Rick Wakeman - The Myths And Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1975) [2016 Re-recording]

×

Rick Wakeman - The Myths And Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1975) [2016 Re-recording]

Close

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.

The making of the album and the subsequent tour have become synonymous in musical history with both blind ambition and folly. At the age of 25, the stress of the rock and roll lifestyle was taking its toll on Wakeman. After he suffered from a heart attack, Wakeman started to write the album during his recovery in hospital. It clearly wasn’t easy. The complexity of composing and then producing the music with the New World Orchestra, the English Chamber Choir, and his five-piece band, the English Rock Ensemble led to Wakeman having three further (albeit more minor) heart attacks and, against doctor’s advice, finishing the last track in a hospital bed.

The original version was written to be released as a double album, though a number of factors – time constraints, Wakeman’s health, an escalating budget and pressure from the record company – seem to have limited its scope and led to it being a mere seven tracks, over 45 minutes, pretty much the limit for a single disc vinyl version of an album in the 1970’s. Nevertheless, once released, the album did reasonably well, reaching Number Two in the UK Album Charts.

Determined to build on this success, the album was promoted dramatically by Wakeman. A bankrupting world tour in 1975 included a mere three shows at Wembley Arena that were performed on ice, with skaters costumed as knights on horseback, another event now in rock music history.

So: why this review now? Well, Rick has in recent years gone back to his early solo albums and lavished on them care and attention to detail, to bring them to audiophiles in a quality deserving of the 21st century. This has involved adapting the original recordings and rereleasing them in newer versions, re-orchestrating the scores and adding new material.

Funded by a PledgeMusic kickstarter fund in February 2016, the King Arthur project quickly achieved its target in a matter of weeks, and was released in June 2016. The 2016 version of King Arthur is a rewritten, rerecorded and expanded edition of the original album to reflect more of the initial vision. Whereas before there were seven tracks over 45 minutes, the new version covers 2 CD’s, has twenty tracks (although some of these are the original tracks broken into smaller sections) and lasts a whopping 88 minutes.

Whilst the English Rock Ensemble is still present, their presence is bolstered by the English Chamber Choir and The Nottingham Festival Male Voice Choir. There’s a narration to link the pieces by Ian Lavender, replacing the now sadly deceased Terry Taplin. As on the original, solo male vocals are by Ashley Holt, with the addition of female solo vocalist Hayley Sanderson. With an enhanced vocal ensemble, the difference between the original and the new is quite noticeable. All of the original parts are there, with some changes, but now, due to the advances in sound recording in the last thirty years, sounds sonically three-dimensional. The sound now fills the room admirably. The male choral singing of the Lady of the Lake now sounds as if it being sung next to you, for example. The result is a clearer sounding, epically broadened piece of work. The new album makes me feel that I’m now hearing the full version and the original was mere edited highlights. Listening on a surround-sound system, the new album was startlingly good. The last track, The Last Battle, is as complex and as grandiose as you might expect.

Of the five new pieces, Camelot is perhaps the track that is initially more noticeable. Regal without being over-the-top, it illustrates the imagined grandeur and pomp of King Arthur’s fabled seat of power and finishes the first CD before moving onto the second. Mention must also be made of the stunning vocals of Hayley Sanderson on new tracks Princess Elaine and Morgan le Fay. The new pieces fit surprisingly well with the originals, though the addition of vocals to the original track Merlin the Magician may raise an eyebrow. The lyrics do fit with the new bigger version, but listeners of the original may miss the relative simplicity of the original instrumental.

To finish the package off, Rick’s friend Roger Dean has contributed artwork that will not be unusual to fans of his artwork for Yes, all big views, small characters, stone arches and foliage.

In summary, those impressed by the original cannot fail to be more impressed by this newer ‘director’s cut’ version. The combination of old analogue synthesisers, along with full bodied vocal harmonies and impressive orchestration is irresistible to those initially drawn in by the magnificent original. As good as the old version is, if you haven’t heard it before, then this new version is the one to listen to.

I must admit I’m not always a fan of these re-imaginings – if done badly, they can seem to be little more than a commercial cash-in. However, the 2016 version of The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is anything but. It is lovely to hear Rick’s original vision finally come to life in its fullest version.

by Mark Yon, sffworld.com

×

Rick Wakeman - The Myths And Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1975) [2016 Re-recording]

Close

×

Rick Wakeman - The Myths And Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1975) [2016 Re-recording]

Close

×

Rick Wakeman - The Myths And Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1975) [2016 Re-recording]

Close

×

Rick Wakeman - The Myths And Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1975) [2016 Re-recording]

Close