So, How Many Rick Wakeman Solo Albums Have You Actually Heard (All the Way Through) Anyway?

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C'mon, own up.

As of last count (in no particular order, past the obvious ones):

1) Six Wives of Henry VIII
2) Journey to the Center ("Centre?" Ha Ha Ha) of the Earth
3) Myths and Legends of King Arthur et al.
4) Cost of Living
5) A Suite of Gods
6) Soundtrack to "Cirque Surreal"
7) Silent Nights
8) Classical Connection 1
9) [Rick] Wakeman with [Adam] Wakeman
10) Simply Acoustic
11) In Concert: King Biscuit Flower Hour
12) Stella Bianca
13) Soundtrack to "Crimes of Passion"
14) Rock 'n' Roll Prophet Plus

― Joe (Joe), Sunday, 15 February 2004 00:21 (twenty-two years ago)

'Tis piss in the pan, too:

http://www.rwcc.com/rwcc/code/discography.asp

― Joe (Joe), Sunday, 15 February 2004 00:23 (twenty-two years ago)

You've listened to all of those??

― pete s, Sunday, 15 February 2004 00:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Yup.

― Joe (Joe), Sunday, 15 February 2004 00:28 (twenty-two years ago)

You know what our next question is.

― pete s, Sunday, 15 February 2004 00:31 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.rwcc.com/rwcc/graphics/disc/tcvol2.jpg

plus journey, six wives, and the lisztomania soundtrack.

― jody (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 15 February 2004 00:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I can't remember if I sat through the entirety of Six Wives. Are there any of these that you actually recommend?

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Sunday, 15 February 2004 00:45 (twenty-two years ago)

I heard Journey To The Centre Of The Earth and Myths And Legends Of King Arthur a couple of times many, many years ago and I'm reasonably familiar with the excerpts from The Six Wives Of Henry VIII that were on the YesSongs live album.

Wasn't there also one called Rick Wakeman's Criminal Record that (if my memory isn't playing cruel tricks on me) included a track with vocals by Bill Oddie?!?

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Sunday, 15 February 2004 01:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I think I have listened to "Six Wives" all the way through about twice. And that's it. Feel no need to do it anymore.

And this from somebody who loves the stuff Wakeman has done with Yes.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 15 February 2004 01:55 (twenty-two years ago)

i like 'no earthly connection'!

― Pablo Cruise (chaki), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Six Wives of Henry VIII
Journey to the Centre of the Earth
Myths and Legends of King Arthur
No Earthly Connection (I had a copy with the roll-up silver paper thing)
Rhapsodies (which is dreadful even by his standards)

I also borrowed a live video from someone a couple of months ago for some reason. He was playing an outdoor show in Australia in about 1977, with his mates from down the pub singing and several thousand studious looking people in the audience listening pompously.

― udu wudu (udu wudu), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:26 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm really into Yes right now, but I'm not going near any solo albums by any of them.

― Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:29 (twenty-two years ago)

i own Journey to the Centre of the Earth.

― JaXoN (JasonD), Sunday, 15 February 2004 03:19 (twenty-two years ago)

it was only a dollar, but i've still listened to it more than once

― JaXoN (JasonD), Sunday, 15 February 2004 03:20 (twenty-two years ago)

oh Phil you should hear Fish out of Water by Chris Squire.. its the best Yes album that isnt Yes.

― Pablo Cruise (chaki), Sunday, 15 February 2004 06:04 (twenty-two years ago)

TS: Yes solo albums v. KISS solo albums

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Sunday, 15 February 2004 07:20 (twenty-two years ago)

"Fish Out of Water" is good, bitd of Steve Howe's solos are good, "Olias of Sunhillow" (jon anderson) is great in parts.

"6 wives of Henry viii" is ok, even pretty good, but I haven't heard anything else I wanted to hear again.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Sunday, 15 February 2004 09:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I owned "Journey to the Center of the Earth" back when it came out. I think I asked for it for a Christmas present.

OK, it's 1974, you could ask Santa for "On the Beach", "Diamond Dogs" "No Other", "Irish Tour 74", "Country Life", "Rock n Roll Animal", "Court and Spark". But no, what does the teenage Snnap opt for? "JttCoE".

I had a very murky recording of "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" on cassette, and I think I liked it more than "Journey".

