Margie Wakeman

Within the same year of re-joining Yes for 1977's Going for the One, Rick Wakeman released yet another solo instrumental concept album. Criminal Record, Wakeman's sixth album in five years, involves six tracks that instill Wakeman's keyboard wizardry to both fictional and historical accounts of punishment, villainy, and crime…

Four CD set. Features both of the concerts performed by Rick Wakeman, the English Rock Ensemble and the English Chamber Choir at the London Palladium. In February 2023, Rick Wakeman performed two sell out concerts at the London Palladium which celebrated his most acclaimed work as a solo artist and as a member of Yes. The first concert saw Rick Wakeman, the English Rock Ensemble and the English Chamber Choir, conducted by Guy Protheroe perform his first solo work, ‘The Six Wives of Henry VIII’ and ‘The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table’, while the second night’s concert featured a set of classic Yes material and ‘The Meeting’ (originally performed by Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman And Howe), along with the multi-platinum-selling solo work ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’. The concerts were some of the most memorable of Rick’s career.

Well, this is a rare bird. As much a meditation as a musical work. The title explains a lot, and you could call the whole album an extended form of prayer…

Back in 1975, prog-rock virtuoso Rick Wakeman, at the time also an ‘on-off’ keyboardist with the group Yes, released the third of his solo albums. Like the previous two albums (The Six Wives of King Henry VIII (1973) and Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1974)) it was not short of ambition, planning to tell, in musical form and mood, the story of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere and the Knights of the Round Table…

Prog-rock legends Yes had covered Beatles songs in the past, but TRIBUTE represents Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman's full-blown homage to the Fab Four…

Rick Wakeman's third solo album is among his best, as he employs his vast array of keyboards to their full extent, musically describing the characters pertaining to the days of King Arthur's reign. With orchestra and choir included, although a little less prevalent than on Journey, he musically addresses the importance and distinguishing characteristics of each figure through the use of multiple synthesizers and accompanying instruments. "Lady of the Lake" is given a mystical, enchanted feel, perpetrated by a more subtle use of piano and synthesizer, while the battle of "Sir Lancelot and the Black Knight" is made up of a barrage of feuding keyboard runs and staccato riffs, musically recounting the intensity of the duel.

This excellent solo piano album (also released, in fact, as The Piano Album) was recorded at Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California in 1994. It's a wide-ranging survey of Wakeman's career, featuring new instrumental versions of songs Wakeman recorded with Yes, ABWH, and the Strawbs; songs he recorded as a sideman with David Bowie ("Space Oddity" and "Life On Mars") and Cat Stevens ("Morning Has Broken"); and solo material both classic and recent, including a definitive version of "Gone But Not Forgotten." Wakeman is in great form throughout, and this is one of his most enjoyable releases.

Adam Wakeman (born 11 March 1974) is an English musician and the current keyboardist and rhythm guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne's band; he also plays keyboards and guitar off-stage for Black Sabbath. Other musicians Wakeman has been involved with include Annie Lennox, Travis, Company of Snakes, Will Young, Victoria Beckham, Strawbs and Atomic Kitten. The second son of long term Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman…

Within the same year of re-joining Yes for 1977's Going for the One, Rick Wakeman released yet another solo instrumental (mostly) concept album. Criminal Record, Wakeman's sixth album in five years, involves six tracks that instill Wakeman's keyboard wizardry to both fictional and historical accounts of punishment, villainy, and crime. With help from both Chris Squire and drummer Alan White, Wakeman managed to land the album within the U.K. Top 30 before the year's end, even though it fell well beyond the Top 100 on the U.S. album charts. Wakeman does a great job at sketching each theme with an appropriate dose of keyboard fire, with "Judas Iscariot" and "Crime of Passion" arising as two of the album's most potent tracks…

No Earthly Connection is a studio album by English keyboardist Rick Wakeman, released in April 1976 on A&M Records. After touring worldwide in late 1975 in support of his previous studio album The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1975), Wakeman retreated to Herouville, France to record a new studio album with his rock band, the English Rock Ensemble. He based its material on a part fictional and non-fictional autobiographical account of music that incorporates historical, futuristic, and science-fiction themes. In November 2016, the album was remastered and released on CD and vinyl with a live recording from the 1976 tour.