Rick Wakeman - Melancholia (2025) [Official Digital Download 24/96]
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Front Cover | Time - 46:19 minutes | 772 MB
Rock | Studio Master, Official Digital Download
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Front Cover | Time - 46:19 minutes | 772 MB
Rock | Studio Master, Official Digital Download
With Melancholia, Rick Wakeman completes a remarkable trilogy of solo piano works that began with Piano Portraits (2017) and continued with Piano Odyssey (2018) - both landmark albums that found him reaching new heights of popularity and critical esteem as a solo artist. But while those records looked outward, reinterpreting beloved melodies and exploring sweeping themes, Melancholia turns inward, inviting us into the most personal, introspective, and perhaps profound music of Rick's storied career.
Though often misunderstood as mere sadness, melancholia - as Wakeman himself notes - is more textured, more intricate. It is a temperament as much as a mood: sensitive, thoughtful, loyal, creatively driven, deeply analytical, and quietly steadfast. That richer definition lies at the heart of this album. These compositions are neither bleak nor morose. They are generous in spirit, filled with moments of light and resolve, reflecting a mind that has learned to make peace with melancholy - not to escape it, but to transmute it.
The album began, as so much of Rick's finest work has, with a quiet moment at the piano. One afternoon, his wife Rachel overheard him playing a contemplative piece - what would later become "Garo" - and was struck by its quiet emotional power. And because she knew well that he often turned to the piano in times of sadness or inner turbulence, using music as a kind of emotional compass, she encouraged him to share it. What followed was not a conceptual record in the traditional sense, but a deeply cohesive suite, written intuitively at first and later shaped in collaboration with long-time producer and engineer Erik Jordan at The Granary Studio in Norfolk.
Recorded on a beautiful Steinway Model D - an instrument as storied as the music it brings to life - the sound of Melancholia is rich, resonant, and stripped bare in the most delicate way. There are no grand gestures, no theatrics - just piercing clarity and the quiet power of a legend laying his soul bare.
TRACKLIST
01. Sitting at the Window
02. Reflection
03. Pathos
04. Dance of the Ghosts
05. Alone
06. The Morning Light
07. Garo
08. All in the Mind
09. Sea of Tranquility
10. Missing
11. Watching Life
12. Melancholia
foobar2000 1.6.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2025-10-16 13:23:28
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Rick Wakeman / Melancholia
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR12 -0.52 dB -16.20 dB 3:23 01-Sitting at the Window
DR11 -2.58 dB -18.08 dB 3:41 02-Reflection
DR12 -1.57 dB -16.65 dB 4:13 03-Pathos
DR12 -0.30 dB -15.87 dB 3:58 04-Dance of the Ghosts
DR13 -2.38 dB -19.10 dB 4:47 05-Alone
DR12 -0.66 dB -16.63 dB 3:29 06-The Morning Light
DR12 -0.94 dB -16.49 dB 3:48 07-Garo
DR12 -1.32 dB -17.41 dB 5:00 08-409
DR12 -0.85 dB -16.88 dB 2:59 09-Hidden Tranquility
DR12 -1.25 dB -17.08 dB 3:39 10-Missing
DR12 -2.07 dB -17.64 dB 3:51 11-Watching Life
DR12 -1.86 dB -18.20 dB 3:39 12-Melancholia
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Number of tracks: 12
Official DR value: DR12
Samplerate: 96000 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 24
Bitrate: 2272 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================
log date: 2025-10-16 13:23:28
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Rick Wakeman / Melancholia
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR12 -0.52 dB -16.20 dB 3:23 01-Sitting at the Window
DR11 -2.58 dB -18.08 dB 3:41 02-Reflection
DR12 -1.57 dB -16.65 dB 4:13 03-Pathos
DR12 -0.30 dB -15.87 dB 3:58 04-Dance of the Ghosts
DR13 -2.38 dB -19.10 dB 4:47 05-Alone
DR12 -0.66 dB -16.63 dB 3:29 06-The Morning Light
DR12 -0.94 dB -16.49 dB 3:48 07-Garo
DR12 -1.32 dB -17.41 dB 5:00 08-409
DR12 -0.85 dB -16.88 dB 2:59 09-Hidden Tranquility
DR12 -1.25 dB -17.08 dB 3:39 10-Missing
DR12 -2.07 dB -17.64 dB 3:51 11-Watching Life
DR12 -1.86 dB -18.20 dB 3:39 12-Melancholia
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Number of tracks: 12
Official DR value: DR12
Samplerate: 96000 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 24
Bitrate: 2272 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================
Thanks to the Original customer.