THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII

He is certainly one of the most controversial figures in prog, and his solo albums are often mentioned as painful examples of bad taste.

About THE SIX WIVES there can be little doubt. It's simply one of the freshest-sounding products of 1970s prog. I can think of no other prog-keyboard virtuoso who ever recorded a similarly convincing album which is 100% instrumental. Tomas Bodin recently came close with PINUP GURU. But Rick Wakeman was the ORIGINAL keyboard battery wizard!

Wakeman being Wakeman, certain moments on THE SIX WIVES sail close to kitsch. 'Jane Seymour' is one of Rick's best church organ pieces - but was it really necessary to overdub the siren-like scream of a synth onto this song's dramatic climax? This may have seemed brave in 1973, but to my modern ears it sounds rather cheap. 'Anne Boleyn' ends with Wakeman playing (very prettily, I must say) part of an English church hymn, but its melancholic effect is spoiled by melodramatic back-up vocals. The main theme of 'Catherine Howard' is one of Wakeman's most appealing tunes, but Rick's piano embellishments seem tacky - he sounds like a forerunner of Richard Clayderman.

However, 'Catherine Howard' also makes clear what's special about this album: in at least three of the compositions ('Catherine of Aragon', 'Anne Boleyn' and 'Catherine Howard' itself) the main themes are played on the grand piano, but Rick then inserts Moog 'outbursts' or solos on other instruments (organs, mellotrons, honky-tonk-like harpsichords) and in different meters. These solos are usually surprising to first-time listeners, sometimes humorous (e.g. the 'quacking' synth on 'Anne Boleyn') and always delightful.

To my taste, however, the most enjoyable pieces on this album are the ones where the noble Hammond organ predominates. 'Anne of Cleves' almost sounds like a jam session; it's wonderfully energetic. On this piece the bass player does a great job and Alan White is having the time of his life - in my view, his drumming even surpasses the things he went on to do on RELAYER. The 'panic-signal' opening of 'Catherine Parr' sounds disconcerting, but the tune develops into a vibrant Hammond organ (and moog) showpiece. (I've heard Rick play 'CP' live, and I was astonished by the speed of his rendition.)

So in spite of its relative shortness, I truly feel we should call this album 'a masterpiece of prog'. But let's briefly return to my initial question.

A great artist is someone who expresses in his work the deepest emotions and/or the clearest insights ALL THROUGH HIS LIFE. It never fails to amaze me, when I listen to master pianists such as Keith Jarrett or Bobo Stenson, that they 'only' played piano thirty years ago, they're still doing the same nowadays, and most of the music they record is incredibly inspired. Rick Wakeman's career, on the other hand, looks very different. When Wakeman started releasing piano-only albums in the 1980s, it turned out they contained nothing but mediocre New Age-stuff. In Prog Archives you will find dozens of reviews by disappointed listeners.

Is it possible the simple honesty of the grand piano is 'beyond' Mr Wakeman? Perhaps the main problem is that true improvisation is not Rick's forte? So even if THE SIX WIVES, with its multi-coloured sounds, may be considered a masterpiece, would it be fair to say Rick is not a great artist?