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Thread: FEATURED CD - Rick Wakeman : The Six Wives Of Henry VIII

  1. #101
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    I do find Journey/King Arthur a little problematic. I enjoy hearing his playing and there's certainly good music on those albums, but I don't like all the kitschy narration, choirs etc.

  2. #102
    Member dropforge's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Man In The Mountain View Post
    The ones that sound the "most" like Six Wives are:
    WHITE ROCK sounds the most like SW tonally, old school analog, but compositionally not as complex.
    CRIMINAL RECORD considered one of his best, features Squire & White throughout. Very solid.

    Otherwise, King Arthur & No Earthly Connection are worth checking out even though they fall more in line with Journey, most will tell you they're much better than Journey.
    I'd also check out The Burning, G'ole!, and the more recent Retro and Retro 2, which were recorded with every dusted-off piece of analog kit Rick still owned or could borrow on the quick.

  3. #103
    Quote Originally Posted by Man In The Mountain View Post
    The ones that sound the "most" like Six Wives are:
    WHITE ROCK sounds the most like SW tonally, old school analog, but compositionally not as complex.
    CRIMINAL RECORD considered one of his best, features Squire & White throughout. Very solid.
    White Rock is, for me, his only other listenable album. Throw out “Montezuma’s Revenge” [ick!] and the rest is pretty good. The opening track is just (multi-tracked) Mini-Moog and drums, and is pretty amazing. As stated before, Criminal Record doesn’t do it for me; a nice try, but the compositions are pretty substandard, and this was the point where his synth timbres became cringeworthy.

    Otherwise, King Arthur & No Earthly Connection are worth checking out even though they fall more in line with Journey, most will tell you they're much better than Journey.
    After hearing so much good about it, boy was I disappointed when I finally heard NEC! IMO, NEC was the worst of his early albums. Some embarrassing concept about space aliens and music or something, lots of awful Ashley Holt vocals, that silly “You will hang said the judge” bit, corny Broadway show orchestrations and choirs, etc., etc.
    Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...

  4. #104
    Quote Originally Posted by bob_32_116 View Post
    This guy would have been wasted in Bowie's band. That's not to be taken as a slight against Bowie - it's just that Bowie's music simply does not require someone with that much keyboard talent. I think Bowie would have felt he was always trying to compete with his keyboardist.
    Quote Originally Posted by JJ88 View Post
    Um, he was on Hunky Dory- all over it, in fact. Also on 'Absolute Beginners'.
    And obviously this in June 1969 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttuz...utu.be&t=1m31s

    Six Wives is great, clearly Rick's best album. Catherine of Aragon is perfectly composed and performed, tasteful and charming, no sign of the cheesy bombast that lay ahead.

    Anyone who doesn't like Olias of Sunhillow should be forced to step barefoot onto an upturned electric power plug for all eternity.

  5. #105
    Member Since: 3/27/2002 MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER's Avatar
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    hey... Gole is very good

    and I happen to like Rhapsodies, even with the silly dance beats
    Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?

  6. #106
    Member Sputnik's Avatar
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    Gave Six Wives a fresh spin tonight. Loved it. There's a few moments I'd have personally done differently, but overall a really good instrumental Prog album, imo. Good playing, good compositions. I'll give Criminal Record another shot, I don't recall it being that great, but I'll give it another sample when I have a chance.

    Bill

  7. #107
    Member Man In The Mountain's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dropforge View Post
    I'd also check out The Burning, G'ole!, and the more recent Retro and Retro 2, which were recorded with every dusted-off piece of analog kit Rick still owned or could borrow on the quick.
    The Burning, while sounding very much like the Six Wives style, never really did much for me as much as I kept trying. It may have more to do with the production and the horror themed music.

    G'ole is a fun little album, but I think is dated now.

    Retro 1 & 2 are the bomb. I love them. But, you really have to LOVE cheese to appreciate them. I love the analog sounds more than the actual songs for sure, though a few of the songs are quite good and if you took the best from the two releases you have a very solid single release.


    Quote Originally Posted by Progbear View Post
    As stated before, Criminal Record doesn’t do it for me; a nice try, but the compositions are pretty substandard
    I'm pretty much with you on that Progbear. Prefer his warmer analog keys over the cold late 70's synths. As such I've never fully warmed up the album, though for me it is still a decent listen every once in a while.

  8. #108
    Member Kcrimso's Avatar
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    Rick Wakeman's stunning solo album The Six Wives of Henry VIII turns exactly fifty years old today!

    I wrote a short review of the album: https://pienemmatpurot.com/review-ri...nry-viii-1973/
    My progressive music site: https://pienemmatpurot.com/ Reviews in English: https://pienemmatpurot.com/in-english/

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