WAKEMAN WITH WAKEMAN: NO EXPENSE SPARED

2.5 stars

The follow up to "Wakeman and Wakeman" album. It has more variety than its predecessor, and Adam Wakeman again joins in to play fun songs, rocking songs, serious songs (like the touching 'Dream The World Away') and father+son jamming time!. While the rocking and fast-paced opening track is very good, the rest of the album for me can't keep up with the same quality as the title track except for the energetic 'Dylic' (with synth solos crashing with orchestra hits), and the highly melodic 'Children of Chernobyl' piece.

My Grade : D+

No expensense spared is an interresting, amusing and entertaining album. The Wakemans again show that keyboards can be used to make rocking music. You do not need a guitar for it! This is a more entertaining album than its predecessor. Of course, the Wakeman style of playing and composing songs is recognizable. But for someone enjoying the Wakeman style, I can recommend this album.

I tend to rate this album as a four, but regarding the rating definition, 3 stars fit better. Even after a few years, No expense Spared is not starting to bore. And that indicates the quality of the music.

I have special impressions from this album. I heard it for the first time in the mid-nineties, when I didn't have the opportunity to listen to much different music. At that time, I was only familiar with a few albums by maestro Wakeman ? 6 Wives?, Myths and Legends of King Arthur?, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Lisztomania. Perhaps that was all at that time. Therefore, I had no idea how Wakeman's music changed over the next decades. This album partially answered this question. Of course, it stands very far from progressive rock, although Rick Wakeman's recognizable virtuoso playing style has not gone anywhere. As well as his incredible ability to turn even simple pop melodies into an intricate web of keyboard passages. Yes, some of the keyboard parts were performed by his son Adam, but who can say where the son plays and where the father? The album charged me with incredible energy, and I feel like I'm going back 30 years when I listen to it. From the very first chords of the energetic opening song of the same name, it becomes clear that something grandiose awaits us further. Then the baton is picked up by the expressive Dylic with a powerful highlighted keyboard melody and hints of medieval flavor. One after another, the tracks sound very solemn, they are very complex in musical composition, in some places two or three keyboard themes can be traced simultaneously, in some places they intertwine, in some places they compete, and at the same time the overall melody remains simple and accessible. An incredible feeling! I especially want to highlight the beautiful airy ballads No One Cares, Dream The World Away and the very sad and sublime instrumental Children Of Chernobyl, the name speaks for itself.

In conclusion, I will say that despite the significant difference from the classical works of the maestro, I do not consider this musical experiment a failure. He showed that Rick Wakeman is as good at pop rock as he is at progressive rock. And he can play simple melodies in his signature style. And not everyone who tried to make forays beyond their usual style succeeded in doing this. Rick Wakeman was probably also pleased with the result of the experiment. He has several more albums recorded in the same style: Wakeman With Wakeman [Aka: Lure Of The Wild], Softsword, Fields of Green. But I still recommend starting your acquaintance with his work not with them, but with those albums that brought him well-deserved fame as a solo artist and are considered the best in his discography. I listed them at the beginning of this review.