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

Another one of these tackily ambitious project/concept came with a "holiday on ice"show . No wonder that punk came along. Well executed music does not save this horrendously ridicule idea. I happen to think also that the sound is horrible and the production is poor, the composition are weak and some of those vocals hurt my ears . I kept my vinyl for a long time , hoping one day to get into this , but did get rid of it after one last listen at the end of the 80's. Recently (last year ) I rented it again from the library in Cd form thinking this might sound better but still not.Wakeman fans will love this one , but I only moderately appreciate the artist and his grandiloquence.

Well honestly this time Rick WAKEMAN is not completely inspiring from the point of view of his symphonic composition (except on the first stunning track, which has recently become also the most important reference for a couple of keyboardists, A. Bassato & M. Bon from Le ORME), whose main symphonic theme is similar to that one which will bring about a strong epic impact, inside the latest album "Elementi" by Le ORME, talking about the intro of "King Arthur..." by WAKEMAN!!). Nevertheless the songs are a bit simplistic and formulaic, in other circumstances, too, talking about the arrangement. As for the previous explanations, this album is not completely recommended, despite of being interesting as a reference for every "prog keyboardist" (forget only a few boring parts!)

On "Six Wives" (1973), Wakeman experimented with his plethora of keyboards, playing around with different sounds and textures, and creating fabulous compositions using those sounds and textures. On "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" (1974), he made his first attempt to meld rock, orchestra and chorus in a storytelling genre, and was generally successful, though the effort was ultimately "immature." With "Myths and Legends," Wakeman hits the perfect blending of rock, orchestra and chorus, creating an amazing album that will send chills up your spine. / The album opens with a deep voice speaking the famous inscription on the stone that held the legendary sword, Excalibur: "Whosoever pulleth this sword from this stone and anvil is the trueborn king of all Britain." It then launches into the main theme - a majestic and perfect medieval motif - which segues directly into the first song, "Arthur," which tells of the quest to find a new king. Following this is "Lady of the Lake," the first of three short acappella vocal vingnettes, full of beautiful medieval harmonies. This brings us to "Guinevere," which tells of Arthur's wife's precarious situation - being loved by, and in love with, both Arthur and Lancelot. It also contains the first of many excellent Wakeman solos, during a beautiful, mellow jam. We then come to the centerpiece of the album, "Sir Lancelot and the Black Knight," which may not only be the most perfect single blending of rock, orchestra and chorus ever written, but among the best, most exciting prog-rock compositions ever written. Opening with a "restatement" of the main theme, it launches quickly into successive single measures of 7/8, 8/8, 9/8 and 10/8, settling into 7/8. After a couple of verses, it moves into an extended jam which contains some of Wakeman's most spine-tingling solos. I could listen to this single piece over and over and never tire of it. We then have the second of the brief acappella vocal vignettes, introducing us to the next composition, "Merlin the Magician," a multi-section instrumental. The second section, a 5/4 jam, contains more of Wakeman's most compelling solo work. The third section is repeated twice, the first time using multi-layered keyboards (including one that sounds like a banjo!), the second time arranged for orchestra. We then have the third and final acappella vignette, introducing us to our next character, "Sir Galahad," which segues into the final composition, "The Last Battle." Opening with a great double entendre - "Gone are the days of the knights" - it tells of the end of the Round Table, and Arthur's death, and features another mellow jam containing yet more marvelous Wakeman solo work, and ends with a masterfully orchestrated final statement of the main theme. / If a masterpiece is a work which is compositionally, musically, vocally and lyrically perfect, in which not a single note is out of place or misused, and which features exceptional production qualities, then "Myths and Legends" is an unequivocal masterpiece. So much so, in my opinion, that I have included it in my "desert island discs (DIDs)"; i.e., one of the ten albums I would choose to take to a desert island if I was confined to only ten albums. In any event, "Myths and Legends" is a must-have for any serious prog collection.

Tales from Pendragon Castle

Wakeman was truly inspired when he decided that the legendary King Arthur was to be the subject of his next project. While the album will not really serve as a definitive historical document, it does capture the essence of the Myths and Legends of that period. (For those who have seen the recent film "King Arthur", this album bears little relation being steeped in the mythology of the period, rather than attempting to impart any historical accuracy in the way the film does.)

As with the previous "Journey to the centre of the earth", the album is heavily orchestrated, with choirs and plenty of accomplished solo musicians. This time however, Wakeman reverted to the studio to record the album, and thus the sound quality is excellent.

Two of the tracks, "Guinivere" and "Merlin the Magician" are sketches of the characters. The latter is one of Wakeman's finest instrumental pieces, with synthesisers soaring and diving among a myriad of different sounds and atmospheres. Those with suspect woofers in their hi-fi system are warned to beware of the very deep notes Wakeman hits at certain points!

The other tracks tell different parts of the story, from Arthur's early days to his death; the music being superb throughout. "Arthur" is majestic, befitting the discovery of the new king, as he succeeds where all others have failed in pulling the sword Excalibur from the stone.

"Sir Lancelot & the black knight" reflects the pace of the battle, complete with one of Wakeman's great synth solos, similar to the one near the end of "Revealing science of God" by Yes from "Topographic Oceans". The final tracks, "Sir Galahad" and "The last battle" combine to form a wonderful long piece telling the story of Arthur's final days and beyond, before finishing in a triumphant climax to a great album.

The original LP came in a lavish packaging with an ornate gatefold sleeve, and lyric booklet, rendering it well worth seeking out. Quite simply, a superb piece of work from start to finish.

Excellent stuff. In fact I would go out on a limb here and say this is as good if not better than Six Wives Of Henry The VIII.What he has achieved so eloquently on King Arthur is the ability to match the sound to the Medieval era he was portraying with accuracy. In the main the whole album is superb but highlights would have to be ' Guinevere' and ' Sir Galahad'. Terry Taplin's voice does this business when narration is needed and Wakeman's keyboard arrangements, some of his best ever.Underrated album without a doubt.

I picked this up at a vinyl store for 50p in mnt condition. A lovely gatefold with lush drawings of knights and a huge 12 page booklet. I really wasn't sure what to expect. Some of his solo album reviews got terrible feedback and i am a huge yes fan but this album is excellent. Rick does what he does best, with brilliant traditional piano piece (which reflects the concept of the album) as well as some synth and guitar work here as well. This was musically arranged very well with a huge orchestra featuring on the album.

This album definetly has some yes sound to it but it is a very delightful and refreshing change from Yes. One strong point here is the vocals. They are very different to jon anderson and the guitar arrangements are different too. The concept of this album is a bit over the top but it works brilliantly. The lyrics are accurate and do the job nicely. This sounds like a very proffesional arrangement of musicians which is something yes didn't have, though still managed to create with 5 musicians.

The standout tracks here are "Sir Lancelot and the Black Night", "Merlin the Magician" and "The Last Battle". I found these pieces incredible and very progressively captivating. I highly recommend this piece as it is brilliant and gentle progressive rock and definetly for fans of YES but people who dont like them can still find this piece very listenable. The only offputting thing is that the male choirs can become a little tedious as they are played on just about every song and it all sounds the same. Otherwise this is a brilliant piece.

It is obvious that Rick Wakeman is a very prolific musician. I only have listened to this album (which has a very long title!) and to "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" from his very long discography. I still prefer "Journey...", which is more accessible than this "King Arthur" album. The best songs in this album, in my opinion, are "Arthur" and "Merlin the Magician". "Arthur" has a very good melody which is maybe the main musical theme of this album, as it is repeated several times in the album. "Merlin" has some "humour"in the music. I think that Wakeman invested a lot of money and time in the production of this album as it has impressive arrangements, an orchestra, a choir, etc. But the best moments in this album, in my opinion, are the instrumental moments when Wakeman appears as the main musician, playing very good piano parts (which reflect very well his Classical music trainning), without the orchestra and the choir, or with the orchestra and the choir in the background. Of course, he also plays very good synth solos. As I wrote in my review for the "Journey..." album, I don`t like the lead vocals by Ashley Holt and Gary Pickford- Hopkins. But his backing band (drums/guitar/bass) does a better job in this album than in the "Journey..." album, particularly drummer Barney James. I consider this album as a very good example of some excesses done by some Progressive Rock musicians. Sometimes this album is very "pompous", with the choir and orchestral arrangements sounding as excessive as Richard Wagner`s operas (sorry, I don`t like Wagner`s operas, apart from some preludes, overtures, etc.). But I still respect Rick Wakeman (and Wagner too!) despite some of these excesses. I have read some interviews in which Wakeman really laughs about some of his excesses in the 70s (was "King Arthur on Ice"?) and the lot of money he spent in these excesses :"It was done in the mid 70s, you know!".

Some things unfortunately just do NOT age well, and Rick Wakeman's overblown take on King Arthur and The Knights Of The Round Table does so very painfully.

