Rick Wakeman Myths and Six Wives reissues.

**A. Scherze** · 02-03-2015

Originally Posted by Mister Triscuits

Except...does Wakeman forget himself at 3:55 when he switches his right hand to piano for the "Farandole" quote? It looks like his hand hovers uncertainly over the keyboard for a couple of seconds before he starts playing along.

Right before that, he completely misses the Mellotron entrance. Later, he plays a line on the electric piano when the audio is the acoustic.

**Rand Kelly** · 02-03-2015

I had no idea this was available nor even filmed for that matter.

**ronmac** · 02-03-2015

Well, you can't say he wasn't ambitious.

**rael74** · 02-04-2015

What is the footage where Rick and the band are sat on a mountainside, with wizards hat on, playing?

**Sunhillow** · 02-04-2015

Originally Posted by Rogue Mail

Now although this is hardly one of Wakeman's best albums, and indeed is usually ridiculed by most, it was one of the first full-on prog albums I bought as a teenager, and it still has a kind of fascination for me. Though I still think Merlin is a great track.

Originally Posted by gilawi

What?

Arthur is considered one of his three best albums ever (along with Journey and Six wives). Go to the Wakeman website and see for yourself what his fan says about this album. To me is number one.

Originally Posted by ronmac

I'm a big fan of "Arthur." Pretentious? Perhaps. Overblown? In spots. Lots of fun, though. I think it's a great interpretation of the story.

.

Glad to see the love for Myths on this board. From the quote 'Whoso pulluth out this sword from this stone and anvil, is the true-born King Of All Britain' it's for me goosebumps all around. A masterpiece. Overblown? Who cares. Isn't this a progressive rock-forum. Don't we all like bombastic? Go to a Bob Dylan-forum if you want lo-fi.

**Halmyre** · 02-04-2015

I think it's time for some sort of Prog Pride movement. We demand, as a right, Mellotrons on ice, lasers, revolving pianos, vachalias, foam-rubber genitals!

**Man In The Mountain** · 02-04-2015

Originally Posted by rael74

What is the footage where Rick and the band are sat on a mountainside, with wizards hat on, playing?

That is the 1/2 hour BBC docu that was aired prior to King Arthur On Ice. "Success Story" It's in 4 parts on Youtube. Here's the part you're asking about....

**gilawi** · 02-04-2015

[QUOTE=Sunhillow;368011]Glad to see the love for Myths on this board. From the quote 'Whoso pulluth out this sword from this stone and anvil, is the true-born King Of All Britain' it's for me goosebumps all around. A masterpiece. Overblown? Who cares. Isn't this a progressive rock-forum. Don't we all like bombastic? Go to a Bob Dylan-forum if you want lo-fi.[/QUOTA]

Same for me. Arthur is in my desert discs list. My favorite Wakeman record. Will love a re-recording of this masterpiece (a la Journey to the centre of the earth).

**arturs** · 02-20-2015

Now that the new Wakeman reissues have been out for a few weeks, anyone have any more comments on the sound quality?

Also I noticed that "Friday Music" has reissued (or issued for the first time in the case of Rhapsodies I think) CDs of the later Wakeman A&M titles. Any one have these? Any comments? The label does not have a particularly good reputation for sound quality so I wanted to get some opinions before buying.

PS Notice that the only not-reissued 1970s title is the bazillion-selling Journey. Any ideas why that is? An impending box set deluxe edition or something?

**JJ88** · 02-20-2015

I suspect that the release of that has been staggered, so as not to put out all the popular ones in one go. I believe all his A&M albums are going to be reissued by Universal and these two were the start of that campaign...'No Earthly Connection' has always been a favourite of mine among his catalogue, and of course 'Criminal Record' is very nice too, I'm more interested in those.

**bondegezou** · 02-20-2015

Originally Posted by JJ88

I suspect that the release of that has been staggered, so as not to put out all the popular ones in one go. I believe all his A&M albums are going to be reissued by Universal and these two were the start of that campaign...'No Earthly Connection' has always been a favourite of mine among his catalogue, and of course 'Criminal Record' is very nice too, I'm more interested in those.

Yes, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Lisztomania, No Earthly Connection, White Rock, Criminal Record and Rhapsodies are all expected as part of the reissue series. I'd wait for those and ignore the Friday Music releases.

Henry

**martiprog** · 02-23-2015

I too share the love for "Arthur", but can't say I'm too bothered by these "new" releases. Criminal Record & No Earthly.. now that's a couple of autobuys right there.

**martiprog** · 02-23-2015

Originally Posted by Halmyre

I think it's time for some sort of Prog Pride movement. We demand, as a right, Mellotrons on ice, lasers, revolving pianos, vachalias, foam-rubber genitals!

Absolutely - Say it loud, I'm prog & I'm proud

**JJ88** · 02-23-2015

Originally Posted by martiprog

I too share the love for "Arthur", but can't say I'm too bothered by these "new" releases. Criminal Record & No Earthly.. now that's a couple of autobuys right there.

I feel the same. The rest, I'm good with the old CDs in terms of sound quality. In fact I haven't read anything at all about how these remasters sound from people who have bought them...just moaning about the Quad mix of at least one being from vinyl.

**JKL2000** · 02-23-2015

Whoso playeth the most keyboards on one track is the true-born King of Widdly.

**JKL2000** · 02-23-2015

If it disna feature a rubber cocke, it's nae prog!

**happytheman** · 02-23-2015

Picked up 6 Wives recently via Amazon for $5.. (I've had the vinyl for years) still think his "excerpts" from Yessongs trumps the album release.. He plays with such intensity on the live version vs. studio.. the tracks (to my ears) don't flow as well.. Just an observation..

**Rogue Mail** · 02-23-2015

Originally Posted by JJ88

I feel the same. The rest, I'm good with the old CDs in terms of sound quality. In fact I haven't read anything at all about how these remasters sound from people who have bought them...just moaning about the Quad mix of at least one being from vinyl.

Ahem...from my opening post...

The main selling point of this cd is the quad mix. Now I am not quite sure of the reasons for releasing a quad mix these days. These are clearly mixes that have obviously been around for some time, and frankly they just don't translate to a 5.1 audio setup, even when remastered. The bass is non-existent, and the high end is so harsh it hurts your ears. There are 2 quad mixes and one 2 channel stereo mix, but they pretty much all sound the same.

Plus - these are needle-drops. That is startlingly evident in the amount of hiss and crackle between tracks.

**JJ88** · 02-23-2015

^No, I'm sorry, the moaning is more than fair enough, I'd be moaning too if I had interest in multi-channel stuff. Really I'm amazed at these prehistoric quad mixes being used at all.

But comment on what the remasters of the original stereo mixes sound like has been very thin on the ground around the internet.