Wakeman, Rick: The Six Wives of Henry VIII (Live at Hampton Court Palace)
Posted by Alex Torres, SoT Staff Writer on 2009-11-23 11:03:38
My Score: 
When Rick Wakeman first issued his legendary The Six Wives of Henry VIII album in 1973, it was his ambition to stage the music at the home of the notorious ruler, London's Hampton Court Palace. Rebuffed by the authorities at the time, Wakeman was amazed, but very pleased, to be contacted and offered the chance to use the venue on the 500th anniversary of the King's accession to the throne. The music was indeed played, amids great pomp, on two evenings of May 2009. A DVD and CD of the occasion have been produced for posterity and Wakeman's coffers! and this review covers the CD of the event.
The Six Wives of Henry VIII, whilst not Wakeman's first solo album (he is, of course, most famous for having been the keyboards player on some equally legendary Yes albums, and also played for The Strawbs), is certainly the album that brought him to solo fame and, despite a solo career averaging more than one album a year since that time, is still ,arguably, his best solo album. Certainly, the only likely contenders for that accolade are the live recording of Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1974) and The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1975). Those three are not my personal favourites of his, but they are the ones that most progressive rock fans will point to. (For the record, I prefer his piano based work, and my favourite of those that I've heard, is there anyone who has heard them all? is 1977's Criminal Record).
But what of this live recording? The sound, for an open-air recording, is excellent, no worries there. The playing is, as you would expect, first-class: Wakeman is assisted by his son Adam, also on keyboards, a strong band of musicians, and by a large choir and huge orchestra. The CD's song-list does not, like the CD, include the whole of the show but it does include the extra compositions that Wakeman prepared for the occasion: there is "Defender of the Faith", a piece inspired by King Henry himself, which had been written for the 1973 album but was left off because of space limitations; as well as two entirely new pieces, the opening "Tudorture 1485"and the closing piece "Tudorock". The latter piece is actually the rockiest, featuring as it does the meatiest guitar.
As for the music itself: it may be a legendary album but my belief is that has more to do with the significance of such an album in 1973 - albeit Emerson, Lake and Palmer had been touting not dissimilar progressive music for about three years than with the enjoyability of the music. Taking inspiration from European classical and English folk, as well as his own original ideas, Wakeman's compositions often seem to be more about technical prowess than musicality. Within this blitzkrieg approach to composition there are some fine musical moments, for sure, but I don't find it all consistently high from the point of view of musicality. That goes for the original music, of course; the problem is exacerbated here by there being more of it!
One of Wakeman's enduring attributes has been his well deserved reputation as a showman, an extrovert raconteur, someone who brings a real presence to the live stage. As such, he is much better to experience live than on disc that is borne out by my own experience and, as a result, the DVD package of this album is going to be a much better buy. Not only do you get the impressive setting of Hampton Court Palace, but you will get a real feel for the occasion that has been well engineered by this master showman. So, if you have a desire to hear this music played, and you have the capability of watching a DVD, then buy that, not the CD, which is its pale shadow.
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