Flush from his success with the "Journey To The Center of The Earth" tour, Wakey decided to approach an equally grandiose subject. However, in his quest to do so, he got a little too full of himself, a few pints and no small amount of Broadway-style cheese-wiz that would probably embarass Andrew Lloyd-Webber (as if THAT were actually possible).

End result, some of the CORNIEST, STOOOOPIDEST lyrics you ever heard in your life (they make "Hello Dolly" sound like Shakespeare by comparison) that permeate nearly ALL the tracks, save for the largely instrumental "Merlin The Magician" though this has cheese- whiz issues of its own, trying to jump to every musical style it can in the space of 6 or 7 minutes). The proceedings are NOT helped in any fashion by Ashley Holt's abysmal vocalizing (heck, William Shatner could outsing him and at least be somewhat entertaining) and the rather pedestrian band (although the orchetra and choir do get to flex their muscles periodically) as Wakey lets forth Mini-Moog and piano assaults aplenty. There are odd musical moments though that actually threaten to get good and interesting but that is QUICKLY dealt a death blow when the Broadway/Stage impulses take over.

With the lone exception of "Six Wives of Henry The VIII", Wakey has NEVER been able to compose anything meaningfully deep or substantial, sounding more like Romantic/Post- Romantic period cliches strung together with other odd bits. He can play his keys like a fiend and contribute colorful passages in the confines of Yes, he can wear the coolest capes on the planet, but the boy CANNOT WRITE!

You want high-concept hijinks that are actually FUN? May I suggest William Shatner's "The Transformed Man" (at least it was FUNNY!). This thing however just takes itself WAAAAAAAAAAAYYY too seriously and tries to overcompensate with bombastic cheese whiz (I'm just glad he didn't attempt a collaboration with Elvis on a redux of "Hamlet").

Best used for extracting confessions from criminals or getting rid of unwanted party guests. Otherwise, steer clear.

This is another Rick Wakeman's album with some EXCELLENT orchestral arrangements: compared to the previous "Journey to the center of the Earth" album, the album here is more lively and dynamic: there are some choir parts with more predominant male singers, although there are still many ethereal female choirs. The foreground orchestra really participates to the rhythms and melodies involved: the textures are still very heroic, mythic and enchanted. Wakeman plays nervous & melodic moog solos, and he uses very much the piano. There are some delightful & magic small bells parts. Ashley Holt and Gary Pickford have EXCELLENT lead vocals, as usual. The very complex and elaborated last bit on "Merlin the magician", purely classical, is absolutely PERFECT! There are some variations on the same theme, but the variations are so well made that it is not annoying at all.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Rick Wakeman is one of my favorite all-time artists, as you can imagine my nickname is maybe childish but is like a tribute to him, i love his unique style he is a god of keyboards and he was one of the few artist i knew when i discovered this site, obviously knowing Yes first than his solo career.

Later a friend of mine lend me journey to the centre of the earth and i fell in love with it, so i was recommended to listen to this album which was described to me as one of his bests albums, and it is true, this is excellent it has magnific orchestral arrangements and a very classic style, i can imagine all the characters involved in this album, i refer to the song titles you know, Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere etc, which are the reason of this album, the music is excellent obviously what caught my attention was Wakeman´s keyboard playing, but the guitar arrangements are also good and a powerful drums are present here, the vocals are probably not the best, but good anyway, there is alos narration during the songs.

Merlin the Magician is one of the best songs he has composed andprobably my favorite, it shows his superb keyboard playing making changes every minute, Guinever is another of my favorite songs here and the last battle is also great, you will love this album if you give it a chance, not a pasterpiece bot surely recommendable for everyone, 4 stars.

It's rare Hugues Chantraine and I agree on anything, but I echo everything he says on this. It was overblown, overambitious and its only redeeming feature is that it's marginally better than its predecessor. The vocals are painful and the lyrics banal, some of the backing band's playing is uninspired (the drummer honorably excepted) and the compositions are often crude. For example, Merlin is just beginning to develop into something interesting with some nice bass, mellotron and synth work when, smack in the middle, we get a section more appropriate for a Benny Hill chase scene, complete with banjos and God knows what. The only redeeming feature is the synth solo in the second part of the track which is a good test for the deep bass on my hi fi. And that's all I get this album out for. God only knows what the highly talented orchestra and choirs must have thought when they heard the finished product. Definitely one to miss unless you can't bear not to have everything by Wakeman.

A TRUE MASTERPIECE CLASSIC PROG ALBUM

Who so pulled out this sword from this stone and anvil, is the true-born King of all Britain .. JRENG!

Oh man . I know that some of you may disagree with me but I really apologize that I have to stand still with my conviction that this album was (and is still until today) a masterpiece. One thing for sure, I cannot lie to myself that this album has a very special place for me as it did show me how great music has great impact to me because in a way this album has helped energize my days in my life. Am not trying to be melancholic but I'm expressing my true-being as a victim (thankfully) of great (prog) music! If you ask me what is lacking on this album I'm not in a position to answer as every single thing here is marvelous and I'm not exaggerating. I'm sure that this opinion differs significantly with you and we may be in the different poles. If that is the case, please ignore this review. As for my case, it's a joy reviewing this album and I don't know where I can't stop it because I'm now also playing the CD (signed personally by Rick Wakeman and Tony Fernandez when they did a concert in Jakarta, February 2002) while punching my fingers on my laptop. This is the beauty of reviewing the album that I really love ..

This album was my third experience with Rick's album having listened to "The Six Wives" and "Journey" and the opening track King Arthur really blew me away at first listen. I had no difficulty at all digesting this album as I had been familiar with Rick's previous work. I did even cover King Arthur in our school band's performance where I looked after guitar and lead vocal (what a shame thing, I was trying to emulate Ashley Holt! Who cares? No one knew what Rick's music was except a small number of my rock- mates). So, how can I easily forget this album? Of course I will never do that. Especially if I read the story behind the making of this album as explained in Rick's perspective.

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!" (source: www.rwcc.com)

And this is my personal view about this album:

Arthur (7' 26" ) opens the album with excellent and memorable narration by Terry Taplin: "Who so pulled out this sword from this stone and anvil, is the true-born King of all Britain .." Followed with timpani sounds and the blast of orchestration in an uplifting mood. It's a great opening and it's like watching a colossal movie with dts technology. The music then flows with a combination of keyboard and orchestra at the back, augmented with guitar work. The music slows down to welcome the vocal line and the keyboard turns into a clavinet sounds. As the song builds up with lyrical passages, the keyboard effects and orchestration enrich the song textures. It's a beautiful melody track with excellent combination of keyboard solo, orchestration and choral section. "Arthur is the king of all this land ."

The next track Lady of the Lake (0' 45") is a choirs section that serves as a break to the piano / keyboard intro of the next melodic track Guinevere (6' 45"). For me, this track is like an emotional break having listened to grandiose orchestral work of Arthur. Structure-wise, this track is simple and even straight forward. The key attraction points of this track is its strong melody, good acoustic guitar rhythm, excellent keyboard solo (in the middle of the track) and great chorus by Ashley Holt and Gary Pickford Hopkins. The guitar solo is also stunning and has become a great part of the overall song.

Sir Lancelot and the Black Knight (5' 20") starts off with a great string arrangements, timpani and brass section followed with energetic choirs and Roger Newell solid bass lines and high register notes voice line. The music has variation of high and low points augmented with choirs section. Rick's synthesizer works overlay the orchestration which starts simple and turns into a complex s one when Rick performs his keyboard improvisations. As the track has many tempo changes, the transition into quieter passages are filled with a combination of piano, guitar and string section. I especially like when the vocal performs the high point segments and the orchestra dynamically follows the melody. It's a masterpiece!

Merlin The Magician (8' 51") is an excellent instrumental track that has been Rick's favorite in live performance because most of the crowd like it very much, I think. It opens with a repetition of "Lady of The Lake" and continues with a floating keyboard and solid bass lines as song opener. As the music builds up into crescendo, string orchestra enters the music and brings the music steadily to first part of piano solo with soft rhythm section. The music moves up firmly with dazzling synthesizer solo that characterizes this song. Despite wonderful keyboard improvisations, what I also love about this track is the rhythm section with simple bass lines. This track is probably the most diverse one as compared others in the album as it blends perfectly various music styles: classical, rock, country (?) - yes, on some transition pieces. As a result, it creates highest emotional impact to the listener - at least for me.

Sir Galahad (5' 51") is another wonderful track that combines nice melody, choirs, vocal, excellent orchestra and keyboard / piano solo. It's composed combining a high energy section with choirs section and slower tempo parts. The keyboard fills at the back during the main vocal and choirs section work together. The transition piece is melodic combining duo vocals followed with high energy orchestra. I also like when the choirs take main role as melody combined with synthesizer fills. The ending point of this track creates good musical peak. This track should be enjoyed with the next and last track The Last Battle (9' 41"). As you may have read at above that this track was written when Rick was hospitalized and being told that he should stop composing. This track summarizes the whole album by (at the end of the track) incorporating excerpts of previous tracks. It's a great track.

