Rick Wakeman - Journey To The Centre Of The Earth (MFSL 633) [Repost]

Journey to the Centre of the Earth is one of progressive rock's crowning achievements. With the help of the London Symphony Orchestra and the English Chamber Choir, Rick Wakeman turns this classic Jules Verne tale into an exciting and suspenseful instrumental narrative. The story is told by David Hemmings in between the use of Wakeman's keyboards, especially the powerful Hammond organ and the innovative Moog synthesizer, and when coupled with the prestigious sound of the orchestra, creates the album's fairy tale-like climate. Recorded at London's Royal Festival Hall, the tale of a group of explorers who wander into the fantastic living world that exists in the Earth's core is told musically through Wakeman's synthesized theatrics and enriched by the haunting vocals of a chamber choir. Broken into four parts, the album's most riveting segment, entitled "The Battle," involves Wakeman's most furious synthesized attack, churning and swirling the keyboards into a mass instrumental hysteria. With both "The Journey" and "The Forest," it's the effective use of the strings and percussion section of the London Symphony Orchestra that causes the elements of fantasy and myth to emerge from the album's depths. The gorgeous voice of Ashley Holt is effectively prominent, and some interesting guitar work via Mike Egan arises occasionally but meritoriously amidst the keyboard fervor. The whole of Journey to the Centre of the Earth still stands as one of the most interesting conglomerations of orchestral and synthesized music, and it is truly one of Wakeman's most flamboyant projects.

Having left YES behind, Rick Wakeman's follow-up to THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII proved less abstract and far more ambitious: adapting Jules Verne's classic novel to music in a mere 40 minutes! And while originally intended as a studio recording, it was instead performed LIVE, with the London Symphony Orchestra and The English Chamber Choir, and David Hemmings along for the ride as narrator. It blows my mind to think of all those musicians getting it perfect in ONE take! --but they did. I love to play this late at night with the lights turned down to simulate being underground. Amazingly the brief summary of the story is told more accurately here than in several film versions over the years. Rick has redone this at least 6 times (both live and in studio) but none has touched the original-- not the least reason being only this one has the narration. I wish Hemmings had returned on subsequent such ventures.