Rick Wakeman Journey To the Centre of the Earth Review by Gary Hill
Another concept album from Rick Wakeman, this one focuses on the famous novel by Jules Verne. It relies heavily on readings from the book to tell the story and this is probably as much classical music and musical theater as it is rock. It’s good – but almost feels like one long piece of music. I’ve heard that there are versions of the CD that separate this out into four tracks, but my copy is just two tracks – each with two epics within. This whole thing was recorded live with a symphony orchestra and choir in addition to rock band.
Track by Track Review
The Journey / Recollection
The Battle / The Forest A spoken section starts us out here and then we get a tasty keyboard solo that builds gradually. After the minute and a half mark they take us out into full band arrangement and Wakeman gives us some ever more delicious morsels from his keys. We get a rocking segment – perhaps the most purely rocking vocal section so far – from there. They take us through a number of variations with more classical themes interspersed amongst the rocking territory. A little past the five minute mark the next spoken section emerges. From there we get another instrumental section and this one has a mysterious, powerful element to it. Then it’s time for another reading. After a time keyboards take over by themselves and then vocals come over this. After a verse or so we get female chorale singing as support. Eventually this works out into a more rocking arrangement before we get another spoken reading. Eventually they move out to another rock oriented movement with Wakeman soloing like crazy overhead. Around the fourteen minute mark they take us into a performance of “Hall of the Mountain King.” I’ve always loved this piece of music and it’s quite powerful and when Wakeman joins the symphony it shoots way up. Then they resolve out into a more typical Rick Wakeman style keyboard solo. It drops down from there and works through some more symphonic, but still quite synthesized music before getting very atmospheric. Then it works out into some returning themes with a symphonic delivery. This takes it through to the closing of the epic.
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