Rick Wakeman Albums (91)
'The Six Wives of Henry VIII: Live at Hampton Court Palace'
Release Date 10/13/2009
Tracks 9
Label Eagle
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Released in 2009, veteran pianist/arranger/progressive rock giant Rick Wakeman's The Six Wives of Henry VIII: Live at Hampton Court Palace represented the first time that his groundbreaking 1973 song cycle had ever been performed and recorded in its entirety. Staying true to the project's foundation of Mellotron, Moog, and Hammond C3 organ, Wakeman's performance was bookended by two new pieces ("Tudorture '1485'" and "Tudorock," respectively) and included the previously unreleased track "Defender of the Faith," which was originally omitted from the 1973 version due to space restrictions. The performance also features narration from veteran British actor Brian Blessed, as well as backing by the English Rock Ensemble, who are accompanied by the Orchestra Europa and the English Chamber Choir. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The soundtrack from the movie The Burning is on side two of this album, with side one featuring "The Wakeman Variations" on some of the same material. With the exception of the "End Title Theme," the soundtrack is unusual for Wakeman, including some eerie ambient electronics, a horror story narrated by Brian Matthews, and two tracks on which Wakeman doesn't play, one a country-rock tune featuring banjo and pedal steel guitar. The "Variations" are keyboard-led instrumentals more in the Wakeman tradition. ~ Stephen Raiteri, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Rick Wakeman spent much of the '80s and '90s recording instrumental albums that veered toward either classical or ambient, so 2003's Out There comes as a bit of a shock: it's an honest to goodness revival of the full-throttle prog rock Wakeman pursued on his solo albums in the '70s. A large part of this is due to his decision to form a full-fledged supporting rock band. Called the New English Rock Ensemble, they're a quintet led by Wakeman and featuring Damian Wilson on vocals, Ant Glynne on guitar, Lee Pomeroy on bass, and Tony Fernandez on drums and percussion. They're a powerful and skilled outfit, able to follow Wakeman's shifting tempos and moods with dexterity without ever losing sight of their forceful rhythmic core, which keeps this rock, not new age. Wilson is a similarly versatile vocalist, as convincing on the surging "Out There" as he is on the contemplative "To Be with You." But the real key to the album's success is Wakeman, who not only reconnects with his classic '70s sound, but sounds reinvigorated as a composer here, as he explores the philosophical questions about where exactly does music come from and what does it mean. In theme and sound it is a bit of a throwback to his 1976 album No Earthly Connection, which Wakeman readily admits in his thorough liner notes, but this doesn't sound like a self-conscious revival, nor does it sound as if it were preserved in amber. It may sound like classic Wakeman on the surface, but it is fresh in spirit, which makes Out There the Rick Wakeman album to get for fans who got off the train in the late '70s and wanted the keyboardist to return to rock. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'At Lincoln Cathedral'
Release Date 5/31/2005
Tracks 14
Label Heliopause
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Part of Heliopause's series of audiophile albums recorded at the Lincoln Cathedral, this set features Rick Wakeman playing the cathedral's grand organ. There are few recordings of Wakeman at the grand organ, fewer more in a solo setting, without an audience, and majestically recorded. For this rare occasion, he wrote a handful of brand new pieces and structures to improvise within. Melodically speaking, this is not his strongest material, but he is clearly enjoying the thrill of playing the behemoth and he puts a lot of feeling into his delivery. That is what makes At Lincoln Cathedral a fairly interesting release. "The All Mighty Almighty" -- very heavy in the bass range, as one could expect from the title -- is the undisputed highlight of the set: thundering, imposing, and simply downright loud, the piece will have you shaking in your seat. "Dawn and Dusk" and "Soul Mortality" are also good pieces, in the man's introspective average. In addition to the five pieces at the organ, Wakeman performs one more at the piano (a Steinway grand, if you please), the 15-minute "Da Vinci Variations." At Lincoln Cathedral is a two-CD set. Disc one presents all six pieces in very satisfactory stereo sound. Disc two contains binaural mixes of the five organ pieces, for headphone listening only. The various registers of the organ are more widely spatialized, which gives the listener a stronger impression of "being there." There is also a DTS Surround Sound mix of "The All Mighty Almighty" that adds a bit more clarity, but this piece actually requires good woofers (and subwoofer) before a DTS decoder. There is also an MPEG video of the same piece. ~ François Couture, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Except for one track, this CD -- billed as volume one in "the Witchwood Media Archive Series" -- was recorded