RICK WAKEMAN'S GREATEST HITS

Unoriginal

Don't be mislead by the title here, this double CD may include some of Wakeman's (and Yes') best know works, but these are not the original versions. It is in fact a "home made" re-recording by Wakeman alone (OK, with a drummer and a bass player), of a mixture of his solo works and those of Yes.

Disc two is all Wakeman compositions, and is dominated by "Journey to the centre of the earth" in full. No vocals or orchestra, just synthesisers. While entertaining, it does become somewhat tedious and lacking in variety the longer it goes on. By the end of disc one, your left gasping for something which sounds even slightly different.

Disc one is the same, but with Yes numbers rather than Wakeman. The best way to hear these is to listen to one track at a time, not he whole disc in one go. By doing so, numbers such as the extended "Starship trooper" spring into life as a highly enjoyable interpretation. This version is based more on the "Keys to ascension" version than the "Yes album" original, ending as it does with a quickening pace, and screaming synthesisers in the final "Wurm" section.

This release smacks a bit of being little more than a money making project, especially in view of the "economical with the truth" title. The tracks are best taken in small doses, not heard as a complete piece, but in that context, they do at times have considerable merit, especially the Yes pieces.

I didn't know any of Wakemans solo material at the time I got this album, and because of this album I never looked much further (I only have return to the centre of the earth, which I like). The album sound flat and hollow to me, not much variety in sounds, and the pace is constantly the same and it drags on and on and on, endlessly like this sentence.

Disc 1 sees Ricks interpretation of some classic Yes songs, needless to say the originals are far more exciting, occassional the music gets better, but Rick isn't able to reach the depth and agility of the original songs.

Disc 2 are his own compositions, which I can't compare to the original recordings, I only knew the three last songs from his solo on the AWBH live album "An evening of Yes music....plus" There are some nice melodies here, quite good at times, but as I said it sounds flat and hollow, I would have liked it better had he used a normal piano, instead of this synthesised sound.

I can't recommend this album to anyone, like Bob McBeath said, it's nice when digests in small amounts, but to listen to it in it's entirety gets boring and tedious. Don't start your journey to Wakeman's music here, it will surely scare you away like it did with me. I'm ready to give Wakeman another chance, and I will try The Six wifes and Journey to the centre of the earth soon, but I'm a bit reluctant after this. Not Recommended.

Common, dont be too hard. I think that is for sure, that if you handnt listen wakeman before, and you start with this album, you will get scared. But man, i think that this album has alot of fun, and if you had heard all of this songs of wakeman, and then you listen to this changes that he made to the original songs, they sound very cool. I think this album is different and have a very special sound. i recommend it to those who already KNOW Rick Wakeman´s works.

This compilation is terrible. The problem is not that the song selection is poor. The problem is that Wakeman has destroyed all these classics into dull synthesizer-drenched covers. The music sounds like midi files because everything is electronic, and cheap-sounding.

The First Disc are all covers of Yessongs. Roundabout is the most enjoyable of them all with an extended keyboard solo, but if you want yes covers, buy 'two sides of yes' or hear the Starship Trooper cover in 'Fields of Green'. Those are done better and with better keyboards.

The second disc is a compilation of some of his best songs including Journey To The Center of The Earth, but they sound badly here. As I stated before, it feels like listening to midi files. If you want a compilation, buy any other compilation besides this one.

My Grade : F

I think this double CD was a really big disappointment, closing the measurements of a product hoax to be frank. The tempting Roger Dean covers made me to buy it, and I found for my disappointment that none of the recordings are original: Both Yes compositions and his own classic tracks were hastily re-recorded in a home studio with a lame rhythm section, and the results are as boring and flat as normal elevator music. Luckily I got this sold away, and I recommend you to keep a distance for it. It is difficult to realize how anybody would launch this kind of products to the markets.

I bought this back when it first came out because I was a huge fan of Yes and wanted to hear a taste of Wakeman's solo stuff. I think I listened to it once and shelved it. And it was a long time before I bought any other Rick Wakeman albums.

Having just heard it again recently, it's really no better than I remember it being, although I enjoyed it more this time around because I was more familiar with the original versions of the songs on disc 2. The original versions are many times better, so avoid this album until you're familiar with the original.

Basically this album sounds like a few robots playing instruments. I can just picture the Gumby band playing back up to Wakeman on a synth as I listen. All in all, it's actually somewhat enjoyable at certain times, but oh so synthetic sounding. Wakeman is a very skilled player, and you can tell by how well he plays. But it's pretty emotionless here, because it all sounds electronic. Good in small doses, like the first poster said.

The album gets better towards the end, when Rick finally drops the synth in favor of a piano, harp and bass. Real instruments at last! Sea Horses is a beautiful, definitely one of my favorite Rick Wakeman songs. So this album is worth owning for this song (as I can't seem to find it on any other albums of his). There is also a piano version of Gone But Not Forgotten which is quite good. If it wasn't for these songs, I'd probably give this album 1 star, maybe 2. But these tracks save the album from the trash bin, so I'll give it 2.5.