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Rick Wakeman - Tribute To The Beatles CD (album) cover

TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES

Rick Wakeman

 

Symphonic Prog

2.71 | 30 ratings

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CCVP
Prog Reviewer
1 stars How is it possible to make The Beatles sound this bad!?

It is no mistery to anyone that Rick Wakeman, once one of the most requested and fabled keyboardist of rock music, has past his prime years. Nobody is waiting another Close to the Edge or another Six Wives to out round any time soon, but at least Mr. Wakeman won't fall as bad as others, right? Weeeeell, wrong. This tribute album is there to show the world that the caped keyboard wizard should have been retired for at least a decade (or should, at the very least, have a bigger scrutiny on what he releases or not).

Playing any Beatles song, specially from Help onwards (which is what happens in most of this album) is some pretty clear cut and immediate thumbs up anywhere, since the guys from Liverpool just couldn't do anything wrong back in that specific time frame and so, playing reinterpretations of such songs is an easy way to please your own fans fans, for putting the artist's personality on the songs, and most Beatles fans. However, Mr. Wakeman somehow managed to be capable of ruining most of the songs.

How the hell can someone ruin a Beatles song? Pretty simple, actually. Just follow the steps of this album: 1st - do not sing. They had three vocalists for nothing after all; 2nd - use the cheasiest souding synthesizers you are able to get your hands on; 3rd - Sample everything; Nobody needs guitar players, bass players and drum players. 4th - overplay every song in every way possible (do you know how those guys in American Idol singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star like some opera Aria? Do it just like that in every song); 5th - disregard the fact that it is sounding bad and keep doing it for the rest of the CD. Bingo, you just ruined perfect songs for eternity!

Maybe he was trying to think out of the box with the thing he did here, but in the end of the day they all just summed up in one big mess. 59 minutes of musical mess that cannot be undone.

Grade and Final Thoughts

This album was one of those findings. One of those things you buy then put away and forget you ever had it. In spite of browsing my father's CD collection since my childhood, this album was only rediscovered by me last week, covered with a huge crust of dust, hidden under old AOL CDs. It was with no surprise, after listening to this album, the reason why it was so: it is plainly bad. Period. Possibly one of the worst things Rick Wakeman has ever had the guts to release under his name. Avoid it like Satan avoids the Cross.

CCVP | 1/5 |

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