live in Exeter, England, on July 14, 1988, by Rick Wakeman and Dave Cousins. It's odd, though, that Wakeman gets the top of the duo billing, as it's really more a Dave Cousins show, with Wakeman as accompanist. All of the songs are sung and written by Cousins, with the exception of "Part of the Union," the big hit by Cousins' band, the Strawbs -- which, many forget, Wakeman was also a part of briefly in the early '70s, prior to his rise to superstardom with Yes. The bulk of the disc has unplugged performances of early-'70s Strawbs tunes with Cousins on acoustic guitar and vocals, and Wakeman on grand piano, comprising the only full-length show the pair ever did in Britain as a duo. In fact all of the songs on which Wakeman and Cousins both play were originally released by the Wakeman-Cousins lineup of the Strawbs on the early-'70s albums From the Witchwood and Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios, with the exception of "Ways and Means," which was on the Dave Cousins early-'70s solo album Two Weeks Last Summer (on which Wakeman played). With pretty good though not stellar sound, it's a chance to hear this material played with sparse arrangements. That's admittedly something that might not be of much interest to many listeners other than serious Strawbs fans, but then this is clearly marked as an archival series release, and said Strawbs fans will appreciate the opportunity to acquire it. Note that the show opens with two solo acoustic Cousins performances (of "Grace Darling" and "Part of the Union," both originally unveiled on early-to-mid-'70s Strawbs LPs). The CD also includes one Wakeman-Cousins concert recording, of "Martin Luther King's Dream," recorded at a Belgian festival in August 1988, though it's the least impressive track, as Wakeman plays a borrowed synthesizer rather than grand piano. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The penchant for filling rock with classically trained pianists during the early to mid-'70s was a phenomenon that listeners are unlikely ever to witness again, a byproduct of the pre-rock parent's insistence that the only worthwhile music was rooted in the past and any child's talents should be aimed in that direction alone. And that was no bad decision; what, after all, was progressive rock, other than the sound of so many youthful prodigies breaking the disciplines that bound them, and fusing their training with Elvis and Hendrix? Rick Wakeman certainly never lost his taste for the classics, as both his solo work and his spells with Yes have constantly illustrated. Almost Classical, however, is something else entirely -- a musical scrapbook of ideas and notions that take his chosen fusion to some grandiose new heights. The sound quality is not always as great as the music demands -- many of these tapes lay undisturbed in boxes and cupboards for years before he dug them out again. But still, it is hard not to thrill to the sheer honesty of these recordings, many of which were no more than demos, none of which were ever intended for public consumption. The set opens with "Sophie for Joy," a ten-minute improvisation dating from the 1983 Cost of Living sessions, which he played (and thankfully recorded) immediately after hearing that he was about to become a father. It's a tender piece of music but an exhilarating one, laden with excitement and anticipation, and never to be revisited. A 1975 demo for "Merlin the Magician" follows, together with the longstanding live favorite "The Nursery Rhyme Concerto." Longtime fans will also thrill to find "The Barber of Wigan" making its recorded debut, a hilarious mock opera that pairs Wakeman with the tenor Ramon Remedios. But the main attraction has to be "The Swiss Suite," a newly coined title for four pieces of music demoed by Wakeman in Switzerland around 1977-1978. Originally intended as the bones for a new album, "La Baumaz," "Les Monts de Corsier," "Lac Le Mans," and "Canton Doe Vaud" were not the only pieces to have been recorded, but they are all that survive and, even in this most rudimentary form, they suggest a project far removed from the pomp and circumstance of Wakeman's other solo releases -- a herald, in fact, for the music he would be releasing much later in life. A wonderful collection, Almost Classical shrugs away any stigma that might attend its origins, to stand as a vital release in its own right. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
AAO's 2004 Revisited release is a nine-track collection of tracks that find legendary progressive rock keyboardist Rick Wakeman delving into his deep back catalog and reinterpreting some of his standards, including such selections as "Elizabethan Rock," "Starship Trooper/Wurm," "Eleanor Rigby," and "Jane Seymour," and excerpts from Myths and Legends and Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Much of this appears to be released on previous Wakeman compilations -- several cuts were also on Purple Pyramid's 2001 release Tales of Future and Past -- but this is recommended because the track selection is expert, showcasing interpretations that do offer fresh and original variations on the pieces, making it an excellent choice as a sampler. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
