YESSONATA

Oh, nostalgia, embrace me one more time.

The album's title speaks for itself; it is no secret that Mr. Wakeman has been, is, and will forever be linked to Yes, one of our favorite bands ever, but I assume he is happy with it (so are we).

Well, this is about a medley that he composed and performed at every of his concerts from the "Final Solo Tour" that took place in North and South America, including of course, Mexico City. As I've read, and perfectly knowing his skills, each of those performances had slight differences, so every audience could enjoy a one-and-only performance of what now is a recorded track. That medley contains excerpts from over 20 songs of that lovable and highly praises Yes catalogue, of course, the catalogue in which the keyboard wizard was featured.

So the Yessonata is an exquisite trip to the past, a tribute to nostalgia, an emotional rollercoaster of memories. Wakeman took his favorite piano to create and record this 20-minute piece / medley where his hands, fingers and creativity do the talking. There are no sung lyrics, however you might sing in your own head everytime you recognize one of the short snippets. Is it progressive rock? Not really. Is it classical music? Not really. But don't try to label it, you know, it's Rick Wakeman and his endless creativity, his sense of humor, his history and longevity, a one- of-a-kind musician.

In order to provoke a little of bit of curiosity in you, dear readers, I will just mention a few of the songs featured here, because it is way better for you to discover and rediscover them everytime you play the track: Awaken, Wonderous Stories, And You And I, Roundabout, Siberian Khatru. I insist, a nostalgic yet exquisite journey. And what a luck we could hear it on concert.

But the album don't finish there, because there is a second 20-minute track, another medley that takes highlights from one of the most popular and precious albums from his solo career, so here you won't hear excerpts from over 20 songs, not, just different passages and daring blends from his acclaimed 'The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table', this medley is entitled 'The King Arthur Piano Suite', which of course, sounds quite different from its original recordings, considering his bombastic work with keyboards, which were not used for this record.

Yeah, I love it, and though it is nothing "quite" original, it still is original and only Wakeman could have put this together.

On an additional ending note, it is beautiful to see a Roger Dean artwork for this album, love the long-time partnership.

Enjoy it!

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