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Rick Wakeman: The Caped Crusader of Prog
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Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down
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Points: 40101 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Psychedelic Paul Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 02 2021 at 08:52
4 stars Live at the Maltings, Farnham (1976) - A very good quality Old Grey Whistle Test recording, considering the concert dates back 45 years.
 
Rick's Perspective
 
"This was indeed a very interesting filming as the show was recorded at the Maltings in Farnham in the early evening and was actually broadcast that same evening around 11pm. There is very little on film that includes the brass section of Reg Brooks and the late Martyn Shields and so it was a time when the ERE was going through quite a metamorphism with a new guitar player as well in John “Dusty” Dunsterville, who was a very funny guy in many respects and his rendition, (and altered lyrics), of the Johnny Cash classic, “I Walk The Line” was a regular occurrence on stage and indeed appears toward the end of this concert too!"
 
Live at the Maltings (video courtesy of Rick Wakeman) - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LvcL_8Yny_oJ-CcJn7BMhMe
 
 
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Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down
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Originally posted by Dellinger Dellinger wrote:

About the Lisztomania album, Rick later released the version he intended to from the beginning, called The Real Lisztomania (which is the one I have). Perhaps you would like to check that one out.
It's funny that Rick Wakeman was brutally honest with his review of Lisztomania when he said "This album stinks", whereas I really like Lisztomania and most of the reviews I've read for the album have been generally positive too. I'm looking forward to checking out The Real Lisztomania (2002), although that won't be for a good while yet, as I've only just reached the year 1976 in Rick's humongously long discography. Smile
 
 4 stars No Earthly Connection (1976) - An album that's either loved or hated according to Rick. Well, I love it! Heart
 
Rick's Perspective 
 
"I truly believe there is life apart from that on earth and also that there are many other unknown dimensions as well and that's what this album was all about. Unfortunately the press thought I'd gone off my rocker and sl*g.ed it off. A&M records held emergency meetings because of poor sales - 4,000,000 plus as it happens!!"
 
Rick's Verdict
 
"Full of recording techniques and production that were way ahead of its time and the album has created more controversy than any other album I have made . It's either loved or hated."
 
The Warning: Part 1 (video courtesy of Dacrequena) - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LuG8N2Ky81znrA3rLcilFV6
 
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Points: 12732 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Dellinger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 01 2021 at 22:16
About the Lisztomania album, Rick later released the version he intended to from the beginning, called The Real Lisztomania (which is the one I have). Perhaps you would like to check that one out.
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Points: 12732 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Dellinger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 01 2021 at 22:14
About the Arthur album, it's also my favourite, and making a play list for my IPod combining the original, and a few songs from the new re-recording has made my enjoyment of the album even greater. About the Live at Wembley version, I was slightly disappointed, since they didn't play the whole thing... at least there was some technical issue or something, and the title song is incomplete, and that's my very favourite song from the album, and from Wakeman in general, so that was indeed a letdown. And the sound quality isn't that great, either. I would like to mention a little piece in the album, not within the Arthur section, but before he started to play the album, Lamobak's March, which is really a short piece (which continues into a piece I don't really like), the thing is, I really liked what he was doing there, and I wish he had taken it when he was making the re-recording of the album, and that he might have reworked it and expanded it into one of the new full songs of the album.
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Points: 12732 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Dellinger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 01 2021 at 22:08
Great to see all this reviews, I just would like to see more of your own views on the albums. I remember checking this reviews from Wakeman himself years ago when I was getting to know his music. I still remember one of those (though I don't remember for which album, surely one I haven't heard, actually) that I thought was really funny. He just said "To be brutally honest, I don't remember recording this".
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Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down
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Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

Paul, you're not fast-forwarding through these, are you? LOL
 
Not likely, especially not with Rick Wakeman. I generally listen to at least six prog albums a day, so there's still one more album to come today, and this is the best one yet, in my opinion. Smile
 
 5 stars Live at the Empire Pool, Wembley: King Arthur on Ice (1975) - Simply the best, better than all the rest! Thumbs Up
 
