his first songwriting credit with the band on the title track. He was responsible for the basic tune to the song's extended instrumental intro. This was based on a song he wrote on guitar in 1971.[6]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Opening Out"Jon Camp, Michael Dunford4:14
2."Day of the Dreamer"Camp, Dunford9:43
3."Closer than Yesterday"Camp, Dunford3:18
4."Kindness (At the End)"Camp4:51
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Back Home Once Again"Camp, Dunford3:15
6."She Is Love"Dunford, Betty Thatcher4:11
7."Northern Lights"Dunford, Thatcher4:06
8."A Song for All Seasons"Camp, Dunford, Terence Sullivan, Thatcher, John Tout10:53

Personnel

Renaissance

Additional musicians

Production

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1978 UK Albums Chart[4] 35
RPM100 Albums (Canada)[7] 45
Billboard 200 (USA)[8] 58

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1978 "Northern Lights" UK Singles Chart[4] 10

Certifications

Country Organization Year Sales
UK BPI 1979 Silver (+ 60,000)[9]

References

  1. ↑ "1978 Albums". progressiverock.com. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
  2. ↑ Eder, Bruce. "A Song for All Seasons – Renaissance review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  3. ↑ Liner notes from the Tales of 1001 Nights compilations
  4. 1 2 3 "Renaissance Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  5. ↑ "Jon Camp Interview 2012".
  6. ↑ Discussion with Terry Sullivan on the (now retired) Northern Lights message board.
  7. ↑ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 29, No. 12, June 17 1978". Library and Archives Canada. 17 June 1978. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  8. ↑ "A Song for All Seasons Billboard Albums". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  9. ↑ "Search for Artist Renaissance". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
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