THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII

This is an album that I gave quite some attention to because it was, at the time, number one on the local pop album chart! I simply had to see what all the fuss was about. Since I had been able to find great enjoyment from other Top 10 charting non-pop records from non-pop artists (like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, Yes Fragile, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, and Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy) I decided to give this one a shot. It was good but perhaps a little over my head (having paid very little conscious attention to classical music up to this point). I remember enjoying "Catherine of Aragon" and the melodic, RENAISSANCE-like "Anne Boleyn" a lot. Hearing it today I find that I still like "Catherine" (3:44) (10/10) and "Anne" (6:32) (8/10), but am also enjoying "Anne of Cleves" (7:53) (8/10), the wonderful organ on "Jane Seymour" (4:46) (9/10) and the ELP-like music (but not sound engineering) of "Catherine Parr" (7:06) (8/10). This album stands up fairly well to the test of time though the sound recording is inconsistent. Rick Wakeman deserves all of the accolades and acclaim that he receives--as does this album.