THE MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF KING ARTHUR AND THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE

I bought this album when it came out and remember really enjoying it--playing it quite a bit my freshman year of college. I consider Rick as one of the rock artists who helped prepare me for classical music, and his solo albums are definitely a big part of that role. I was buying them all in the 70s and early eighties. Though an amazing keyboard player and fairly decent composer, Rick fails as a lyricist (and as a chooser of his vocalists). There are some great compositions with some gorgeous melodies here but the singing and vocal arrangements are so over the top. He could compete with Andrew LLOYD-WEBER for stage time! As a matter of fact, as I listen to this for the first time in almost 35 years, I many similarities to the made-for-stage Broadway musicals of the 1970s. I do not think that the sound quality in the recording of this album is very good--especially of the live acoustic performances (mostly voices). But the classical themes Rick used to charge and build around are nice. The most memorable song I now hear is probably "Merlin the Magician" (8:51) (8/10) with its multiple memorable melodies--borrowed and original. Myths and Legends does not stand up as well to the test of time as well as Six Wives or Criminal Record. But it is worth hearing.