Illusion is the second studio album by the English progressive rock bandRenaissance, released in 1971. It was originally released only in Germany and did not receive a wider release until 1973. It was first released in the UK in 1977, with a cover that had the original front and rearcover artwork swapped.
Overview
The original Renaissance line-up fell apart during the recording of this, their second album. Jim McCarty was the first to leave in 1970, when the band was about to start a European tour, because he hated to fly. Keith Relf and Louis Cennamo left next, subsequently forming the new group Armageddon. McCarty continued to be associated with Renaissance as a songwriter, however, receiving writing credits on the new band's first, second and third albums. John Hawken kept the band going by recruiting new members, including Michael Dunford and Terry Crowe, former bandmates of his from The Nashville Teens. New bassist Neil Korner had previously been part of The New Vaudeville Band This new line-up, which recorded "Mr. Pine", was one of several short-lived transitional line-ups that existed between the original one and the classic one featuring Annie Haslam. "Mr. Pine" is the only track on a Renaissance album where members of the original line-up are heard together with a member of the classic line-up. It includes a theme that was later used in the far better-known Renaissance song "Running Hard". To complete the album, the original line-up got back together, minus Hawken and plus guest keyboardist Don Shinn, to record "Past Orbits of Dust". One track recorded during the Illusion sessions, a fairly short song called "Statues", was not used on the album. It was eventually released in 2002 on the album Live + Direct. The original album was re-issued on CD in 1995 by Repertoire Records. Illusion was the first Renaissance album to feature lyrics by Betty Thatcher, who would work with the band throughout its entire "classic" period and beyond. Thatcher was brought to the band by her friend Jane Relf. When the four surviving members of the original Renaissance reunited in 1976, after the death of Keith Relf, the Renaissance name was already being retained in use by their successors in the band. Henceforth they named their new reunion band as "Illusion", alluding to the album they had recorded as the previous group. Their first album under this bandname, entitled Out of the Mist, included a reworking of the song "Face of Yesterday"; while their second album was eponymously titled Illusion.
