Turn of the Cards by Renaissance

Turn of the Cards, Renaissance's fifth studio album, came out in 1974, on Sire in America and as the very first release on Miles Copeland's new BTM label in Britain. It's the first record Michael Dunford made as a full member, joining on acoustic guitar after writing songs for the previous three albums, and by now the lineup had settled around singer Annie Haslam, Dunford, John Tout, Jon Camp and Terry Sullivan, with Richard Gottehrer producing at De Lane Lea Studios.

This is rock that has been to the conservatory and come back with a string section. Haslam's voice climbs to the rafters and hangs there, the piano rolls like a concert grand in an empty hall, and the arrangements sweep in orchestral waves. It's also the last Renaissance studio album to lift passages from existing classical pieces. "Mother Russia" is the one that has lasted, a slow-building epic with the patience of a symphony.

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