Illusion were a British progressive rock band formed in 1977. They released two albums, Out of the Mist (1977) and Illusion (1978) on Island Records, before folding in 1979. A third release titled Enchanted Caress (made up of demos for a proposed 3rd album, from the late 1970s) was released in 1990.
Illusion were intended to be a reunion of the original line-up of Renaissance (whose second 1971 album was titled Illusion), but singer and guitarist Keith Relf died before the project was realised. Thereafter, the band's new lineup featured Louis Cennamo on bass, John Hawken on keyboards, Jim McCarty moved from drums to play acoustic guitar and share vocals with Jane Relf, while Eddie McNeill replaced him on drums and John Knightsbridge (from Third World War, and later of Ruthless Blues) played lead guitar.
In 2001, McCarty, Cennamo, Hawken and Jane Relf reunited once again to record Through the Fire, an album of new material, under the bandname Renaissance Illusion.
Members
Jane Relf – vocals
Jim McCarty – vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion
John Knightsbridge – guitars
John Hawken – keyboards
Louis Cennamo – bass
Eddie McNeill – drums
Discography
Out of the Mist (1977)
Personnel
Jane Relf – vocals
Jim McCarty – vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion
John Knightsbridge – electric and acoustic guitar
John Hawken – piano, synthesizers, Mellotron, Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes electric piano, harpsichord Louis Cennamo – bass guitar Eddie McNeil – drums, percussion
Notes
"Face of Yesterday" was a remake of a song from Renaissance's Illusion album (1971)
Illusion (1978)
Personnel
Jane Relf – vocal
Jim McCarty – vocal, acoustic guitar, percussion
John Knightsbridge – electric and acoustic guitar
John Hawken – piano, synthesizers, Mellotron, Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes electric piano, harpsichord Louis Cennamo – bass guitar Eddie McNeil – drums, percussion
Enchanted Caress (1979)
Personnel
Jane Relf – vocal, percussion
Jim McCarty – vocal, acoustic guitar, percussion
John Knightsbridge – electric and acoustic guitars
John Hawken – piano, analogue synthesizers (Moog/ARP), Mellotron (original), Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes electric piano, harpsichord Louis Cennamo – bass guitar (1–5), (7–10) Eddie McNeil – drums, percussion (1–5), (7–9) Keith Relf – vocals, acoustic guitar (10) (See Notes below)
Session personnel
Chas Cronk – bass (6) Tony Fernandez – drums (6)
Notes
Recorded in 1979 but was released as an album in 1990. Contains demos for a planned third album, plus a 1976 Keith Relf demo and a John Knightsbridge solo instrumental. "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" features John Knightsbridge, with Chas Cronk on bass and Tony Fernandez on drums. "All the Falling Angels" features Keith Relf, with other musicians including Louis Cennamo on bass. It was Keith's last recording before his death (May 1976). See YouTube video (JimMcCarty and Co) for original Home Demo version of "All the Falling Angels".
Through the Fire (2001)
Personnel
Jane Relf – vocals
Jim McCarty – lead vocals, drums, percussion
John Idan – acoustic guitar
John Hawken – piano, keyboards
Louis Cennamo – bass
Ravi – percussion
Jackie Rawe – vocals
Mandy Bell – vocals
Emily Burridge – cello
Dzal Martin – acoustic guitar
Gary Le Port – acoustic guitar
Jonathan Digby – acoustic guitar
Danny Relf – synthesizer programming
Ron Korb – vocals, flute
References
External links
Northern Lights Renaissance website; includes Illusion discography etc. John Hawken website [ Illusion biography by Bradley Torreano, discography and album reviews, credits & releases] at AllMusic Illusion discography, album releases & credits at Discogs Illusion albums to be listened as stream on Spotify