Scheherazade and Other Stories
| Scheherazade and Other Stories | ||||
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Cover design by Hipgnosis
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| Studio album by Renaissance | ||||
| Released | July 1975 | |||
| Recorded | May 1975 | |||
| Studio | Abbey Road Studios, London, UK | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock, symphonic rock | |||
| Length | 45:39 | |||
| Label | BTM (UK) Sire (North America) RCA (Europe and Japan) |
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| Producer | David Hitchcock and Renaissance | |||
| Renaissance chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
Scheherazade and Other Stories is the sixth studio album by the British progressive rock band Renaissance, released in 1975. Some critics consider it their best album, although others prefer earlier albums. This is the first album in which Renaissance (Annie Haslam's version) did not use quotes from actual classical pieces. Contrary to popular belief, "Song of Scheherazade" is not based on Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, but does have a recurring six-note motif that alludes to that work.
There is confusion over where the sections of "Song of Scheherazade" begin and end. This was caused by the fact that "Fanfare" and "The Betrayal" together sound like a single section, while "Festival Preparations" has two distinct parts of its own (4:00 and 1:11 in length). This confusion was reflected in the packaging and labels of original LP copies of this album, and in the mis-titling of "Festival Preparations" (part 1) as "The Young Prince and Princess" on the 1990 Tales of 1001 Nights, Volume I compilation.
Also, as has been admitted by the administrators of the official Renaissance site, Northern Lights, assigning exact composing credits to the individual sections is difficult, since the composers borrowed themes from each other. For example, based on the official credits, which differ slightly between the actual album package and the official Renaissance site, a particular melodic phrase ends up being attributed to both Dunford ("The Sultan") and Tout ("Fugue for the Sultan"); lyricist Betty Thatcher is not credited for her lyrics on "Finale" (which are repeated from "The Sultan").
"Trip to the Fair" was about Annie Haslam's first date with Roy Wood.
"Ocean Gypsy" has since been covered by Blackmore's Night.
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Wikipedia