rick wakeman journey to the centre of the earth discogs

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The ambitious ‘Journey To The Centre Of The Earth’ was recorded on January 18, 1974, as Rick Wakeman recorded live with a choir, an orchestra, and a rock group.

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Ever since punk broke, Rick Wakeman ’s detractors have jeered at what they perceive to be his excessive virtuosity, yet it’s undeniable that the keyboard maestro has played a vital role in fashioning a swathe of prog rock’s most venerable releases . First coming to prominence after playing the Mellotron part on David Bowie ’s breakthrough 1969 hit “Space Oddity,” Wakeman then spent two years with respected English folk-rockers Strawbs before replacing Tony Kaye in nascent prog superstars Yes, prior to the recording of their multi-platinum-selling 1971 LP, Fragile . All this laid the groundwork for arguably his most ambitious work, the solo album Journey To The Centre Of The Earth .

Listen to Journey To The Centre Of The Earth right now .

The ceaselessly creative Rick Wakeman had embarked on a solo career in 1973 with The Six Wives Of Henry VIII , eventually selling 15 million copies worldwide. Even before that was released, however, he’d started work on a musical re-enactment of Jules Verne’s science fiction novel Journey To The Centre Of The Earth , yet regardless of The Six Wives ’ success and Yes’ massive-selling double-set Tales From Topographic Oceans , Wakeman’s record company, A&M, balked at bankrolling studio sessions involving a choir and a full orchestra as well as a rock band.

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Eventually, a compromise was struck. With Rick Wakeman himself reputedly partially funding the project himself, A&M agreed to record his epic project live at London’s Royal Festival Hall, on the night of January 18, 1974. For this much-anticipated sold-out event, Wakeman was joined by the English Chamber Choir, the London Symphony Orchestra, a rock ensemble (mostly hand-picked from pub musicians who frequented his local in rural Buckinghamshire), and Blow-Up star David Hemmings: the latter recruited to narrate Verne’s story, which centered around the fictitious trio of Professor Lidenbrok, his nephew Axel, and their guide Hans, who – with dramatic consequences – follow a passage to the Earth’s core.

A&M invested in recording just the one night’s performance but, with the pressure on, Wakeman and his assembled cast duly rose to the occasion. Though their hour-long show was edited down to 40 minutes for vinyl-cutting purposes, the LP’s two, ever-morphing 20-minute movements (“The Journey”/“The Recollection” and “The Battle”/“The Forest”) are nonetheless captivating, with Hemmings’ commanding oration offset by ghostly contributions from the chamber choir, and the LSO’s occasional Wagnerian overload tempered by funk-flavored rock passages, with Wakeman’s Minimoog and/or clavinet mostly leading from the front.

Journey To The Centre Of The Earth was rapturously received on the night, but its long-term commercial success was by no means a given. A&M dithered until co-founder Jerry Moss personally agreed to its release, but Wakeman’s self-belief was vindicated when the LP finally hit the racks. Following its release, on May 3, 1974, the album entered the UK Top 40, topping the chart on May 25, while peaking at No.3 on the US Billboard 200. Long after yielding an Ivor Novello Award and over 14 million sales for its creator, it continues to beguile new generations of fans.

Journey To The Centre Of The Earth can be bought here .

John Ireland

February 1, 2016 at 6:50 pm

Would love this to get the deluxe reissue treatment.

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[Review] Rick Wakeman: Journey To The Centre of the Earth (1974)

Wow, this makes Tales From Topographic Oceans look like a study in self-restraint.

Kronomyth 2.0: What in Earth was he thinking?

You can pinpoint the exact moment when progressive rock jumps the icthyosaurus on this album. It occurs when Wakeman punctures his high-flying balloon of orchestra, choir and rock with narrator David Hemming’s reading of Verne’s actual text from the book. It’s not the only cringe-worthy moment on the album. For example, in trying to match the literary description of the novel, Garry Pickford-Hopkins is forced to sing “Silurian epoch hosts me as my grave / My final blow I wave / A life too late to save” and the English Chamber Choir is given the unenviable task of making “Crocodile teeth, lizard’s head, bloodshot eye stained ocean red” sound like high art rather than something a trio of witches might mumble over a potion.

Where Six Wives was brilliantly stitched together, Journey shows shoddy workmanship in the arrangements; near the end of the work, Wakeman inexplicably nicks Grieg’s “In The Hall of the Mountain King” to move things along. Is staging a live musical adaptation of Jule Verne’s “Journey to the Centre of the Earth” ambitious? Absolutely. Is it admirable? Sure. It is effective? Not at all. In fact, from a musical perspective, I see this as a monumental failure. A failure that sold millions of copies and topped the charts, so I doubt that Wakeman, his label or many of his fans see it that way.

There are some salvageable moments, such as the rock songs encased in “The Battle” and the music following the creation of the Hansbach. If Wakeman had realized this work as a succession of songs rather than a continuous text, it could have been quite good. History, if it hasn’t lost its spectacles, will likely view this a quixotic venture from an idealistic age or the poster child for prog’s grandiloquence.

Read more Rick Wakeman reviews

Original LP Version

A1. The Journey A2. Recollection B1. The Battle B2. The Forest

All songs written by Rick Wakeman. Orchestral and choir arrangements by Danny Beckerman and Wil Malone.

The Players

Rick Wakeman (keyboards), Mike Egan (guitar), English Chamber Choir, David Hemmings (narrator), Ashley Holt (vocals), Barney James (drums), London Symphony Orchestra, Roger Newell (bass), Garry Pickford-Hopkins (vocals). Produced by Rick Wakeman; recording engineered by Paul Tregurtha and Pete Flanagan; production engineered by Keith Grant; production co-ordinated by Lou Reizner.

The Pictures

Art direction by Michael Doud. Design by Michael Wade (Bloomsbury Group). Photography by Chris Foster, Paul Wakefield, Peter Waldman, Nigel Messet (Bloomsbury Group), Ken Randall.  Retouching by Mike Mann.

The Plastic

Released on elpee and 8-track on May 3, 1974 in the UK (A&M, AMLH 63621), the US (A&M, SP/8T 3621) and Japan (A&M, GP-226) with gatefold sleeve & booklet; reached #1 on the UK charts and #3 on the US charts (RIAA-certified gold record).

• Re-released on quadraphonic elpee in 1974 in the US (A&M, QUS-3641) with gatefold cover and booklet.
• Re-issued on compact disc in 1988 in the US (A&M, CD-3156).
• Re-issued on compact disc in May 1993 in Germany (Spectrum, 550 0612).
• Re-released on remastered gold compact disc in the US (Mobile Fidelity, UDCD 633).
• Re-issued on remastered compact disc in the US (Mobile Fidelity, MFCD 848).
• Re-released on SHMCD+DVD on June 8, 2016 in Japan (A&M, UICY-76993).

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Discography

Journey to the Centre of the Earth 2012 (2012)

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Rick Wakeman|Journey To The Centre Of The Earth

Journey To The Centre Of The Earth

Rick Wakeman

• Released on 11/30/73 by Music Fusion
• Main artists: Rick Wakeman
• Genre: Rock

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About the album

• 1 disc(s) - 28 track(s)
• Total length: 01:48:26
• Label: Music Fusion
• Genre: Pop/Rock Rock

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