Summary

What is the best way to suggest you if the above represents my personal views? Tough. Let me put it this way: if you do enjoy a combination of orchestra and electronic equipment with rock elements, this album would probably fit you. If you like Yes, I don't think it guarantees that you would automatically like this one as well because it's different. I would say that those who like orchestra music would accept this album. For me, it's a masterpiece. Keep on proggin' ..!

Progressively yours,

GW

This album has some flaws, and is not as satisfying as the others in the 70s. This is a concept album, and as the title implies, you will realize that it will sound medievalish , and very classical. It is, and Wakeman has succeeded in creating that atmosphere needed to 'feel' Arthur. A weakness has to be the vocalist, it could have been 4 stars with a better vocalist, since the compositions are very strong.

1. Arthur 7.5/10 : A very solid, bombastic and a bit pretentious opener of the album. After narration, The intro riff begins and is very memorable, and you would want to play it on your keyboard after hearing it. After the intro, the song is a very accessible keyboard driven song.

2. Lady of the Lake : Very pretty choral piece, with a pretty piano melody following.

3. Guinevere 7/10 : A Very decent and again, accessible song with pretty melodies, and good keyboard sounds.

4. Sir Lancelot and the Black Knight 7.5/10 : Pretentious? maybe, but You can't help but like this song. It creates imagery with its main string riff theme, and it contains one of the best synth solos Wakeman has ever written.

5. Merlin the Magician 9.5 /10 : Very challenging and insane piece. From the Lady of the Lake reprise, to the pretty piano melodies, to the simple yet effective bass line, to the brilliant moog synth soloing, to the ultra fast fun jam ... this song has it all, and it may be Wakeman's best composition along with Judas. It was rated #1 in Wakeman's site.

6. Sir Galahad 5/10 : the lady of the lake again!? This song is not as strong as the others, it seems less serious and more fun. The highlight of this is easily the echoey haunting chord progression.

7. The Last Battle 6.5/10 : You can hear themes from the other songs in this one, and it is an epic. There are some good parts scattered around. It doesn't keep my interest for its 10 minutes tho.

This album while its ending may be a little weak, is a very solid album, and can you imagine that Wakeman wrote most of this music while he was in a hospital because of a heart attack?

My Grade : C+

"The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table" is one of the definitive epitomes of Rick Wakeman's prog approach at its best. Wakeman musically approaches the legend of King Arthur, a mythical pioneer of the British nation, as a work of dramatic grandiosity and cinematographic pomposity, something like an original soundtrack for a movie in his head. Wakeman's intention wasn't for sure to recapture the spirit of those old times' folk: what does that Cajun upright piano on 'Merlin the Magician' have to do with the music that Arthur and his brave knights used to sing and dance to when the partied? And what about that Latin-jazz inspired rhythm section for the Moog solo in ' Sir Lancelot and the Black Knight'?. But I won't bash this album because of these foreign elements. On the contrary, they serve as indicators of the general colorfulness that constitutes the album's musical ideology as a whole. Anyway, the touch of the Middle Ages can be clearly grasped in the choral arrangements that at times appear either between songs or introducing them. Generally speaking, both the main melodies and the interaction group-orchestra-choir are tighter than on his previous "Journey" album. The monster opener 'Arthur' displays a superb majesty like only Wakeman can create with his delicate arpeggios on piano and harpsichord, mellotron orchestrations and captivating Moog leads. The choir and orchestra enhance that cinematographic aura that will constantly shape the music contained in this album. The solemnity of 'Arthur' is soon reprised in 'Guinevere', only with an added romantic vibe; the featured presence of female voices in the chorale properly create a solid companionship for the instrumentation and the lead vocalists. The first real explosion gets going with 'Sir Lancelot': the Moog solo in the middle section is one of the best articulate leads ever delivered by this keyboardist magician. Wakeman, being as skilful as he is, can also be a gigantic performer of impromptu solos, and in this album we also have a great showcase for that: I'm, of course, referring to 'Merlin the Magician'. This is a real classic, in which Wakeman displays a large amount of effort in order to keep things constrained and ethereal in the calmer sections and then go nuts during the stronger ones (it is said that he was actually inspired by the 'muse of alcohol' in his performance of the second Moog solo - true or false, the final result feels very good to me). The effort is successfully translated into a manifestation of musical genius. The upright piano interventions serve to provide a touch of frivolous playfulness, something I've always interpreted as a reference to the funny side of magic. 'Sir Galahad' returns to the intensity of war and struggle that we already knew in 'Sir Lancelot', only with a bit lesser degree of intensity and a bit major dose of sophistication. This track is segued into the other monster track, which is also the closure. Although its title makes a direct allusion to a fighting situation, 'The Last Battle' is not stormy at all, actually. It is focused on the mourning for the loss of the king's dream, the dream for a united nation; therefore, it is centered on feelings of sadness and disillusion. The 'Arthur' and 'Lancelot' quotations that surface near the end give this album a full circle ending: this resource of consistence is a very clever way to fulfill the album's general idea in full splendour. "The Myths and Legends of King Arthur" is a definitive cornerstone of symphonic prog rock at its prime, and also, a Wakeman masterpiece.

[I dedicate this review to my grandfather Celestino Flavio, recently departed]

Rick Wakeman - The Legend of King Arthur

Opens with male voice choir. The arrangement sounds like some 6th form composition, with mostly static harmonic columns moving step by step to the next one through safe harmonic progressions, and a few prescription "joining notes" in a vain attempt to give a sense of movement.

This short introduction ends with a reasonable suspension and predictable perfect cadence - I would really have liked some open fifths to give a suggestion of Mediaeval music, and some working on the harmony parts such that each became closer to a melody than an enforced part of the vertical structure of each chord.

The overall effect is muddy, where I'm sure the intention is to be grand, and this is largely due to a baritone part with too low a register, and too little attention paid to the upper registers. That said, some of the harmony is more reminiscent of Barbershop quartets than straightforward Oxford Harmony Book 1.

It's the close attention to detail that would have lifted this from the compromised dirge that I find it to be, and it's by examining in detail the treatment given to the material here that the expectations are set for the remainder of the work - and really, one would hope to be proved wrong, and that the composer is not, in fact, running before the walking thing has been mastered. The evidence, under analysis, would suggest that this is sadly true;

Next we have a piano section which tells me my memory for tunes needs some refreshment - where does that snippet of melody come from? Answers on an email to. This is mysteriously overlaid with harpsichord - presumably an attempt to lend an olde worlde feel to it. I doubt that anyone in King Arthur's time had ever seen a harpsichord, however. This ends with a distinctly 18th Century style flourish such as might end a short cadenza, or have been lifted from a Beethoven Sonata - perhaps the Pathetique. But it's well executed, so we can forgive the Wakemeister that.

After this, a slightly darker keyboard section, with multi keyboard layers and pseudo- brass and a nice, rich bass line provides some nice, gentle, moody prog rock with soft sixths and OH! Those Mellotrons! The bass rolls along very nicely, with the piano melody getting a reprise before tumbling headlong into a heavier section, a kind of freaky Led Zep Riff, over which Rick unleashes some fireworks panning madly across the stereo, underlaid with some Beethoven-inspired piano.

This opens into a gentle reprise of the main theme with Mellotron choir, and then the most horrible fairground type racket replete with detuned Cockney, knees-up Mother Brody type piano. Very fast and intricate, but UGH!

This tangentially drops back into the soft sixths, and onward back to the main theme. I really would have liked actual thematic rather than simple textural development here, but it's rather predictable, and the bassist particularly seems to have issues maintaining concentration, as Rick unleashes the mad panning stereo solo and the Beethoven piano runs once more, adding string layers, then sending the synth down low - then ARGH! That horrible fairground section is back but with added cheesey bits. Fortunately it all ends there.. For now.

Next we get more of the male voice choir. The lyrics are dodgy to say the least, and you can practically hear the conductor (Rick?) waving his arms about to encourage some dynamics - as if to hide the decidedly average content.

There now follows another, somewhat unnecessary reprise of the piano theme - well executed with turn decorations. but then a kind of variation on the fairground theme follows, with a kind of Carribean flavour, mysteriously. A vocal section follows, and all is rather chaotic with no real flow; loads of sounds are piled in, seemingly for their own sake as if the complexity of sound layers is attempting to make up for the famine of musical ideas here.

A little piano interlude made up of an ostinato figure takes us to the next part of the vocals, which has a nice dark change - and here is where it gets a bit better. A pseudo reggae-flavoured passage cavorts into a full choir section, and a solo vocal section which pulls out even more stops than were pulled out earlier - more is more seems to be the motto here. Some new musical themes are introduced, leitmotif-like, although these are all rather short and do not develop.

This drops away to a rather nice section featuring tubular bells and electronic seagulls, to a wistful vocal section. yes, those lyrics are still Wensleydale to the core. The layers are interesting, and the bass and drums meander very nicely, Prog Rock style, with hints of Yes, but it's all idea on top of idea then repeat idea rather than idea grows into idea then develops. What's wrong with that approach? Well, you know how a pop song is constructed - verse, chorus, verse, chorus and so on - well that's exactly it. Without development, this might as well be a little series of pop tunes all tacked together with sticky tape.

