RICK WAKEMAN - Journey to the Centre of the Earth

Rick Wakeman – Journey to the Centre of the Earth (2012)

Classic Rock Presents Rick Wakeman – Journey to the Centre of the Earth, the exclusive re-recorded masterpiece presented in its entirety for the first time. Incorporating twenty minutes of new material cut from the original due to time restrictions as well as material unearthed from the original score that had long been thought lost.
Journey to the Centre of the Earth is one of progressive rock’s crowning achievements. With the help of the London Symphony Orchestra and the English Chamber Choir, Rick Wakeman turns this classic Jules Verne tale into an exciting and suspenseful instrumental narrative. The story is told by David Hemmings in between the use of Wakeman‘s keyboards, especially the powerful Hammond organ and the innovative Moog synthesizer, and when coupled with the prestigious sound of the orchestra, creates the album’s fairy tale-like climate. Recorded at London’s Royal Festival Hall, the tale of a group of explorers who wander into the fantastic living world that exists in the Earth’s core is told musically through Wakeman‘s synthesized theatrics and enriched by the haunting vocals of a chamber choir. Broken into four parts, the album’s most riveting segment, entitled “The Battle,” involves Wakeman‘s most furious synthesized attack, churning and swirling the keyboards into a mass instrumental hysteria. With both “The Journey” and “The Forest,” it’s the effective use of the strings and percussion section of the London Symphony Orchestra that causes the elements of fantasy and myth to emerge from the album’s depths. The gorgeous voice of Ashley Holt is effectively prominent, and some interesting guitar work via Mike Egan arises occasionally but meritoriously amidst the keyboard fervor. The whole of Journey to the Centre of the Earth still stands as one of the most interesting conglomerations of orchestral and synthesized music, and it is truly one of Wakeman’s most flamboyant projects.
01. The Preface
02. The Journey Overture
03. Journey’s Dawn
04. Crystals
05. The Gothic Cathedral
06. A Quest For Water
07. The Hansbach
08. Fervent Prayer
09. The Recollection
10. Lost & Found
11. Echoes
12. 4 Miles
13. The Reunion
14. A New Vista
15. A World Within A World
16. The Raft
17. The Battle
18. Cumulus Clouds
19. The Story
20. The Cemetery
21. Quaternary Man
22. Mastodons
23. The Forest
24. Ages Of Man
25. The Tunnel
26. Hall Of The Mountain King
27. Mount Etna
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