Renaissance's Scheherazade gets remastered, expanded reissue

Renaissance
(Image credit: Press)

UK prog rockers Renaissance are top have their classic 1975 release Scheherazade & Other Stories reissued as a three-disc clamshell box edition through Esoteric Recordings on November 26.

Recorded at Abbey Road studios in May 1975, the album is rightly regarded as one of the band’s finest works, featuring the epic Song of Scheherazade (which dominated the album’s second side on the original LP release) and other classic tracks Trip to the Fair, Ocean Gypsy and The Vultures Fly High. Upon its release the album reached the US Top 50 and was one of the best-selling Renaissance albums.

The newly expanded edition of Scheherazade & Other Stories has been newly re-mastered from the original first-generation master tapes and also features a stunning 5.1 Surround Sound up-mix on a DVD (NTSC/Region Free) which also includes a high resolution stereo mix and a wonderful bonus feature of a previously unreleased 1976 live promotional film.

The set also includes a bonus CD of a concert recorded in January 1976 in Nottingham, England and a previously unreleased bonus track. The release also features an illustrated booklet with a new essay featuring exclusive interviews.

Pre-order Scheherazade & Other Stories.

Renaissance

(Image credit: Cherry Red)

Renaissance: Scheherazade & Other Stories

Disc One
Scheherazade & Other Stories Remastered
1 Trip To The Fair
2 The Vultures Fly High
3 Ocean Gypsy
4 Song Of Scheherazade
i Fanfare
ii The Betrayal
iii The Sultan
iv Love Theme
v The Young Prince and Princess as told by Scheherazade
vi Festival Preparations
vii Fugue for the Sultan
viii The Festival
ix Finale
Bonus track
5 Ocean Gypsy (single version)
(previously unreleased on CD)

Disc Two
Live at Nottingham University January 1976
1 Can You Understand
2 Running Hard
3 Ocean Gypsy
4 Prologue
5 Song Of Scheherazade
i Fanfare
ii The Betrayal
iii The Sultan
iv Love Theme
v The Young Prince and Princess as told by Scheherazade
vi Festival Preparations
vii Fugue for the Sultan
viii The Festival
ix Finale
6 Ashes Are Burning

Disc Three
Scheherazade & Other Stories (96 kHz / 24-bit 5.1 Surround Sound Upmix & High Resolution Stereo Mix)
1 Trip To The Fair (5.1 surround upmix)
2 The Vultures Fly High (5.1 surround upmix)
3 Ocean Gypsy (5.1 surround upmix)
4 Song Of Scheherazade
i Fanfare
ii The Betrayal
iii The Sultan
iv Love Theme
v The Young Prince and Princess as told by Scheherazade
vi Festival Preparations
vii Fugue for the Sultan
viii The Festival
ix Finale
Bonus video content Renaissance – Live 1976 promotional film (previously unreleased)
1 Ocean Gypsy (Live promotional film)
2 Prologue (Live promotional film)
3 The Vulture’s Fly High (Live promotional film)

Jerry Ewing

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.