There are some good ideas here, but mainly the sort of stuff that an obsessive ideas and quick-fix merchant would appreciate or dream up. I'm sure Rick has done some top-grade work, it just feels like this was something exuberant that was dashed off in a day or two - there are few signs of careful workmanship or a desire to create something new, more a kind contractual obligation of a lazy display of keyboard abilities that are certainly higher than average, and compositional abilities that would prompt the report card "Must Try Harder" - low Grade 5 tops.

If ever there was an award for number of layers - or good choice of keyboard sounds, then this would surely appear high on the nominations list.

At the end of the day, this is some of the most pretentious and bombastic Prog Rock ever - and rightly so. Prog Rock should be pretentious, and bombastic is good. The virtuosic keyboards are designed to dazzle - and if you don't play yourself, then chances are they might - so there's no need to be put off by an academic lambasting.

My biggest complaint really is the complete failure to conjure up images of an Arthurian world populated by the Knights of the Round Table, Lady of the Lake, Excalibur and so on - only a few nods and winks to appropriate musical styles exist, the lyrical style makes an effort - but makes you wish it hadn't, and the atmospherics are almost entirely of a Prog Rock extravagana rather than of a bygone era of heroic deeds and derinng-do. I'm tempted to say it's more like derring-don't.

It is not a bad Prog album, however, and a worthy consideration if you're not one of those awful artsy types who takes it all seriously or a die-hard Romantic with expectations and ideals to match - in fact, if you're not analytical by nature, you might enjoy this very much for itself.

However, if you do fall into the former categories, there's a lot of pain and too little pleasure to get much enjoyment out of this particular opus - so I suggest you try elsewhere for your introduction to the genius of Rick Wakeman, 'coz it ain't here.

*No I'm not going to review side 2- this is long enough - the booklet has some nice pictures on it ;0)

Retaining the services of vocalists Garry Pickford-Hopkins and (former Warhorse singer) Ashley Holt as well as the rhythm section of Roger Newell and Barney James from the Journey To The Centre Of The Earth project, Wakeman set about tackling yet another ambitious subject. I think he got a decent mix of the overly ornate orchestral style of Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, and the pure keyboard wizardry of The Six Wives Of Henry VIII, although some really weak vocal spots do drag this album down a little.

I think the opener Arthur is an epic song, with loads of swirling synths and rousing choral vocal sections. But while the melancholic Chopin-esque piano that kicks off Guinevere and the dreamy synth runs that follow are great, the flat lead vocals and the crooner melody are from it ... thankfully it also contains one of Rick's best ever solos.

In fact great synth solos adorn both Sir Lancelot And The Black Knight and Merlin The Magician as well, even though each has it flaws. Sir Lancelot And The Black Knight is the most consistent piece, with brilliant runs, fantastic brass and even a decent vocal melody, although the choral contributions sound twee. Merlin The Magician, on the other hand, was on course to be a knock-out epic, when an awful rag-time section interfered. Sir Galahad is another curiousity ... I'd swear I heard some medieval reggae at one point! And The Last Battle is simply too meandering and uneventful a piece for a work of this scope.

Overall, I'd have to say that the Arthurian atmosphere is only conjured up sporadically, and there are times when this album is downright ridiculous. But despite the draggy passages, the sheer volume of essential Wakeman moments make this one of the most pleasing albums in his catalogue. Second only to The Six Wives Of Henry VIII, I'd say. ... 62% on the MPV scale

"The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table", the album which you either like it or hate it, me? I'm neutral, there are things I like about it and there are things I dislike. Don't get me wrong, this as prog as an album can get, song length, instrumentation, a concept. There are a few cheesy bits in the vocals which drag the album down. The highlights for me are "Arthur" and "Merlin the Magician" both of which are very proggyand have nice melodies and themes. Rick Wakeman played an excellent live version "Merlin the Magician" during his farewell tour to Australia. of The album has a lot of synth like all wakeman and it is a tad overindulgent at times. It is a good album, entertaining and it has a classic Wakeman sound. Not bad, but there is better wakeman stuff out there. Good, but non-essential

3 stars. Good but not essential pretty much sums up this album, as much as I'd like to give it four stars instead.

The Arthurian theme makes a great concept and Rick stays faithful to it. The songs are generally more accessible tto the average listener than anything else Rick did in the first phase of his solo career, so this makes a good album to introduce someone to Rick's particular brand of epic prog. Most of the album is strong but not brilliant. The exceptions are Sir Galahad, which is weak, and Merlin the Magician, which is a sparkling track that condenses everything that made "The Six Wives of Henry the VIII" so wonderful into a nine minute keyboard extravaganza. Still, it's the story that the album tells that make most of it's parts add up to a interesting and listenable whole. This is a great place to start exploring Rick's music, but you'll find other albums more rewarding.

The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (does this get the award for longest progressive album title or what?) was one of the first progressive albums in my collection. It was part of a record club order that included Wakeman's Journey to the Center of the Earth. Like Journey, King Arthur had a great set of artwork including a full (LP) size lyric booklet. It was not only one of my first additions to my LP collection but the CD also became one of first additions to my CD collection.

I was originally drawn to this album more for its concept than it's progness (proggieness?). Truth be told, it has more of a commercial edge than what Yes was doing at the time, but it's still a shining example of symphonic prog at it's best. I don't give it a spin as much as I used to, but I find it holds up well after all these years.

As a concept album, ARTHUR is irredeemably flawed. The original A-side consists of just three-songs-and-a-bit. The first and longest song is devoted to the story of Arthur pulling the sword "from the stone and anvil", the second proper song is a love song adressed to Queen Guinevere (with an wonderfully cheesy minimoog solo), and the third is the evocation of a battle. After that, most of the B-side is devoted to King Arthur's downfall. In contrast to JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH, it just doesn't make for a proper story. All you get is bits and snippets from an unwritten epic. "Like Richard Wagner performed on ice" was how the critics described it, when Rick actually had his show performed on ice. And that's just how it feels.

The music, too, will probably sound horrible to you... "Incredibly bombastic. Everything people hate about prog" etc. I wish I could write a proper dismissal, in objective and coolly musicological terms, but my problem is that I simply ADORED this album when I first heard it in 1975, and I'm finding it impossible to betray my younger self. Every time I play this music I secretly enjoy it. But why did it so carry me away when I first discovered it? Well, I guess I was looking for the perfect marriage between classical music and rock, and I must have been so wet behind the ears, in ARTHUR I thought I'd actually discovered, erm, the Holy Grail!

For who could have resisted these rousing tunes, performed by a glorious combination of symphony orchestra and rock band, together with Rick's grand piano, tinkling harpsichords and screaming synths? The opening piece sounds terribly majestic - no wonder the BBC used it as theme-tune during the British elections a few years ago. "Sir Lancelot and the Black Knight" has one of the most exciting moog solos Rick ever did, played on that same screaming (double-tracked) siren-like instrument that he uses towards the end of the first side of TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS. "Merlin the Magician" is sheer (instrumental) fun on moogs, honky-tonks and more - one of Rick's all time classics, invariably included in compilations of his work. And finally, I don't usually enjoy the way Rick uses choirs, but in "The Last Battle" their ah-ah-ah-ing sounds truly tragical, while brass and string sections seem to sweep across the silver screen, and the narrator keeps telling us in a mournful voice what Sir Hector, Sir Bors and Sir Bleoboris were up to, in those dark days after Arthur's death... All this invariably brings tears to my eyes.

I can't predict if you will love or hate this album. It's a curiosity; but admirers of symphonic prog really shouldn't miss it.

Probably Rick Wakeman´s best all around album. I picked up this record recently and I was stunned how good it was. Much better than I ever thought, even at the time of its release (when Wakeman was hot news in Brazil. He was one of the first ever prog acts to play here, in 1975). I remeber how beautiful was the LP artwork, with insert lyrics and drawings of the story. It almost distract you from the music itself, which I stil find very captivating and inspiring. The orchestra and choir parts are more concise and better used than the massive Journey to The Centrer Of The Earth. The lyrics basicly tells through music the most popular version of the legendary King Arthur saga, and they are quite well done. Arthur and Guinevere are among the best Wakeman´s moments in his entire career.

Simply putting it, I think it is the only Rick Wakeman album that I remember going over and over again, even though I appreciate Six Wives... and Journey... so much. Those two first ones are much more acclaimed by progheads in general. And I must agree they are both excellent. Still This album is the one I hear the most and the one that pleases the most. A very well balanced album that did not receive the credit it deserves. And a must have for any prog fan.

It somehow has flawed sound, but I don't care. Anyway, I'm not looking for classical symphony, am I ? This can't stop me from appreciate this. So, we have a tale about British most famous myth, King Arthur. Are we happy ? We indeed could be. After hearing these mighty words which brings us to this tale, keyboard (synth?) starts to play even mightier melody. For about two minutes, then there is voice singing (voices) lyrics. Medieval-like, again. this whole album sounds like being from ancient times. And I suppose that's good. Everything is like it should be, The Myths are perfect and still easy-listening album

Right, Wakeman goes musical. As I have an avid revulsion of the hollow theatricality of musicals (please feel free to convince me there is at least one worth hearing), I can't find anything enjoyable about this release. The songs are badly written, the singing is horrible and, as usual with rock music embracing an orchestra, the instrumentation is even worse. Complete kitsch and cheap sentimentalism.

By the way, isn't that Richard Kleiderman on the piano in Merlin the Magician? (which is one of the few songs that has a few interesting bars by the way). And oh dear! What are those annoying mosquito sounds? "That would be a moog mr. Bonnek, the sacred synth of holy prog! Shame on you!" No thanks, if I want moog I'll put on a Klaus Schulze platter. Now you come to mention it, I'll put on "Dark Side of the Moog VII" right away. I need something to shake off this frightening experience.

I spent much of my early years in prog listening to The Six Wives Of Henry VIII and loved it, despite it being a bit over the top in parts. So I looked forward to the follow ups with pleasure. Journey was pretty mediocre but surely he'd sort it out next time out.

Nope, he didn't. Myths is probably the most pompous, pretentious album ever. The composition is amateurish, the orchestration poor, the lyrics laughable and the vocals........well, if ever there were 2 vocalists who simply can't sing in tune, Ashley Holt and Gary Pickford-Hopkins are they. I'd rather listen to a cat being neutered. Rick plays a few worthwhile solos, but the only track worth listening to is Merlin, despite the excruciating banjo-driven section in the middle.

This is one that's getting the lowest grade. Avoid like the plague.

01. Arthur

I even if I find that initial narration incomprehensible in that epic-British-accented epic (laughs), Terry Taplin made a genial work. This opening tune is well known, 'Uncle' Rick was very inspired on this record, the keys in all its extensions, shapes, colors and sounds are used, also his arsenal of keys was giant on stage and studio. Sonically it is beautiful and complex, full of details. The voice of Gary Pickford-Hopkins I think it's entirely appropriate for the 'role' of storytelling, melodic and when you need acute and dramatic when it is required. Another good feature is the basses from Roger Newell with his timbre strange but essential. In a 'broken' part, almost at the 4th minute the song takes strange and obscure shapes, but it's all on purpose, because then we are pleased to hear again the central theme on keyboards. The orchestra and its 'coral horn' is another highlight, without it I think the sound of the album would have died on the road. The outcome of the track it's another surprise, when we thought the theme only would repeat itself it changes, and even though it is great outcome. Total Epic!

02. Lady Of The Lake

A 'vinheta', something rare in his albums, but here it is for good reason. Only vocal track, and perfect! It's creepy!

03. Guinevere

Talk that Rick Wakeman have full control over their keyboards it's like a rain when we're wet, because he has that right, the guy takes the melody and sound where least expected, and exchange keyboards with incredible ease, not to mention seeing the guy on stage is incredible, because it changes the keyboard quickly and uses ALL of their set (which are many keys). This is a beautiful ballad and it's guided by the Jeffrey Crampton guitars and some bells here and there and of course, vocals, many of them. Rick's solo has a very unusual tone, which is very good, since most of the same is not always a good thing (unless we are talking about AC / DC and the Ramones), the solo is soon also accompanied by a guitar solo. The drums from James Barney is simple, but has the tone that I love so much in the 70's drums. And the choir takes the space given to fill up the 'holes'

04. Sir Lancelot And The Black Knight

Ah this beginning! Strong and dense! The vocals marry perfectly with everything, the strength of sound full of syncopation with the orchestra, and at times the vocals sung loudly. And the chorus can be even more beautiful, both in voice and in its harmony. The opening theme is repeated, superb. And it gives you the 'master' of synthesizer Mr. Wakeman. The groove just after 2 minutes of music reminds me of the 'stunts' of Gentle Giant, full of broken beats. Sensational!

05. Merlin The Magician

This band has a 'canon' melody repeated as on track 2, but this time an amendment hyper renaissance times melody on the piano. The melody is original with a low bass, a few blows that I imagine are tubes and a series of keys in a 'beach' melody. Almost 3 minutes and the picture changes and beyond the melody of time we have also various synth soloing and moving from one side to another on the speakers. Almost at the 5th minutes of music, a crazy honky tonk piano comes in, depicting a possible scene of our dear blatant Wizard. But amazing is the sound that Roger took of the bass. And the synthesizers are thrashed till the end. The fun and laughter is guaranteed in the final melody. Very good!

06. Sir Galahad

The canon song (or would be Gregorian?) Is used as an introduction again, it gets the impression of listening to the same previous track again, which is further reinforced as the opening theme piano is exactly the same as above. Only near the 1 minute and fifteen the subject becomes almost a fun and strange reggae with excellent vocals, but I confess that when the 'playful' theme comes in the vocal lines are very strange. Close to 3 minutes the keyboard mimicking a triple harp and vocals sing the blues of the World. This next theme is really very strange, I do not know where Wakeman was with his head (in the Bahamas certainly, laughs).

07. The Last Battle

In the exact sequence of Sir Galahad (which had not happened at any other time of the record), comes The Last Battle that's an epic of those who claim to have gigantic proportions but it begins warm. There are several issues that compounds this closing track, but I do not think they really represent a final battle till his mid 5th minutes. Before that is beautiful, but I do not believe a final battle is pretty (laughs). The harpsichord is always a beauty in that kind of 'epic' sound. The vocal melody is really sublime, perfect fit in the chords. And the incomprehensible stories with former British accent (laughs). When the 8th minute comes the phones are invaded and the melody becomes intoxicating, like 'we will think about all that happened,' and then i went back to the initial theme to close on a high note.

Still remember when he brought home the vinyl and listen for the first time, much of a scare with the sound of The Myths & Legends Of King Arthur & The Knights Of The Round Table .

4,5 stars

This is a pretty decent album for Rick Wakeman and that says a lot considering the quality of some of Wakeman's later albums!

The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table marks a definite improvement compared to Journey To The Centre Of The Earth in the vocals performance. The performances here fit nicely in regard to the instrumental passages and, surprisingly enough, even the the narration actually manages to adds nice mythical atmosphere to the overall feel of this album.

So why would I still be giving it the good, but non-essential rating? Well, to tell you the truth there aren't any real stand-out tracks for me here, that is with the slight exception of The Last Battle that builds up a great finale towards the end. Merlin The Magician is one track that I actually think slightly ruins the overall mood because it's here that Wakeman really lets his ego out by playing some of the most over-the-top instrumental sections that sound very much out of place compared to the rest of the material. I also dislike the panning effect that dominates the ending section of that particular composition. Sir Galahad also starts off with an out of place instrumental intro but the second part of the track really makes up for that minor flaw.

The end of The Last Battle makes this performance seem better that what it actually is, but this feeling starts to fade away with every repeated listen and what I'm left with is just another good, but non-essential release.

**** star songs: Arthur (7:26) Lady Of The Lake (0:45) Guinevere (6:45) Sir Lancelot And The Black Knight (5:21) Sir Galahad (5:51) The Last Battle (9:41)

*** star songs: Merlin The Magician (8:51)

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.

Oh goodness, this album is DORKY!!! And it was later performed ON ICE!!! The seriousness of this album is transcendantly ridiculous, and I'd be hardpressed to think of an album that better symbolizes why prog-rock suffered such a miserable crash and burn (in the mainstream, anyway) around this time.

Yet for all that, this is still a pretty good album. Once I cut through the Medieval male choirs, the crappy vocals, the stuffy narrator and the fact that the album seems to have taken upon itself the task of restoring "dignity" and seriousness to the Arthur legend (after the humorous "desecration" of Monty Python and the Holy Grail), I find that there are some pretty lovely melodies and just enough diversity to keep things mildly interesting. There's no mistaking any of this for anything but solo Wakeman, but at least this jumps between epic balladry, epic forced "rocking" and epic forced goofiness. Plus, while it may be extremely banal, there's a very clear narrative thread that minimizes the need to think when listening to the album and allows the brain to spend as much energy as possible on maximizing enjoyment of the album ... which for me still isn't an incredible amount, but at least is somewhat.

Several high points of the Arthur legend are hit: Arthur pulling Excalibur out of the stone, Arthur meeting the Lady of the Lake (which gets less than a minute devoted to it), Arthur's relationship with Guinivere, Lancelot's battle with the Black Knight, the wizardry and magic of Merlin, Lancelot meeting his bastard son Galahad, and Arthur's death in battle. "Guinevere," "Merlin the Magician" and "Galahad" all have a brief, pretty piano theme near their beginnings, but while "Galahad" ends up extremely forgettable, "Guinevere" ends up as a mildly lovely ballad (with mediocre vocals, unfortunately), and "Merlin the Magician" ends up as a multi-part epic that's as good as solo Wakeman is supposed to be in theory. There's a majestic theme, there's a mildly "aggressive" guitar-driven theme, and there's a goofy rag-time theme where Rick suddenly turns into Works-era Keith Emerson. It's corny, but it's quality corn.

"Sir Lancelot and the Black Knight" "rocks" in as stiff and as awkward a way as can only be otherwise imagined, but if nobody else is around, I can mildly enjoy it. The opening "Arthur" and the closing "The Last Battle" each manage to not stick with me much past listening, but they have quality "epic" (in a good way) atmospheres that frame the album well. It's not good that they're so overblown in relation to the number or quality of the ideas, but that's just par for the course with solo Wakeman.

The short version, then, is that while I can see why this album sold pretty well and is regarded so highly by Wakeman fans or hardcore fans of "serious" music, I also can't completely share that perspective. There are no enigmas or elements of abstraction to be found, and the way Wakeman presents this makes it feel like the Arthur legend rewritten by kindergartners. The populace might have liked that, and people who like to feel smart with a minimal of effort might like that, but to enjoy this album (which, sadly, I do) I have to work very hard to overlook that. Man, Wakeman was a talented man, but he really needed other people to keep him from going off the deep end.

If 'Tales from Topographic Oceans' was pretentious and overblown, then Rick Wakeman is a hypocrite! In any case, I really like this album.

The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table has a long title, and it's concept is as obvious as the hit album 'Six Wives of Henry VIII', but things are taken further this time, with lyrics, narration, an orchestra and choir! Such a big project demands good production quality, which this doesn't have unfortunately; the drums and vocals are sometimes buried beneath layers of keyboards, but the music makes up for this.

'Arthur' kicks things off as a pseudo-title-track where he first becomes king, built on simple melodies and epic, movie-eqsue chord sequences which will reappear throughout the album as Arthur's personal themes. This cross-referencing aspect is something I would have liked to see on 'Six Wives' (but then, I guess those wives had nothing to do with each other so maybe that's why). 'Guinevere' is understandably softer, describing with some emotion the aspects of Arthur's dear wife. It is one of my favourites on the album actually, with great harmonies and a killer synth solo. Lancelot's battle with the infamous black knight introduces more epic medieval themes and also has a soft chorus and killer synth solo (they become a bit of a formula for this record). It's all very interesting though, probably more from a music point of view than the actual storyline, which everybody already knows.

Side two kicks off with the mysterious instrumental 'Merlin the Magician', a fan favourite that Wakeman occasionally still plays today. It's themes are perhaps drawn out for a bit too long, but the eccentric ragtime-style parts succeed in invoking thoughts of a crazy wizard... that is, a keyboard wizard! And then the album closes with Galahad's story seguing into the big finale, a battle no less between Arthur's knights and the Saxons. As an ending these songs are less impressive than the previous ones; I don't really feel caught up in the middle of an intense fight like I do on Lancelot's track. The sad closing words from the narrator are a nice touch though. Throughout the album, tracks are interspersed with short choral verses and a melancholy piano theme, which doesn't make too much sense but somehow aids the flow of the story (a lyric sheet would be helpful to include in this album!).

This monster of an album is perhaps less well-remembered than the one about the real king, but apart from some muddy production and a bit of thematic excess, it is just as good. Wakeman's versatile handling of the various keyboards is of course, the highlight.

Who so pulleth out this sword from the Stone and anvil, is the true born King of all Britain

If you ask 10 Prog fans which is the best RICK WAKEMAN album, probably 8 will answer that Six Wives of Henry the VIII deserves that honor, well I disagree with this opinion despite the quality of the music in Rick's debut, mostly because the atmosphere created by the "Cape Crusader" in Myths & Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is simply perfect to describe the saga of the child king who took the sword from the anvil.

The fact is that Rick took care of each detail to make the album credible, even the vocals are perfect, because the controversial duo formed by Ashley Holt and Gary Pckford -Hopkins who struggled with the vocal parts of Journey to the Centre of the Earth are perfect for a medieval legend being that they sound a traveling troubadours taking the story from town to town, but lets talk about the songs:

Arthur opens the album with all the pomp and grandiosity required to describe the moment when Arthur became king by his own hand, and even when Rick uses diverse synths ad organs, reserves a special place for the harpsichord to enhance the effect. The powerful voices of Holt and Pickford are simply perfect for the occasion narrating (more than singing) the beginning of the saga.

But the real magic is in the tasteful combination of electronic and acoustic keyboards, because WAKEMAN jumps from harpsichord to Moog without affecting the atmosphere, it's obvious for me that Rick graduated as a genius in this album and Arthur is the perfect introduction to the record.

Lady of the Lake consists of a Gregorian Chant passage followed by a piano melody, this same theme is repeated several times in the album (with slight variations) to introduce the listener to important characters as Merlin and Sir Galahad. Again Wakeman does his best effort to keep the atmosphere intact and succeeds.

Guinevere is the best known song of the album being that it's easier for commercial radios to sell a beautiful and romantic melody to the mainstream listeners then the most elaborate sections, but this doesn't mean that it's simple at all, because Rick adds wonderful choirs, fantastic Moog and piano sections which combined with the strong drumming of Barney James blend the medieval era with contemporary music.

Sir Lancelot and the Black Knight is an impressive epic track in which the duel is described with accuracy not only by the vocals but also by the breathtaking interplay between keyboards and rhythm section. It's interesting to notice that in one point the Lancelot theme mixes with the Arthur melody creating an effect of blending of the two characters as one.

Merlin starts with the Gregorian intro used for Lady of the Lake but his time the melody at the end of the introduction is performed using harpsichord and grand piano, and then starts one of the most elaborate and ever changing pieces of the album. In first place we can listen a mysterious melodic passage with soft choirs but without advice morphs into a some sort of epic battle between Moog and bass. After several and radical changes, the track ends with a Charleston section almost as a comedy relief for the listener after so much intensity. This is what Prog is about.

Again the Gregorian intro is used for Sir Galahad and again the melody suffers slight changes ending with a nostalgic melody that describes the character of the most humble of the knights, again its' interesting to notice that the Arthur melody is blended in several parts, being that Galahad is seen by many as the continuation of the King, because he also took a sword from a stone in a river. A great and descriptive song.

The album ends with my favorite song The Last Battle, a track that has everything a fan of the genre loves, from breathtaking sections, brilliant keyboard solos and radical changes just to end in a nostalgic and incredibly beautiful narration of the end of King Arthur and the discovery of his tomb. Love it from start to end.

Sadly I read people saying that his album is pompous as a derogatory comment, others claim that "The Myths & Legends is hated by Punks (something logical from people who follow a genre based in simple music), but for me it's a perfect masterpiece. Please guys, we love Prog, it's meant to be pompous, if I hated pomp, I would be listening soft mainstream ballads.

If it wasn't for Arthur on Ice (Something for what Rick can't be blamed, because he was forced to accept or cancel the concert), would receive more praises, because in my opinion Myths & Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is the quintessential legendary - conceptual album and deserves no less than 5 solid stars.

If prog is about dynosaurs making pompous end pretentious music with symphonic orchestra, choirs and fireworks, this is prog!. With the vinyl edition you immediately see the sword in the anvil and a seal made of wax with Rick Wakeman's name on. Then you open it and find a booklet with paintings and lyrics plus on the last page the names of the about 100 people who took part in it. Of course, behind the booklet the interior is occupied by a painting of the battle between Lancelot and the Black Knight.

Of course everything starts with Arthur and the famous sentence about "who pulleth out this sword..."immediately followed by the symphonic orchestra and Rick's piano and keyboards. For the kind of composition, before the main theme appears for the first time, one could expect to hear Roger Daltrey singing. The chords of this intro remind me of Tommy, but when Ashley Holt starts singing it's clearly Wakeman. The melodies are catchy and the symphonic arrangements fits well with the operatic voices of the two vocalists. It sounds very similar to Journey To The Centre Of Earth which is his first true concept album, but being both featuring operatic vocals and symphonic orchestra, how could they be much different?

For less than one minute a male choir sings "Lady Of The Lake". Nothing to do with Gnidrolog who dedicated her a full album. This is just a quick apparition.

About two minutes of piano intro reminding the Arthur's theme and the song about "Guinevere" starts. Without the classical arrangement it would be just a pop song, but don't forget that Wakeman has been capable of making excellent pop music like the piano part of Cat Stevens "Morning Has Broken".Guinevere is just a two minutes song, what is great is its long interlude in line with Journey.

Again, very operatic, the battle of "Sir Lancelot and the Black Knight" contains also the hardest and heaviest parts of the whole thing. There's also a jazzy keyboard solo in the middle of the track. This song has all the requirements to be called an 'epic' even if its lenght is inferior to 10 minutes.

The theme of "Lady Of The Lake" is reprised by the same choir, but this time it introduces "Merlin The Magician". An excellent piano intro seems to carry us into the Magician's laboratory, while the Arthur's main theme, slowed down in tempo, is back again. The real song starts after about 2:30 minutes.A very interesting thing is the rhythm of the guitar which leads to the most compulsive part. However this song is made of very different moments but all the transitions are well managed, including the one leading to the very fast ragtime interlude. Then the various themes which make this song reappear until the final ragtime closure.

The choir again starts "Sir Galahad". After this dark intro, despite the subject, the music is upbeat and quite "happy". It acquires a sense if you imagine a live performance, like a musical. In this sense the acapella singing which follows makes sense. From a musical perspective only this part of the song featirung the English Chamber Choir shows all the excellent composition skill of Rick Wakeman and is also the part more similar to Journey.

The last track has reminds to all the principal musical themes. It has to be sad..."Gone are the days of the Knights...". It features the full orchestra and the choirsbut there's room also for a jazzy keyboard solo which is one of the best album's things. However, this is mainly a coda, like the end titles of a movie. It could be considered "essential" because it's one of the clearer examples of how pretentious prog was, but we are speaking of an artist who had all the rights to be pretentious.

I don't hear the masterpiece,but it's surely an excellent album with some historical value.

I own "The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table" on vinyl and it is quite an amazing package complete with garish artwork on the front cover and back showing the sword in the anvil and then raised high in the water. The gatefold is a Knight jousting with a nice blue painted sky, almost cartoon in style. Thankfully the copy I grabbed still had its 12 page booklet showing lots of drawings and colours depicting each track and including the lyrics an Ancient scroll calligraphy.

The music as expected showcases the Elizabethan chamber music that Wakeman loves to play. The atmosphere captures the period beautifully and of course it is bombastic and layered with choirs, orchestration and a ton of pipe organ. Tracks that jump out are Arthur, Lady of the Lake, Guinevere, Merlin the Magician and The Last Battle, though the album works best listened to in one sitting as one grand tale. Guinevere is familiar as it is on radio airplay often but I prefer the proggier tracks. Those familiar with the tale of sir Arthur will know what to expect in the concept reimagined here, but there are surprises in musical terms. The vocals are oddly placed and at times seem inappropriate and dated, however the musicianship is outstanding throughout.

This album will divide and conquer, some listeners will not be impressed with the pompous Arthurian approach, though it is imaginative undoubtedly. Some of this is extraordinary and some is dated and pretentious these days, but it is still one of the better Wakeman solo albums. More pomp and ceremony than anything Yes touched including "Topographic", the album is definitely one that should not be ignored. I prefer "6 Wives of Henry VIII" but have time to listen to these early projects of the great caped prog wonder.

Now here comes one of the most interesting parts in Rick Wakeman's bio.Having already been gifted his second son Adam and touring extensively for the promotion of ''Journey to...'', Wakeman simply seemed to live one his most fruitful periods after his departure from Yes.Then comes his collapse after a show at the Crystal Palace Bowl and the reason was a minor heart attack.He was delivered to Wexham Park Hospital, but not only he did not leave time pass by, but he also found the chance to write down material for his upcoming album, inspired by the legends of King Arthur and the Round Table.The album was recorded at Morgan Studios in London and released in 1975 on A&M Records under the title ''The myths and legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table''.His line-up included ex-Big Sleep and Wild Turkey Gary Pickford-Hopkins on vocals next to Ashley Holt (ex-Warhorse), Barney James on drums (also ex-Warhorse), while the orchestral parts were arranged by Wil Malone.

Musically this is one of Wakeman's more mature works, always performed under a grandiose Symphonic Rock style and based on an arsenal of different keyboards.It retains the keyboard wizard's familiar epic style with fairytale passages followed by bombastic orchestrations and flashy solos, but this time the music sounds very deep, mature and consistent with an extremely balanced sound between orchestral movements, romantic piano lines and sharp Moog synth moves.The Moog synthesizer and the piano appear to be again Wakeman's prime forces towards a symphonic work with intricate and dramatic instrumental passages, supported by choirs and superb orchestrations.Harsichord appears sporadically in an old-fashioned but always delicate way.What actually ruins completely this work was Wakeman's choice on vocals.Both Pickford-Hopkins and Holt had very raw voices to consistenly follow the music style of the album and their vocal colors were rather suitable to Hard or Pomp Rock groups than to an elaborate Progressive Rock album.Fortunately the instrumental length of the album is pretty extended with limited room for vocals and the album is dominated by Wakeman's clever moves on keyboard and piano, resulting an album full of cinematic soundscapes and Classical-inspired moments of pure elegance.

This could have been an even better album if the singers were chosen more appropriately.Be sure though to listen to some majestic moments delivered by Yes' former keyboard leader.Romantic, elaborate and dramatic Symphonic Rock with a pompous but well-executed attitude.Recommended.

The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table issued in 1975 is for sure another worthy album from his vast career. This is the second album under his name after the departure from Yes and is to me at least among his best works. The orchestral arrangements are as usual grandious, with rich keyboarts textures, melodic lines and warm pleasent vocal parts. All pieces are great with a plus on Merlin the Magician or The last battle. I like what I've heared here and I considered to be among the good towards great albums from prog scene from mid '70s, definetly a keeper. 4 stars for this beautiful elegant symphonic prog album.

Thanks to the bankruptcy-inducing King Arthur On Ice performance which was held to promote it, this album's become a bit of a lightning rod, with people either despising it as an example of the worst sort of vacuous, pretentious faux-artistic pomposity associated with prog rock, and others revering it as example of prog's soaring ambitions.

In fact, I consider it neither, and to be honest if it didn't have Rick Wakeman's name and a deeply misconceived concert surrounding it, it would be regarded as what it is: a well-executed but not absolutely essential example of mid-1970s prog. Whilst it has grown on me over the years, it's certainly the case that on initial listenings it risks coming across as rather generic keyboard noodling set against rather generic orchestral pomp without much meat to either.

There's a bit in the King Arthur stage show where ice skaters taking on the role of Lancelot and the Black Knight do a bit of duelling. They look extremely, extremely serious doing it, despite the fact that it looks extremely silly, partially because you can't actually do a decent fight scene like that on ice so they don't really bother and just fall back on doing generic ice skating moves and occasionally tap their swords together in that "We're deliberately hitting each other's swords and very obviously aren't actually trying to hit each other way" that's indicative of really bad fight choreography - all this whilst dressed as Monty Python and the Holy Grail extras with horribly unconvincing "horses" incorporated into their costume.

That one visual, for me, sums up what stopped the album from clicking immediately with me. You have all the ingredients to produce something amazingly cheesy, if the artists responsible just loosened up a bit and embraced the ridiculousness of it all and trim back the more po-faced bits; alternately, you have all the ingredients needed to make something deep and artistically meaningful, if you just toned down or took out some of the goofier ideas. But as it is, Rick tries to go broad, embracing both the cheesy (there's a goddamn ragtime section smack in the middle of Merlin the Magician) and the more seriously dramatic (that same ragtime section is followed by a more serious, sweeping build to the conclusion... and then there's more ragtime).

Still, I've warmed to it over time: perhaps its biggest problem was that it came out in 1975, at a point in time when prog fans had heard much of this sort of thing already. It certainly seems like a continuation of the approach of Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, but doesn't seem to take its ideas all that much further. Indeed, there's a funk-influenced section in Guinevere which feels like a callback to some of the groovier moments of Six Wives, suggesting that Rick was settling into a bit of a creative rut. Though I've come around to the album and think it's very solid, it shows a lack of progress which might explain why Rick's solo career got a bit bogged down a few years later, even if it still had some gems like this to offer.

Review Nº 160

'The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table' is the second studio album of Rick Wakeman and was released in 1975. As his previous studio album 'The Six Wives Of Henry VIII', this is also another very ambitious and risky conceptual album, but this time it's based on the legends of King Arthur and The Round Table. Once more he chooses the history of his country England, but if in the first time the characters were real persons who lived in the sixteenth century, this time the characters were mythical and supposedly lived in the twelfth century. Many of the characters that existed in the Arthurian legendary myth are present on the album, such as King Arthur, Lady Of The Lake, Guinevere, Sir Lancelot, The Black Knight, Merlin The Magician, Sir Galahad and of course Excalibur, the famous and legendary sword of King Arthur, the king of the knights of the round table, the mythical king of England.

The most interesting and curious fact about this work, is that much of this album was written while Wakeman, at 25 years old, was recovering from his first of three minor heart attacks at Wexham Park Hospital. Imagine that even after a cardiologist advised him to stop playing and retire to rest, he ignored it and wrote the final musical piece of the album 'The Last Battle', on the same night. Now, it's interesting to think that thankfully he didn't fulfil that order of his doctor.