― Snnap Dragon (snnap dragon), Sunday, 15 February 2004 10:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Check THIS out:

http://home.maine.rr.com/abajoran/img/rhapsodies.jpg

― Joe (Joe), Sunday, 15 February 2004 14:39 (twenty-two years ago)

"...on to Volume 2: The Oscar Concert It is there due to the fact, that only 86 people turned up at a show during the 2000 UK Solo-Tour, and a small dog, Oscar, stole the show. You can witness the moment when Rick spots the dog in the audience and starts to turn the whole show (including his famous inbetween songs stories) into the Concert for Oscar. This is as sentimental as funny, and the performances are excellent throughout. What'd you expect? Watch out for "Classical Doggy In The Window" Performance (+stories): A+ Sound Quality: A+"

-A reviewer from Wakeman's website

Well, it's an A+, so I guess I've got to track it down now... :)

― Joe (Joe), Sunday, 15 February 2004 14:43 (twenty-two years ago)

I can't remember if I sat through the entirety of Six Wives. Are there any of these that you actually recommend?

If you can't make it past Six Wives, then I seriously wouldn't even bother with the rest. Though I would say Rock and Roll Prophet Plus is great for "I'm So Straight I'm a Weirdo" and "Do You Believe in Fairies?" (Rick does lead vocal on both). Great album cover, too.

― Joe (Joe), Sunday, 15 February 2004 14:47 (twenty-two years ago)

My answer's, I gather, "eight albums"
- The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Lisztomania, Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the..., No Earthly Connection, Rick Wakeman's Criminal Record, White Rock, Rhapsodies
Haven't heard anything after that.

― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Sunday, 15 February 2004 14:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Phil: Well, Bill Bruford's Earthworks is actually a very good jazz group.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Sunday, 15 February 2004 20:48 (twenty-two years ago)

I have heard the grand total of ZERO Wakeman albums.
I am not embarrassed about this.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Sunday, 15 February 2004 20:52 (twenty-two years ago)

OK Then.

Journey to the centre of the earth
King Arthur
White Noise? White Rock? soundtrack to a film on Skiing anyway.

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 16 February 2004 09:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh crikey, nearly forgot Lizstomainia.

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 16 February 2004 09:47 (twenty-two years ago)

so - no-one has heard the Journey to Centre Revisit album that was released a few years ago .. was supposed to back on track with large pomposity and guest vocals ?
wasn't there also an album caled 1984 .. i had a tape of that . sh*te if i heard it now. but i do still enjoy the Classics (esp No Earthly Connection .. still no cd reissue of this one !) the Rhapsodies and Rock and Roll Prohet albums though were truly Dire and made me very nervous about ever buying anything extra by the Very Nice Man.
and yes Bill Odie is indeed featured on Criminal Record. Rick sure asks his mates to appear on his albums (Robert Powell on Cost of Living being another prime example)
cant beat Kinf Arthur/Journey/6 wives/No Earthly Connection for that OTT vibe though ..
the rest can jump ..

― mark e (mark e), Monday, 16 February 2004 10:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Tbh, the only one i 'might' play now would be white rock/noise/shirt whatever, but it's academic as I sold them all back in the day...

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 16 February 2004 10:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Seven - in order:
Journey to the Centre of the Earth,
The Six Wives of Henry VIII,
Myths and Legends..., (saw him touring this)
Lisztomania, (there was a free-with-mag flexidisc around about this time too)
No Earthly Connection,
Rick Wakeman's Criminal Record,
White Rock soundtrack

From 'No Earthly Connection' & onwards I thought it was getting worse...apart from the goosebumps-inducing multitracked filtersweepfest which opens and closes the album

I also still like 3 or 4 OTT tracks from Lisztomania - think they are 'Dante Period' - 'Hell' - 'Master Race' - & er another of the instrumentals that's all bells & whistles - minimoog & mellotron madness, & what 'phantom of the paradise' actually should have sounded like...

― Snowy Mann (rdmanston), Monday, 16 February 2004 15:57 (twenty-two years ago)

six years pass...

trying to get through no earthly connection, my first one, and whoah "music reincarte" five 1/2 minutes in gets all hawkwind "lost johnny." sounds like roger chapman or the gentle giant or comus guy on vocals

― kamerad, Thursday, 24 June 2010 16:31 (fifteen years ago)

thats my favourite album (and i think the end of his run of good albums), and frustratingly not available on cd, bar some very expensive japanese editions.

― mark e, Friday, 25 June 2010 07:29 (fifteen years ago)

Confession time: NONE of them! I listened to a bit of the 1st 4 (more or less as they were issued)& noticed that it was quite possibly the most boring, self-indulgent, pompous twattle I had ever heard in my life. Then I gave up.

― ImprovSpirit, Friday, 25 June 2010 14:35 (fifteen years ago)

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