Rick's Perspective
 
"There were just three performances of King Arthur on Ice and it was “crucified” by most of the media before it had even had its opening night! Amazingly though, the demand from the press and media for tickets was unprecedented and which was met with a total refusal to all who had “pre-reviewed” the event!
It was undoubtedly for me, a high point of my musical career. I was pleased with the music and to this day feel that the main theme is probably the best I have written and will be hard to surpass.
The shows were just great fun and were put on with virtually no outside assistance as very few people believed in it and indeed wanted it to happen. Numerous people, who will remain nameless, tried in vain to get me to do a basic show at the Royal Albert Hall and to “forget all this nonsense about an ice show”!
Ice skating was not popular back in 1975 and so I enlisted the help of some of the world’s greatest skaters from all over the world.
To the best of my knowledge it was also the first time a PA of that size had been “hung” in a venue the size of Wembley Arena. I shipped in a Clair Brothers system from America as there was nothing in the UK that could handle the task.
Thanks to people like Tony Burdfield at A&M Records, my band, the conductor David Measham and the English Chamber Choir, and the foresight of Alan Yentob, who filmed much of the show for the BBC, the memory still lives on.
…And my thoughts now? I’d just love to do it one more time!!!"
 
 
 


Edited by Psychedelic Paul - January 02 2021 at 03:57
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verslibre View Drop Down
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Paul, you're not fast-forwarding through these, are you? LOL
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Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down
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 4 stars Lisztomania (soundtrack) (1975) - A much better album than expected, especially after what Rick said about it.
 
Rick's Perspective
 
"This album stinks!"

"At the time I was having a huge run in with A&M records and their hierarchy would do anything possible to try and disrupt what I was trying to do. It was not an easy time."

"I delivered the finished soundtrack album and it was immediately thrown back in my face and a deal was done directly with the film company to take the tapes and do what they wanted with them, which was a complete disaster in my eyes."

"The album flopped dismally and I was furious because it was my name on the front cover."

Rick's Verdict
 
"Unless you're a serious collector, don't waste your money."
 
 


Edited by Psychedelic Paul - January 02 2021 at 03:54
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5 stars The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1975) - My all-time favourite Rick Wakeman album. Thumbs Up
 
Rick's Perspective
 
"This is in many ways a musical autobiography. Much was written in my head whilst lying in Wexham Park Hospital after my first minor heart attack. The Last Battle I wrote after being advised by the specialist, in front of my management, that he recommended I stopped playing and retired in order to give myself a chance of a reasonable recovery."
 
"I was 25."
 
"Thankfully I ignored the advice, wrote The Last Battle that night, and carried on. Heart surgery has come a long way since the mid seventies as well thankfully!"
 
Rick's Verdict
 
"A very hard album for me to listen to as I can hear the real story within the music. Having said that I think the main theme is probably the best I have written and I am genuinely quite proud of it."
 
Merlin the Magician (video courtesy of Dacrequena) - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LtloPYcx3IlOqRR5pDcTPgm
 


Edited by Psychedelic Paul - January 02 2021 at 03:53
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Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

Nice little appearance on Jools Holland Hootemonay New Years Party on BBC last night. he and Jools played a boogie woogie , quite late into the show if you watch on the BBC I-player (only available to UK residents unfortunately) . Rick is looking a bit 'super-sized' nowadays , although that is admittedly pot calling kettle black!
 
It's good to hear Rick is still performing live, even if he's looking a bit "super-sized" these days from eating too many curries and chips. Smile
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Nice little appearance on Jools Holland Hootemonay New Years Party on BBC last night. he and Jools played a boogie woogie , quite late into the show if you watch on the BBC I-player (only available to UK residents unfortunately) . Rick is looking a bit 'super-sized' nowadays , although that is admittedly pot calling kettle black!
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5 stars Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1974) - The first Rick Wakeman album I ever bought back in the mid-1970's.
 
Rick's Perspective
 
"Little known fact but I had to mortgage and sell nearly everything I owned in order to make this album as I only had £4,000 from A&M to pay towards it. In fact that is one of the reasons it was recorded live as I just couldn't afford to record it in the studio. On the day of the live concert I received a writ for non payment of my milk bill by the Express Dairy."

"The original music was written to be much longer as well, but had to be severely edited to make it shorter to perform live so that it would fit on two sides of the album!!! And what happened to the edited music? Well suffice to say that throughout three divorces much has been lost!"

"The concert was recorded on 16 track tape and basically there was spillage onto all the tracks from everything. The Battle suffered the most as some terrible wrong notes, bad playing and a horrendous buzz made quite a substantial section completely unusable. It was not possible to re-record either and match sounds and so a chunk of the piece was copied and used twice, hence for the astute listener, there is a verse section of completely wrong lyrics."

