Ashes Are Burning by Renaissance

Ashes Are Burning, Renaissance's fourth album, came out on Harvest in 1973, made by the lineup that had finally settled by that year: Annie Haslam, Michael Dunford, John Tout, Jon Camp and Terry Sullivan. It's also the first Renaissance album with an orchestra sitting in on some of the songs, and the whole thing swells with it: rippling piano, soaring vocal harmonies and arrangements that borrow as much from the concert hall as the rock club.

Haslam's voice is the real star, climbing effortlessly into the stratosphere and hanging there, pure and clear. "Carpet of the Sun" is a sunlit folk reverie, while the title track stretches out into a long, dramatic journey. It gave the band their first spot on the Billboard 200 and helped build the devoted cult following they found in America.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.