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Track by Track Review
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It's a Lovely Life The opening section here almost feels like something Black Sabbath might have done in the mid-1970s. The vocals by Melody Bell bring a soulful, bluesy power to the piece. The song still has plenty of Wakeman trademarks built into it. This is a smoking hot rocker. |
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Eastern Shadows While this is distinctly a rock song, it also has a lot of classical music built into it. The instrumental is really classic Wakeman. |
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Joanna
A mellower piece, this seems to combine classical music stylings with folk music. It's another that's more trademark Wakeman. |
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The Stretch
There are some intriguing changes here. There is a bit of a "weird" quality to this piece. Still, it's instantly recognizable as Rick Wakeman. It gets a more rocking thing right at the end. |
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Policeman's Ball Coming in more rocking, some saxophone really sets this cut apart. It has an almost funky vibe and is one of the most fun pieces here. This has a number of variations and really rocks. |
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Stax
This sounds in some ways like something that would have been released on Stax. There is a bit of a jazz vibe to it. It's retro in texture and quite interesting. |
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Taken in Hand Classical music and rock seem to merge here. This is another that's a classic Wakeman instrumental. The keyboard soloing on this is particularly noteworthy. |
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Paradise Lost A more sedate piece of music, this is slower and quite pretty. |
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The Box Faster paced and rocking, there is a bit of a jazz angle to this cut. It's a real powerhouse. This gets into some seriously hard-edged territory. |
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Web of Love Gentle and rather playful, this is pretty. It's trademark Wakeman and gets more powerful further down the road, turning out to some rocking stuff late. |
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Bonus Track
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Dangerous Woman Now, this comes in feeling very much like a jazzy kind of 1980s music piece. Maggie Bell is back for another cool vocal performance. I'm not as enthused about this song as I am the rest (it just feels very dated) but it is a bonus track after all. |
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