Various Artists - Live at Carnegie Hall (CD, Imported)

This double-disc set offers the first two Renaissance albums in state-of-the-art sound, which is a big help, but there's also a lot more than that -- the producers have augmented the group's self-titled debut album with the single edit of "Island," and the B-side "The Sea," a good piano-driven piece that's a killer showcase for Jane Relf's falsetto, as well as the backup singing of Keith Relf. Much more important is the addition on disc two (devoted mostly to the Illusion album) of the four songs that Keith Relf and Jim McCarty recorded before and after the early history of the group, as a duo. "Shining Where the Sun Has Been" is one of the most charming pieces of sunshine pop ever. The pair of 1970 McCarty-Relf sides (which feature McCarty singing), "All the Fallen Angels" are excellent pieces of spaced out psychedelic folk-pop, and "Prayer for Light" is a bravura Jane Relf showcase. These additions add immeasurably to the appeal of the two albums, and also give us a much better picture of some of what McCarty and Relf were doing beyond the finished first album and the thrown-together second album by the group. The annotation also presents the fullest account yet given of the early history of Renaissance, leading up to the establishment of the group's second incarnation. ~ Bruce Eder