NO EARTHLY CONNECTION

The best thing Wakeman ever did...with or without Yes. The cover art is kind of lame, but doesn't that look like a Compact Disc? Speaking of CDs, this was only released in Japan in that format at one point. Wakeman's most consistent and least cheesy album is not currently available on CD. Go figure.

The 28-minute "Music Reincarnate" is the heart of this album. It begins and ends with overdubbed synth drones. The vocals of Ashley Holt are generally really good. There is some nice brass throughout. The first vocals are sung in Gregorian-chant style. "The Warning" has a nice balance of funky and orchestral parts. I love the part where it goes "warning man, time for collection". Good clavinet here. You would never think this milky white cheesy bastard could be so funky. I never imagined I would hear anything by Wakeman that would make me want to shake my booty. Well done Ricky!

During "The Maker" there is some backwards talking and some lovely piano. At the end of this section you can hear waterfalls. But it's not waterfalls at all; it's some roadies or somebody urinating. Somehow I enjoy this part more by knowing that. I'm weird that way. During "The Reaper" you hear earlier parts of "Music Reincarnate" along with some spacey Mellotron. Nice. Wakeman's playing throughout the almost half-hour piece is really well done. For it's length, there really are no boring or overlong parts.

The last two songs are not quite as good but still better than most of the stuff on his other albums. "The Prisoner" has an awesome bass sound; it sounds like a fretless bass but I'm not sure. "The Lost Cycle" begins with some truly awesome sounding synth and bass. Later on there is what sounds like backwards Mellotron. I don't really like any of Wakeman's other solo albums from the 1970s. I can barely stand what he does on Yes albums. For this album all the planets were in the right houses of the zodiac, and the gods looked down upon him favorably. Not a masterpiece but a solid 4 stars. Re-release this on CD...now!