''Camera Camera'' is the tenth studio album by the English

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

band

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

, released in 1981. After losing two of their five members and being dropped from their label, Renaissance signed on to Miles Copeland's I.R.S. Records. The departed members were replaced by keyboardist/singer Peter Gosling and drummer Peter Barron (neither of whom is included in the album's band photos). Between the previous Renaissance album and ''Camera Camera'', Annie Haslam and Michael Dunford had worked with Gosling as a trio called

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, releasing two singles and recording several demos. Nevada's somewhat new wave sound strongly influenced ''Camera Camera''. One of the ''Camera Camera'' songs, "Faeries", had previously been recorded (but not released) by Nevada. The original 1981 UK release of ''Camera Camera'' did not include the single "Bonjour Swansong"; but the song has been included on all releases of the album since 1982. This was the last Renaissance studio album to include lyrics by the band's longtime lyricist

Betty Thatcher Betty Thatcher (16 February 1944 – 15 August 2011) was an English lyricist who wrote many of the lyrics for the progressive rock band Renaissance. Early life Betty Mary Newsinger was born in Great Titchfield Street, central London. She was ta ...

. She wrote the words to "Bonjour Swansong" as "a private goodbye to the group."Liner notes from the CD reissue of ''Camera Camera''

Track listing

Personnel

;Renaissance * Annie Haslam - lead and backing vocals * Michael Dunford - guitars, backing vocals *Peter Gosling - keyboards, backing vocals *Jon Camp - bass, backing vocals, guitars *Peter Barron - drums, backing vocals, percussion ;Production *John Acock - engineer

References

{{Authority control 1981 albums Renaissance (band) albums I.R.S. Records albums Illegal Records albums RCA Records albums Repertoire Records albums