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Disappointing! Static 80s sounding arrangements.

Jeff Williams | 03/26/2002

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Having read the two reviews here, and being familiar mostly with Rick's work with Yes and his earlier solo CDs, I thought, 'hey, instrumentals of Yes music done by Rick would be nice background music.' Whoa, wrong! These are static arrangements using 80's digital sample players, with a heavily-Korg-based sound. Okay, they're polished compared to what your average MIDIkid might do in his bedroom, but so boring and commercial and just plain mundane that I don't think I'll be able to stand listening to these discs a third time. And should an instrumental arrangement of "Roundabout" really be LONGER than the original? If this is typical of Wakeman's later work, I don't want to hear it! I certainly won't buy any more 90's Wakeman without a thorough investigation. Since I have always considered Wakeman to be one of the great prog keyboardists, this is a severe disappointment."

IMO the best incarnation of Wakeman's solo work

Andrew Wright | CA, USA | 04/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The 2nd CD in this pair is the real treasure here. The Yes revisions I could mostly do without, as they feel a bit lifeless compared to the originals. However, in terms of Wakeman's solo work, I actually prefer this very particular incarnation over the original releases, because the originals feel noodly and random and just all over the map, whereas I feel that these reworkings really focus the music and allow the core melodies to come through unobscured by all the fluff. That's probably a horrible blasphemy to fans of Wakeman solo, and I do honestly apologize, but I simply enjoy listening to this CD much more than the originals. I have also heard other reworkings of the original tunes, putting lyrics back in, etc, and it just really comes off cheesy to me. I should admit that this was my first exposure to Wakeman solo, so let that inform how you take my opinions here. I always loved Wakeman in Yes, but in his solo stuff he got way too complicated for me. This CD seems to strip everything down and it all moves quickly and smoothly and clearly, and it's just a much more invigorating (as opposed to exhausting) listen in general."

Very exciting Rick Wakeman CD

Jeff Williams | Natick, MA USA | 01/09/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the most exciting CD that I have purchased in a long time. Every arrangement is fresh and new. Rick's version of Wurm alone is worth the price of this whole CD set; he doesn't hold back anything. Every arrangement is wonderful. I had tears through Wondrous Stories, Lost In Time, Catherine of Aragorn. This is definitely worth having if you are a Rick Wakeman fan."