"To paraphrase the infamous office poster : you don't have to be a Christian to enjoy this - but it helps! Orisons draws heavily on the previous album 'Prayers' and opens with the beautiful 'A Wish' from 'The New Gospels'. The title itself is actually an old English term meaning 'Prayers' and, like the aforementioned release, 'Orisons' brings together a collection of prayers, some from The Bible, others from great theologians like Martin Luther and Francis of Assissi and even one by Rick's Great Grandfather. All are set to appropriately ambient music and are narrated by Nina, Mary Hobdell and the Bishop of Sodor and Man. Like it's partner album 'The Word And Music' this is going to appeal mainly to Rick's Christian fanbase but I think that it's meditative quality would be enjoyed by fans of some of his new age stuff too."

"The title may suggest this to be a kind of "best of"-compilation. But it isn't. "Themes" can be described as a set of brilliant new musical ideas Rick had on his mind at the time. As it states on the cover the catalyst element could be "the strong sense of thematic composition". This album contains all in all very strong themes varying from rocky-synth-up-tempo tracks (he could have used them within Yes) with vocal contribution from guitarist and from Chrissie, to beautiful lyrical themes played with traditional or guitar-sounding keys, little bit of happy pop,baroque music and one Tangerine Dream-influenced track. On "Themes" Rick uses guitarist,female-singer and drum-machine from "Fields of Green" but this remains to me even more interesting proposition than "Fields". Great stuff!"

"I consider the Rick Wakeman Album "The Natural World Trilogy" to be a "Good" album. By that I mean an album that can be listened to in its entirety, without interruption, and be enjoyed for its own sake. The musicianship is, as one has come to expect from our Mr. Wakeman, of exceptional quality. Rick is a long standing professional, who has been a member of too many top class groups and sessions to be anything else. His 1999 album therefore cannot be anything other than what it turns out to be on playing. A perfectly executed piece of pure class. If you are expecting dramatic drums and soaring guitars, you will be disappointed, but make no mistake here; what you will get is a keyboard player who has realized that these trappings are totally unnecessary to show his own artistry and ability as both a writer and performer. To cut it short, I bought this album on Ebay, thinking it would be a gap-filler. I loved it. Rick is brilliant on this. A definite precursor to his later piano projects of the very recent past, like Piano Portraits and Piano Odyssey, both of which I have and love. That's not to say that this trilogy is a piano project. There is, naturally, some piano on it, but the overall feeling and style is of the kind of album that the majority of "keyboard" orientated artists would produce if they could actually play the keyboard instead of programming it. There are no sequencers on this album - every trill and every repeated phrase is played by Rick and he can reproduce it live. That is the beauty of a genuine keyboardist like Rick Wakeman. If you want further proof of his ability, just watch him during his keyboard solo slots on any of the Yes live videos he's participated in. His live renditions of the themes from his own "Six wives of Henry VIII" are absolutely stunning! Look at it like this - if Rick Wakeman came to your house and played a track from this album live in front of you, and you did not know who he was (say, He wasn't famous), you'd want him to join your band immediately because he's a keyboard maestro, and it shows. Buy It!"

Yes Miscellany: 1975 - Rick Wakeman - Success Story