Information about the album

• "Things I Don't Understand" was founder member Jim McCarty
  Jim McCarty
  Jim McCarty is an English musician, best known as the drummer for The Yardbirds and Renaissance.-Early life:...
  
  's last contribution to the band; it had already been performed live for several years when it was finally recorded.
• "Running Hard" quotes a melodic phrase first used in "Mr. Pine" from the Illusion
  Illusion (Renaissance album)
  Illusion was a 1971 album by progressive rock band Renaissance. It was originally released only in Germany and did not receive a wider release until 1973. It was first released in the U.K...
  
  album, as well as the piece "Litanies" by French composer Jehan Alain
  Jehan Alain
  Jehan Ariste Alain was a French organist and composer.-Biography:Alain was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the western suburbs of Paris, into a family of musicians. His father, Albert Alain was an enthusiastic organist, composer and organ-builder who had studied with Alexandre Guilmant and Louis...
  
  .
• "Mother Russia" quotes a melodic phrase from the second movement of "Concierto de Aranjuez
  Concierto de Aranjuez
  The Concierto de Aranjuez is a composition for classical guitar and orchestra by the Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo. Written in 1939, it is probably Rodrigo's best-known work, and its success established his reputation as one of the most significant Spanish composers of the twentieth century. ...
  
  " by Joaquín Rodrigo
  Joaquín Rodrigo
  Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez , commonly known as Joaquín Rodrigo, was a composer of classical music and a virtuoso pianist. Despite being nearly blind from an early age, he achieved great success...
  
  .
• Richard Gottehrer
  Richard Gottehrer
  Richard Gottehrer is an American songwriter, record producer and record label executive.-Career:Gottehrer came to prominence as a songwriter in the 1960s with his most notable songs being "My Boyfriend's Back" and "I Want Candy". As Feldman-Goldstein-Gottehrer , he wrote various songs including...
  
  , one of the albums three producers, is still at it - having produced the latest album by The Raveonettes
  The Raveonettes
  The Raveonettes are a Danish indie rock duo, consisting of Sune Rose Wagner on guitar, instruments, and vocals, and Sharin Foo on bass, guitar and vocals...
  
  ' Lust, Lust, Lust
  Lust, Lust, Lust
  Lust Lust Lust is the third album by The Raveonettes, released on November 12, 2007 in the UK, and February 19, 2008 in the US, with a different track order. The album is the band's most minimalistic and synthetic to date...
  
  .
• The music to "Cold Is Being" is taken entirely from "Adagio in G minor
  Adagio in G minor
  The Adagio in G minor for violin, strings and organ continuo, is a neo-Baroque composition popularly attributed to the 18th-century Venetian master Tomaso Albinoni, but composed by the 20th-century musicologist and Albinoni biographer Remo Giazotto and based on the disputed discovery of a...
  
  " (attributed to Tomaso Albinoni
  Tomaso Albinoni
  Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni was an Italian Baroque composer. While famous in his day as an opera composer, he is mainly remembered today for his instrumental music, such as the concertos, some of which are regularly recorded.-Biography:Born in Venice, Republic of Venice, to Antonio Albinoni, a...
  
  ) and, contrary to the album credits, was not actually contributed to by Michael Dunford. It was, however credited in the back notes: "Thanks to Jehan Alain (for the opening piece of RUNNING HARD) and Albinoni for COLD IS BEING".
• The first BTM UK pressings had an alternate back cover, with a moody close-up portrait of Annie Haslam framed in one of the 'cards'. Later pressings, and in the US, a rather bland picture consistent in style and size with the other members portraits were added.
• Some credits on the original album were later inexplicably cropped: "Many thanks to Miles Copeland, Julian, Shirley" had originally read, "Many thanks to Miles Copeland, Julian, Shirley, Richard and Natalie Halem."
• This was the last Renaissance studio album to include excerpts from existing classical pieces.
• In the UK, this was the very first release (BTM 1000) on Miles Copeland
  Miles Copeland III
  Miles Axe Copeland III is an American entertainment executive, best known for founding I.R.S. Records. His brother, Stewart Copeland, was part of the pop-rock trio The Police, which Miles managed...
  
  's fledgling label, BTM Records (British Talent Managers). In 1977, after releasing a total of 10 albums, including 2 more by Renaissance (BTM 1006: Scheherazade and Other Stories
  Scheherazade and Other Stories
  Scheherazade and Other Stories is a 1975 album by progressive rock band Renaissance. It has often been considered their overall best album....
  
  , and a 2 LP, BTM 2001, 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...
  
  ), the label folded due to bankruptcy.
• The cover picture features Warwick Castle
  Warwick Castle
  Warwick Castle is a medieval castle in Warwick, the county town of Warwickshire, England. It sits on a bend on the River Avon. The castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068 within or adjacent to the Anglo-Saxon burh of Warwick. It was used as a fortification until the early 17th century,...
  
  .

Track listing

1. "Running Hard" - 9:36
2. "I Think of You" - 3:08
3. "Things I Don't Understand" (Dunford/McCarty) - 9:28
4. "Black Flame" - 6:25
5. "Cold Is Being" - 3:02
6. "Mother Russia
   Mother Russia (Renaissance song)
   Mother Russia is the closing song on Renaissance's 1974 album Turn of the Cards. It also appears on the 1976 live album Live at Carnegie Hall, the compilation Tales of 1001 Nights, Vol...
   
   " - 9:18

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
• John Tout - keyboards, backing vocals
• Terence Sullivan - drums, percussion, backing vocals
• Michael Dunford - acoustic guitar, backing vocals