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Rick Wakeman: The Caped Crusader of Prog |
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Dellinger 
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 Posted: January 01 2021 at 22:14 |
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About the Arthur album, it's also my favourite, and making a play list for my IPod combining the original, and a few songs from the new re-recording has made my enjoyment of the album even greater. About the Live at Wembley version, I was slightly disappointed, since they didn't play the whole thing... at least there was some technical issue or something, and the title song is incomplete, and that's my very favourite song from the album, and from Wakeman in general, so that was indeed a letdown. And the sound quality isn't that great, either. I would like to mention a little piece in the album, not within the Arthur section, but before he started to play the album, Lamobak's March, which is really a short piece (which continues into a piece I don't really like), the thing is, I really liked what he was doing there, and I wish he had taken it when he was making the re-recording of the album, and that he might have reworked it and expanded it into one of the new full songs of the album.
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Dellinger
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Posted: January 01 2021 at 22:08 |
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Great to see all this reviews, I just would like to see more of your own views on the albums. I remember checking this reviews from Wakeman himself years ago when I was getting to know his music. I still remember one of those (though I don't remember for which album, surely one I haven't heard, actually) that I thought was really funny. He just said "To be brutally honest, I don't remember recording this".
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Psychedelic Paul
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Joined: September 16 2019 Location: Nottingham, U.K Status: Online Points: 35124 |
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Posted: January 01 2021 at 13:57 |
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Not likely, especially not with Rick Wakeman. I generally listen to at least six prog albums a day, so there's still one more album to come today, and this is the best one yet, in my opinion.   Live at the Empire Pool, Wembley: King Arthur on Ice (1975) - Simply the best, better than all the rest!  Rick's Perspective "There were just three performances of King Arthur on Ice and it was “crucified” by most of the media before it had even had its opening night! Amazingly though, the demand from the press and media for tickets was unprecedented and which was met with a total refusal to all who had “pre-reviewed” the event! It was undoubtedly for me, a high point of my musical career. I was pleased with the music and to this day feel that the main theme is probably the best I have written and will be hard to surpass. The shows were just great fun and were put on with virtually no outside assistance as very few people believed in it and indeed wanted it to happen. Numerous people, who will remain nameless, tried in vain to get me to do a basic show at the Royal Albert Hall and to “forget all this nonsense about an ice show”! Ice skating was not popular back in 1975 and so I enlisted the help of some of the world’s greatest skaters from all over the world. To the best of my knowledge it was also the first time a PA of that size had been “hung” in a venue the size of Wembley Arena. I shipped in a Clair Brothers system from America as there was nothing in the UK that could handle the task. Thanks to people like Tony Burdfield at A&M Records, my band, the conductor David Measham and the English Chamber Choir, and the foresight of Alan Yentob, who filmed much of the show for the BBC, the memory still lives on. …And my thoughts now? I’d just love to do it one more time!!!" Arthur (video courtesy of Igor Kovtun) - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LvKmTio-XAjWqR5mj5iGwID Edited by Psychedelic Paul - January 02 2021 at 03:57 |
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verslibre
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Posted: January 01 2021 at 13:09 |
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Paul, you're not fast-forwarding through these, are you?
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Psychedelic Paul
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Joined: September 16 2019 Location: Nottingham, U.K Status: Online Points: 35124 |
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Posted: January 01 2021 at 12:20 |
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 Lisztomania (soundtrack) (1975) - A much better album than expected, especially after what Rick said about it.Rick's Perspective "This album stinks!" "At the time I was having a huge run in with A&M records and their hierarchy would do anything possible to try and disrupt what I was trying to do. It was not an easy time." "I delivered the finished soundtrack album and it was immediately thrown back in my face and a deal was done directly with the film company to take the tapes and do what they wanted with them, which was a complete disaster in my eyes." "The album flopped dismally and I was furious because it was my name on the front cover." Rick's Verdict "Unless you're a serious collector, don't waste your money." Peace at Last (video courtesy of Dacrequena) - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1Lt78tfVaMqbrHr-S1k_pqKz Edited by Psychedelic Paul - January 02 2021 at 03:54 |
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Psychedelic Paul
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Joined: September 16 2019 Location: Nottingham, U.K Status: Online Points: 35124 |
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Posted: January 01 2021 at 11:07 |
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The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1975) - My all-time favourite Rick Wakeman album. Rick's Perspective "This is in many ways a musical autobiography. Much was written in my head whilst lying in Wexham Park Hospital after my first minor heart attack. The Last Battle I wrote after being advised by the specialist, in front of my management, that he recommended I stopped playing and retired in order to give myself a chance of a reasonable recovery." "I was 25." "Thankfully I ignored the advice, wrote The Last Battle that night, and carried on. Heart surgery has come a long way since the mid seventies as well thankfully!" Rick's Verdict "A very hard album for me to listen to as I can hear the real story within the music. Having said that I think the main theme is probably the best I have written and I am genuinely quite proud of it." Edited by Psychedelic Paul - January 02 2021 at 03:53 |
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Psychedelic Paul
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Posted: January 01 2021 at 09:48 |
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It's good to hear Rick is still performing live, even if he's looking a bit "super-sized" these days from eating too many curries and chips.
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richardh
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Joined: February 18 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 26234 |
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Posted: January 01 2021 at 08:53 |
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Nice little appearance on Jools Holland Hootemonay New Years Party on BBC last night. he and Jools played a boogie woogie , quite late into the show if you watch on the BBC I-player (only available to UK residents unfortunately) . Rick is looking a bit 'super-sized' nowadays , although that is admittedly pot calling kettle black!
