The Six Wives of Henry VIII is the first studio album from the English keyboardist and composer Rick Wakeman as a solo artist, released in January 1973 on A&M Records. It is an instrumental progressive rock album with its concept based on his interpretations of the musical characteristics of the six wives of Henry VIII. Wakeman decided on the concept in 1972 while he toured the United States with the progressive rock band Yes. As he read a book about the wives on his travels, melodies he wrote the previous year came to him and were noted down. Musicians from Yes and Strawbs, who he performed with prior to Yes, also play on the album.
On this disc, drummer Aldo Romano leads an Italian supergroup to revisit some of the Italian folk repertoire.
Yes, that includes 0 sole mio and a brisk Volare but the prospective purchaser should have no fears; it is all good stuff. Paolo Fresu, doubling trumpet and flugelhorn, sounds like a more forceful Miles Davis (from the late 1950s) especially when muted while on the beautiful Estate (by Bruno Martino) he reminds me of Chet Baker as he explores the lowest register of his instrument. Pianist Franco D'Andrea's work should be another inducement to investigate this release which, if typical, indicates that Italian jazz is in a very healthy state. Recommended.
“Beat” was released in June 1982 just eight months after the 80s Crimson lineup debut album “Discipline”. It marked the first occasion where a King Crimson line-up had remained intact for a two album stretch and was also the first album by the band to employ a separate producer – Rhett Davies. As with other albums in the King Crimson CD/DVD-A series, the stereo CD features a new stereo mix by Robert Fripp and Steven Wilson, while the DVD-A features 5.1 mixes of the album by Steven Wilson, high resolution stereo mixes of the original and new stereo mixes. Additionally, the original album is presented in rough mix form along with additional audio extras, video performance footage of two songs from The Alabamahalle, Germany and the original promo film for Heartbeat.
Mike Dixon, of the record label Major League Productions (MLP), by his own admission doesn't know much about jazz, but he does know what he likes. This recording - spanning over 100 minutes of a recorded-for-radio Nucleus concert at Britain's Loughborough University in February 1976, and acquired by MLP as a "saved from the skip" job - is a perfect example of Dixon's excellent acumen. Amazingly, the recording's sound has not been impaired one iota despite the thirty year hiatus. Wisely, MLP decided not to cut any of the original playing time and the album is thus the first double CD to be produced by the company. It's a brave move for a small and relatively new record label which hitherto has specialised in prog-rock. On hearing the CD for the first time, the Nucleus enthusiast's high expectations will be more than realised. This is the mid-period band at the top of their game…
One of the pioneers of the progressive rock genre. The first official rehearsal of the band was on January 13, 1969. The first line-up comprised guitarist Robert Fripp, lyricist and lighting man Peter Sinfield (who “invented” the name of the band), composer and multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald, bassist and vocalist Greg Lake, and drummer Michael Giles…
Extremely limited box set containing the expanded two CD edition of the Layla… album, the remastered double disc edition of Derek And The Dominos: In Concert, an audio-only DVD featuring DTS 5.1 and Dolby Surround 5.1 versions of Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, mixed by legendary engineer Elliot Scheiner, a double 180gm vinyl reproduction of the original album, a hardcover book, artfully designed with rare and never-seen photographs, and featuring four meticulously researched essays and facsimiles of Derek And The Dominos concert tickets and various promotional items, including the famous "Derek is Eric" button…
This is the deluxe hardback book edition that includes 3 discs and a 48 page book. Disc 1 is the studio album. Disc 2 contains demos, spontaneous jams and additional album tracks. Disc 3 is a DVD-AV with 24/96 PCM stereo and DTS 96/24 5.1 digital surround. 48 page book includes previously unseen live, backstage and studio photos as well as poems by Daevid Allen.