THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII

Rick Wakeman is a great keyboard player and he is capable of composing complex and interesting pieces of music. He managed to succeed with most of the pieces on this album, but Anne of Cleves is probably the weakest piece (not remotely reflecting her personality) and Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr the strongest, with dazzling organ work on the latter. The backing musicians read like a whos who of prog rock (mainly from Yes and The Strawbs) and the musicianship is consistently excellent. He avoids the temptation to add vocals, though there are some choral additions. Overall, a very worthwhile listen. If only he had called it a day with this one, because the next two were far too overblown and pretentious.