Novella (album)



Novella is the seventh studio album by the British progressive rock band Renaissance, released in 1977.

Release history
Due to the bankruptcy of the band's UK label BTM, this album was released in the USA some months before its UK release, leading to a number of UK fans importing copies. At the time of this original issue, Sire was distributed in the USA by ABC Records; the cover featured unique artwork by Pamela Brown different from that which would be used for its subsequent UK issue. Shortly thereafter, Sire changed distribution in the USA to Warner Brothers and the cover artwork was revised to use the same painting by Brown as that employed in its UK issue. The 2nd USA issue can most easily be identified by the rendering of the band which takes up the entire back cover; the original ABC Distribution cover features a much smaller painting of the band on the back.

After the demise of BTM, the band agreed in principle to sign for CBS Records UK. However they actually agreed to a contract with Warner Brothers.

In the USA the album was initially released with unique cover art by Sire Records (a Warners subsidiary) in March 1977 under its distribution deal with ABC Records, and was assigned the catalog number SA-7526. It was subsequently re-released with revised cover artwork with the catalog number SR-6024. In the UK it was given a scheduled release in the same month by CBS with the catalog number S CBS 82137 and although some test pressings were made, the release did not go ahead. The album was eventually released by Warner Brothers in the UK on September 2, 1977 with the catalog number K 56422. It was also released in Japan in 1978 on the Warner Brothers / Pioneer label, catalog number WB P10492W.

The album charted at No. 46 in the Billboard 200 chart in the USA.

The song "Can You Hear Me?" was sampled in the Deep Puddle Dynamics' We Ain't Fessin' (Double Quotes), and Blockheads' Music by Cavelight track "Sunday Seance".

Renaissance

 * Annie Haslam – lead and backing vocals, miscellaneous percussion
 * Michael Dunford – acoustic guitars (6 & 12 string), backing vocals
 * John Tout – piano (Steinway Grand Piano), electric keyboards (analogue synthesizers & Hohner D6 clavinet), backing vocals, percussion
 * Jon Camp – bass (Rickenbacker 4001), co-lead vocals on track 4, backing vocals, Moog bass pedals, cello on track 2
 * Terence Sullivan – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional musicians

 * Richard Hewson - orchestral arrangements & conductor
 * uncredited - saxophone solo on "Touching Once"

Production

 * Dick Plant - engineer, co-producer
 * Barry Kidd - assistant engineer