Rick's Verdict
 
"One up for musicians. A&M in England hated it and didn't want to release it. The issue on finally releasing it was forced through by A&M in America."
 
 
The Journey (video courtesy of Dacrequena) - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LtEQI0AHVt-bA8kiI7PzDD2
 


Edited by Psychedelic Paul - January 02 2021 at 03:50
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5 stars The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1973) - Rick Wakeman's magnificent official debut album, which sounds even better today in 2021.
 
 
Rick's Perspective
 
"Much has been documented about this album so it's difficult to say anything new except that the stinking reviews it got when it came out really hurt me. Also the fact that A&M records hated it didn't help. I felt very much alone with this album until help came in the form of Tony Burdfield and Terry O'Neill at A&M who actually liked it because it was different and worked their socks off to give it a fair hearing."
 
Rick's Verdict
 
"I'm very proud of this album and all who played their part in recording it and making it a success."
 
Catherine Howard (video courtesy of Dacrequena) - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LtZowz5527OrFUPTS44Xpuc
 


Edited by Psychedelic Paul - January 02 2021 at 03:51
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Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down
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Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

I see what you mean. It's on the sign with the fish. LOL
 
It's the best plaice for it. Smile
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I see what you mean. It's on the sign with the fish. LOL
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Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down
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Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

Originally posted by Psychedelic Paul Psychedelic Paul wrote:

Starting tomorrow (New Year's Day), I'll be embarking on an epic Journey to the Centre of Rick Wakeman's humungous discography, listening to and rating each and every album along the way, and also offering Rick's own candid and humorous perspective on each of his albums, taken from his website, Rick's Place. Star

Excellent! I look forward to hearing your commentaries throughout your journey.

Btw, Rick spells it Plaice. Wink

It's funny you should mention that, because at the top of the page it says "Rick Wakeman's Place" in big bold letters, but then just below that to the left, it says "Rick's Plaice" Smile https://www.rwcc.com/index.php


Edited by Psychedelic Paul - December 31 2020 at 12:42
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verslibre View Drop Down
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Originally posted by Psychedelic Paul Psychedelic Paul wrote:

Starting tomorrow (New Year's Day), I'll be embarking on an epic Journey to the Centre of Rick Wakeman's humungous discography, listening to and rating each and every album along the way, and also offering Rick's own candid and humorous perspective on each of his albums, taken from his website, Rick's Place. Star

Excellent! I look forward to hearing your commentaries throughout your journey.

Btw, Rick spells it Plaice. Wink
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Originally posted by grantman grantman wrote:

i became a rick wakeman solo album fan with NO EARTHLY CONNECTION.
 
Amazingly, I picked up a 5-CD boxset of classic Rick Wakeman albums for just £8, which includes No Earthly Connection. I'm looking forward to listening to the album again tomorrow. The first Rick Wakeman album I ever bought was Journey to the Centre of the Earth, soon after its release in 1974. I've been a Rick Wakeman fan ever since. Thumbs Up
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i became a rick wakeman solo album fan with NO EARTHLY CONNECTION.
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Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down
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Starting tomorrow (New Year's Day), I'll be embarking on an epic Journey to the Centre of Rick Wakeman's humungous discography, listening to and rating each and every album along the way, and also offering Rick's own candid and humorous perspective on each of his albums, taken from his website, Rick's Place. Star
 
3 stars Piano Vibrations (1971) - Unofficial release: not considered a Rick Wakeman album, even by Rick himself. Smile
 
Rick's Perspective
 
"This was never meant to be a solo album and to be honest I certainly don't count it as a solo album in any respect. True it is a piece of history, but not one I'm proud of."

"I was actually booked to play piano on a session at Pye Studios in London's Marble Arch and it was to play on some backtracks for an unknown singer who was due in later that week to put his vocals on."

"Shortly afterwards I started having some success with Strawbs and the next thing we knew was that the album was being put out by PYE Records as "Piano Vibrations" with no vocalist and with a picture of me on the back."

"I was unhappy and A&M Records, who had Strawbs and myself signed, were furious."

"I received £9 for my trouble."

Rick's Verdict
 
"If you're in to collecting nostalgia and history then this is for you. If you are a music lover however then save your money!"
 
 


Edited by Psychedelic Paul - January 02 2021 at 03:46
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