Prologue was a 1972 album by progressive rock band Renaissance

Renaissance (band)

Renaissance are an English progressive rock band, most notable for their 1978 UK top 10 hit "Northern Lights" and progressive rock classics like "Carpet of the Sun", "Mother Russia" and "Ashes Are Burning".-Original incarnation :...

.

Information about the album

In 1972, Renaissance's then-new management disbanded the lineup at the time (one of several short-lived transitional lineups), retaining only Haslam and Tout to build a new band around. The new members added at this point were Camp, Sullivan, and guitarist Mick Parsons. Shortly thereafter, sadly, Parsons died in a car accident. Electric guitarist Rob Hendry was brought in at the last minute to replace him, and left the band soon after the album was completed.

Because Prologue was a new start for the band, with a lineup that now included none of the original members, it would frequently be referred to as their "first" album (for example, on the Live At Carnegie Hall

Live at Carnegie Hall (Renaissance album)

Live at Carnegie Hall was a 1976 live double album by progressive rock band Renaissance. It presented songs from all of the band's Annie Haslam-era studio albums thus far, including the forthcoming Scheherazade and Other Stories.-Side A:#"Prologue" - 8:10 [Time on vinyl album 7:35 ] Live at...

album, both in a song intro and on the inside cover).

Though all the songs are Renaissance originals, they were not written by any current members of the band but by former members Jim McCarty

Jim McCarty

Jim McCarty is an English musician, best known as the drummer for The Yardbirds and Renaissance.-Early life:...

 (from the first lineup) and Michael Dunford (from the transitional lineups), along with lyricist Betty Thatcher. Dunford would become part of the band again after Hendry's departure.

The piano intro to the song "Prologue" was borrowed from the beginning of Chopin's Revolutionary Etude.

In The Beginning reissue

In 1978 Prologue was reissued, together with the following album Ashes Are Burning

Ashes Are Burning

Ashes Are Burning is an album by progressive rock band Renaissance, released in 1973 . It was the first of several Renaissance albums to feature an orchestra playing along with the band on some songs.-Information about the album:...

, as a double album called In the Beginning. The original double LP included the complete Prologue; one song from Ashes was edited. The 1988 CD version of In the Beginning (on one disc) had edited versions of "Rajah Khan" and two Ashes songs.

Track listing

EMI-Sovereign SVNA 7253 UK
and in other EU territories as [IE 064 93685]

1. "Prologue" (Dunford) - 5:39
2. "Kiev" (McCarty-Thatcher) - 7:38
3. "Sounds of the Sea" (Dunford-Thatcher) - 7:07
4. "Spare Some Love" (Dunford-Thatcher) - 5:11
5. "Bound for Infinity" (McCarty-Thatcher) - 4:23
6. "Rajah Khan" (Dunford) - 11:31

Personnel

• Annie Haslam
  Annie Haslam
  Annie Haslam is an English progressive rock vocalist and songwriter.Originally a fashion student, she began studying under opera singer Sybil Knight in 1970 and developed her five-octave vocal range...
  
   - lead & backing vocals
• Jon Camp (listed as "John Camp") - bass, backing vocals, lead vocal on "Kiev"
• John Tout - keyboards, backing vocals
• Rob Hendry - electric guitar, backing vocals
• Terence Sullivan - drums, percussion, backing vocals

VCS3

EMS VCS 3

The VCS 3 is a portable analog synthesiser with a flexible semi-modular voice architecture, by Electronic Music Studios Limited in 1969....

 solo on "Rajah Khan": Francis Monkman

Francis Monkman

Francis Monkman is an English rock, classical and film score composer, and a founding member of the progressive rock band Curved Air.-Career:...