Museum Musica

UK, 1974, symphonic prog / progressive rock

Renaissance – Turn of the Cards: The poetic atmosphere created by the melodic lyricism with touches of darkness of this 70s gem comforts me more with each listen. This is a very wintry album, and in my mind, the whole document is a build up to the last, epic track, “Mother Russia”, which veers away from the delicacy of most of the album and brings the hammer down. I don’t know anything about Solzhenitsyn other than the fact that he was an exile from his homeland, but man I really feel for the guy when I hear the lyric, “Red blood white snow, He knows frozen rivers won’t flow, So cold so true, Mother Russia he cries for you.” I’m glad he was able to die on his native soil.