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Psychedelic Paul
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Posted: January 01 2021 at 06:29 |
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Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1974) - The first Rick Wakeman album I ever bought back in the mid-1970's. Rick's Perspective "Little known fact but I had to mortgage and sell nearly everything I owned in order to make this album as I only had £4,000 from A&M to pay towards it. In fact that is one of the reasons it was recorded live as I just couldn't afford to record it in the studio. On the day of the live concert I received a writ for non payment of my milk bill by the Express Dairy." "The original music was written to be much longer as well, but had to be severely edited to make it shorter to perform live so that it would fit on two sides of the album!!! And what happened to the edited music? Well suffice to say that throughout three divorces much has been lost!" "The concert was recorded on 16 track tape and basically there was spillage onto all the tracks from everything. The Battle suffered the most as some terrible wrong notes, bad playing and a horrendous buzz made quite a substantial section completely unusable. It was not possible to re-record either and match sounds and so a chunk of the piece was copied and used twice, hence for the astute listener, there is a verse section of completely wrong lyrics." Rick's Verdict "One up for musicians. A&M in England hated it and didn't want to release it. The issue on finally releasing it was forced through by A&M in America." Edited by Psychedelic Paul - January 02 2021 at 03:50 |
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Psychedelic Paul
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Joined: September 16 2019 Location: Nottingham, U.K Status: Online Points: 35124 |
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Posted: January 01 2021 at 01:08 |
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The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1973) - Rick Wakeman's magnificent official debut album, which sounds even better today in 2021. Rick's Perspective "Much has been documented about this album so it's difficult to say anything new except that the stinking reviews it got when it came out really hurt me. Also the fact that A&M records hated it didn't help. I felt very much alone with this album until help came in the form of Tony Burdfield and Terry O'Neill at A&M who actually liked it because it was different and worked their socks off to give it a fair hearing." Rick's Verdict "I'm very proud of this album and all who played their part in recording it and making it a success." Catherine Howard (video courtesy of Dacrequena) - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LtZowz5527OrFUPTS44Xpuc Edited by Psychedelic Paul - January 02 2021 at 03:51 |
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Psychedelic Paul
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Posted: December 31 2020 at 14:13 |
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It's the best plaice for it.
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verslibre
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Posted: December 31 2020 at 13:07 |
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I see what you mean. It's on the sign with the fish.
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Psychedelic Paul
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Posted: December 31 2020 at 12:41 |
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It's funny you should mention that, because at the top of the page it says "Rick Wakeman's Place" in big bold letters, but then just below that to the left, it says "Rick's Plaice"
https://www.rwcc.com/index.phpEdited by Psychedelic Paul - December 31 2020 at 12:42 |
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verslibre
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Posted: December 31 2020 at 12:37 |
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Excellent! I look forward to hearing your commentaries throughout your journey. Btw, Rick spells it Plaice.  |
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Psychedelic Paul
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Posted: December 31 2020 at 12:32 |
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Amazingly, I picked up a 5-CD boxset of classic Rick Wakeman albums for just £8, which includes No Earthly Connection. I'm looking forward to listening to the album again tomorrow. The first Rick Wakeman album I ever bought was Journey to the Centre of the Earth, soon after its release in 1974. I've been a Rick Wakeman fan ever since.
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grantman
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Posted: December 31 2020 at 12:26 |
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i became a rick wakeman solo album fan with NO EARTHLY CONNECTION.
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Psychedelic Paul
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Posted: December 31 2020 at 12:20 |
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Starting tomorrow (New Year's Day), I'll be embarking on an epic Journey to the Centre of Rick Wakeman's humungous discography, listening to and rating each and every album along the way, and also offering Rick's own candid and humorous perspective on each of his albums, taken from his website, Rick's Place.   Piano Vibrations (1971) - Unofficial release: not considered a Rick Wakeman album, even by Rick himself.  Rick's Perspective "This was never meant to be a solo album and to be honest I certainly don't count it as a solo album in any respect. True it is a piece of history, but not one I'm proud of." "I was actually booked to play piano on a session at Pye Studios in London's Marble Arch and it was to play on some backtracks for an unknown singer who was due in later that week to put his vocals on." "Shortly afterwards I started having some success with Strawbs and the next thing we knew was that the album was being put out by PYE Records as "Piano Vibrations" with no vocalist and with a picture of me on the back." "I was unhappy and A&M Records, who had Strawbs and myself signed, were furious." "I received £9 for my trouble." Rick's Verdict "If you're in to collecting nostalgia and history then this is for you. If you are a music lover however then save your money!" Edited by Psychedelic Paul - January 02 2021 at 03:46 |
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Dellinger
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Posted: October 30 2020 at 20:23 |
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I don't know who's the better player, but I certainly enjoy Ricks music much better than Emerson's (both solo and with Yes). |
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Earl of Mar
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Posted: October 30 2020 at 10:25 |
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I was watching a very average movie last night called Bullet to Beijing with Michael Caine ruining the iconic Harry Palmer character. The redeeming feature was Rick did the score for the movie.
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richardh
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Posted: October 28 2020 at 01:17 |
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I can remember as an ELP fan being quite annoyed when I heard Rick's Six Wives for the first time (on headphones over at a friends place circa 1977) . Nailed it. Of course they were the two that got all the attention in those days as both were incredibly flamboyant and helped raise prog rock in the general consciousness. They both had ever expanding keyboard rigs to match their ever expanding egos it seemed. While Keith was doing stuff with an orchestra in ELP , Rick was doing Judas Iscariot with a choir. They never understood the idea of 'small' that for certain. I would say Rick was the better player but Emerson's excellent Piano Concerto was never quite matched by Wakeman for pure creativity I feel. Overall its a score draw although Emerson's general influence within Rock Music (not just prog) was much greater that's for sure.
Edited by richardh - October 28 2020 at 01:19 |
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verslibre wrote:
