RECOLLECTIONS: THE VERY BEST OF RICK WAKEMAN

This is a compilation from the first and best WAKEMAN's albums -1973/ 79 period-, and (essentially for newbies) it's a good introduction to understand the unlimited talent that Rick showed in seventies, beyond his performances with YES.

But there's a hard point here: Among "Six Wives" (1973) and "Rhapsodies" (1979), RW released several masterpieces; so, make an essential compilation would be virtually impossible because many fantastic pieces wouldn't be included. Then, it's hard to rate this album, because music is beautiful but compilation is not complete or the best, and the excerpts are never a good option.

From "Six Wives of Henry VIII": Three chosen tracks are really magnificent, but "Jane Seymour" and "Catherine Parr" deserve a place among the best RW creations too.

From "Journey to the Centre of the Earth": It was a concept album with many spoken parts and outstanding musical pieces. Excerpts are just a mutilation.

From "The Myths and Legends...": "Arthur" and "Merlin" are two of the best tracks, but "The Last Battle" is the highlight in that album and it wasn't included.

From "Lisztomania": Interesting film soundtrack, but none of the twelve short songs was included.

From "No Earthly Connection": "The Prisoner" was chosen. Excellent song, as the rest of the album tracks.

From "White Rock": Another film soundtrack. Both included pieces are among the best.

From "Criminal Record": A dilemma again: How to choose just some pieces when the whole album is wonderful? Chosen tracks are beautiful, but three are not enough.

From "Rhapsodies": IMHO, this double album was the first step in the Rick's decadence. "The Palais" is a very short piece, one of the best in that -at least- uneven stuff.

Summarizing, "Recollections" has a good selection from the Rick's strongest period. Nothing useful or new for WAKEMAN's old fans and only a nice cover art for completionists, but it's an interesting way to know (for those who don't) the great keyboardist's job. I guess that, after hear it, a newbie sensation will be: "I wanna hear more!"