'The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table' has seven tracks and all the songs were written by Wakeman. The first track 'Arthur' is a solid opener for the album. This is probably the most consensual and accessible song on the album and is also probably the most known too. It's a very beautiful melodic song where the music flows perfectly well with excellent combination of keyboards, orchestration and choral section. This is one of my favourite songs on the album. The second track 'Lady Of The Lake' is a very brief but at the same time pretty choral piece of music with a nice piano melody which is a kind of an introduction to the next song. The third track 'Guinevere' is another very accessible song with a strong and pretty melody, good acoustic guitar rhythm, good keyboard work and an excellent choral work too. However and despite be a very good song this is my less favourite track on the album. The fourth track 'Sir Lancelot And The Black Knight' is, in my humble opinion and without any doubt, one of the highest moments on the album. This is a very powerful and energetic song that creates within us a kind of an imaginary world. It's a song full of variations with a fantastic keyboard work and contains one of the best solos ever written by Wakeman. This is also a song with great orchestral arrangements followed by fantastic and energetic choirs and also has a great rhythm section on the background. It's an incredible song that reminds me, very strongly, the ambience of the great rock operas. This represents Wakeman at his best. The fifth track 'Merlin The Magician' is also a song full of musical changes. This is an instrumental track, another highlight, and is also one of my favourite songs. It begins with the reprise from the second track 'Lady Of The Lake' and continues with a great and beautiful keyboard work, pretty piano melodies and a nice bass line. This is the song most diverse on the album with some transition musical pieces with several musical styles. This is a song with everything on it. It's at the same time beautiful, insane and genial. Once more we have Wakeman at his best with one of his best compositions ever. The sixth track 'Sir Galahad' is another very good song that also begins with the reprise of 'Lady Of The Lake' and that combines nice melody, beautiful choirs, good vocals, great keyboard work and an excellent orchestral arrangement, as is always usual on the all album. This song makes a kind of a link to the next track. Despite be another great track it isn't as good as the two previous ones. The seventh and last track 'The Last Battle' is clearly an epic track and where we can hear themes from the other songs of the album. We can consider that this track summarizes the music on the all album incorporating excerpts of the other previous tracks. This is also a great song and a perfect and logical way to finish this very special album.

Conclusion: I've no doubt in saying this is another very controversial album. We may be able to consider that this is a kind of 'Tales From Topographic Oceans' of Wakeman. This is very interesting and curious because he was the only member of Yes who criticized 'Tales From Topographic Oceans' as a bombastic and megalomaniac musical project, and that fact produced his first departure from the band. However, I've no problem with bombastic and megalomaniac musical projects, if they're great, which is the case of 'Tales From Topographic Oceans' one of my favourite albums of Yes. But, 'The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table' isn't a masterpiece as 'Tales From Topographic Oceans' or 'The Six Wives Of Henry VIII', but nevertheless, is an excellent album. It isn't as uniform, cohesive and balanced as they are, but it has some tracks like 'Sir Lancelot And The Black Night' and 'Merlin The Magician' that are authentic musical pearls and that represent some of the best musical compositions of Wakeman.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Once Rick Wakeman called it quits the first time and left Yes to concentrate on his solo career, he took his rather large ambitious ideas to the upper limits as he got inspired to tackle a work of music called "The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table". If nothing else, you need to respect Rick's vision, and he did pretty much everything he could to give these stories as much as they deserved. But, this is probably where his biggest failure was with the entire work. Even though the world was ready for something this ambitious (this album quickly hit the charts in both the UK and the US, the public ate it up), I don't believe the recording industry was quite up to par to match his ambitions.

Rick's previous solo album was "The Six Wives of Henry VIII", and interestingly enough, it was much better sounding than this one, mostly because it wasn't as "over-the-top" with the choir, the orchestra, the narration and all of the planned productions that were made to support it after it's release. The focus is missing from this album, unlike the "Henry VIII" album. I'm not saying, however, that this is a bad album, because it is far from that. The compositional ideas are excellent. The problem is that there is so much going on here that I don't think a small recording studio was able to really put the final recording together very well.

The album is an excellent idea, and the wonderful booklet with it's colorful illustrations and lyrics are great supporting aids for the album and the idea. It is a bit difficult at times during the playback of the music to determine what Rick was seeing in his mind however, as it may not always coincide with the stories that some of us are familiar with. The reason for this is because Rick familiarized himself with different versions of the stories, and wanted to capture the best of all of the versions. For example, Arthur is depicted in the album to have pulled the sword from the stone (in the track "Arthur"), and then later there is a narrative presented by the choir that suggests he received it from the fabled lady of the lake (as in the short track of the same name). This also happens in the "Merlin" track. This one is divided up into 3 sections. One section depicts Merlin as an old man preparing his potions while another section depicts him as a mad scientist sort. The last section (the one that has the crazy banjo/honky tonk piano playing at a breakneck speed), represents a story of Merlin being locked up in a cave forever by a woman he had the hots for. This might account for some of the confusion about the tone of some of the songs.

Overall, however, it sounds as if Wakeman was able to stay consistent through the album, giving the music a real "classical" and "symphonic" feel throughout. This is quite well described not only by his keyboards and synths, but by the choir and orchestral sections. Where it all falls apart is in the recording of the album. When the album came out, it actually sounded like nothing else, quite impressive and technically flawless. To listen to it now, especially on the first side, from "Arthur" to "Sir Lancelot", there are many sections where all of the parts don't seem to come together very well, places where the parts are not even lined up rhythmically. There are also sections that sound a bit muddled and weighted down by all of the activity within the music. It almost sounds messy, if you will. However, the 2nd side (from "Merlin" to "The Last Battle", things seem to get much better, and this half of the album is much more enjoyable and fulfilling. So, there is a bit of inconsistency here.

It also doesn't help that the vocals are quite dramatic, almost rock-operatic, which give the album an over-the-top and bombastic feeling. Many people complain that Wakeman was a bit too bombastic and this is who they think of when they claimed that progressive rock was self-aggrandizing and pompous. I have to shake my head when I hear this because, in reality, all popular music artists are pompous. Wakeman was talented and it made a lot of artists upset that he was one of the most talented keyboardists in the industry. They say punk came about to retort the pomposity of prog rock, but before that movement ended, those artists were just as pompous as the people they were protesting, and the genres of music that replaced prog in the 80's (I'm talking pop, new wave and hair metal artists) were just as bad in that respect, if not worse. I just don't fall for that rubbish. But I'm not saying any of those styles are bad, I'm just saying that this just comes with any territory that puts certain people in the public eye, and if any of it is true or not, it all ends up coming across that way.

I completely respect Rick Wakeman and his talent and consider him a lifelong idol for myself since I also play keyboards. Yes, just like anyone else, he made mistakes, but he was far from perfect. But you can't deny that the man is talented. This is where it makes it hard for me to subjectively rate an album like this. I understand his ambition and his huge ideas would have been quite amazing if only the technology was there, at least, that is my take on it. Yes there were bands that were able to pull off some amazing works of art regardless of the limits of the recording techniques, but it was difficult. Being in a position of a solo artist only makes it harder, and your team had better be the best if you are going to pull of something like this album. It is unfortunate that, at least in my opinion, this original recording of "Round Table" just didn't have the people behind it that matched what Wakeman's vision needed. Some people may laugh at my assessment, but when I listen to this album, I can hear what Rick wanted to do here, and I can hear the flaws. When the album was made, it might have been a lot easier to forgive the artist for the flaws, but listening to it now proves that it just hasn't aged very well. As much as I hate to, I have to rate this as a 3-star album, but at the same time, I have to admit that it sounds quite messy at times, and inconsistent.

For his second studio album as a solo artist, "The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table", which captures events and characters from the life of the legendary king from his fabled ascent to the throne until his death, Rick Wakeman fuses his usual artillery of keyboards and rock instruments with orchestral grandiloquence, generating that epic, medieval atmosphere that accompanies the work as it unfolds; And, unlike the instrumental debut album "The Six Wives of Henry VIII", this time it is accompanied by a loquacious narrative in the powerful voices of Ashley Holt and Gary Pickford Hopkins.

The orchestration takes on special relevance in pieces such as the opening and descriptive "Arthur", the vertiginous and remarkable "Sir Lancelot and the Black Knight" (the best track on the album), or the choral "Sir Galahad", where Wakeman masterfully incorporates classical pianos and the exuberance of the moog, instrument that also takes a leading role along with the harpsichord and Roger Newell's defiant bass in the mesmerising "Merlin the Magician", a piece that also adds unexpected and contrasting elements taken from the Charleston. And amidst the stories of the knights and their fierce battles, the delicate "Guinevere" pauses to introduce Arthur's wife with a beautiful and accessible melody guided by classical piano, synthesizers and the melancholy effect of mellotrons, supported by a gentle chorus, acoustic chords and Jeffrey Crampton's guitar solo.

The concluding, languid "The Last Battle" takes elements from all the previous tracks and harmonises them into an unhurried finale, which indulges in a prolonged instrumental build-up, sadly reviews the final days of Arthur's reign at the hands of the Saxons and orchestrally closes the album.

"The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table is one of Wakeman's most ambitious conceptual works. Although it is blamed for the overflowing virtuosity that the musician can sometimes use and abuse, it is one of the indispensable albums of his discography.

3.5/4 stars