Rick Wakeman - Lisztomania [1999 Ltd. Edition Remaster] (1975)

Review by MorgothSunshine (Nicola) @ Prog Archives:

In 1975 Rick accepted a commission from lunatic film director Ken Russell to produce the soundtrack for his latest piece of madness, Lisztomania. The soundtrack is composed almost entirely of music by Liszt and Wagner, played mostly by Rick, and is as endearingly bonkers as you might expect. The vocal tracks, mostly sung by the film's star, Roger Daltrey, are not very brilliant, but the instrumental stuff's actually pretty good, although it has the advantage of being written by 'proper' composers. The opening track, a bizarre hybrid of a 'regular' classical piece and learner's favourite Chopsticks and a couple of pieces towards the end of the album feature real strings, but most of the other tracks have Rick's 'Trons splattered all over them (largely strings), played with his usual panache, particularly on the excellent Hell. Anyway this is a particular record that must be taken just as a soundtrack of a mad film, but i think the quality is overall very good and i don't understand the "one star" reviews. I think it's a solid three stars.



Tracklisting:
1. Rienzi / Chopsticks Fantasia (4:18)
2. Love's Dream (4:27)
3. Dante Period (2:05)
4. Orpheus Song (3:10)
5. Hell (1:59)
6. Hibernation (1:11)
7. Excelsior Song (2:30)
8. Master Race (0:45)
9. Rape, Pillage & Clap (3:09)
10. Funerailles (3:52)
11. Free Song (Hungarian Rhapsody) (1:58)
12. Peace At Last (2:58)

Total Time: 32:17

Line-Up:
- Rick Wakeman / keyboards, synthesizers
- Roger Daltry / vocals (2-4-10-12)
- John Forsythe
- Linda Lewis / vocals (5)
- George Michie
- Paul Nicholas / vocals (7)
- David Wilde / Liszt piano music
- The English Rock Ensemble
- The National Philharmonic Orchestra