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From the Vault...
09/14/2003
#855 |
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info
Rick Wakeman
"The Word And The Gospels"
© BMO Records
Year of Release: 1988
Rating:
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track listing
Disc One:
The Baptism
(Robert Powell)
The Welcoming
(The Eton College
Chapel Choir)
The Sermon On
The Mount
(Ramon Remedios
& The Eton
College)
The Lord's Prayer
(Ramon Remedios)
The Way
(The Eton College
Chapel Choir)
The Road To Jerusalem
(Robert Powell)
Trial And Error
(Ramon Remedios
& The Eton
College Chapel
Choir)
Galilee
(Ramon Remedios)
Disc Two:
The Gift
(The Eton College
Chapel Choir)
The Magnificat
(Robert Powell)
Welcome A Star
(Ramon Remedios
& The Eton
College Chapel
Choir)
Power
(The Acts Of
The Apostles)
(Ramon Remedios
& The Eton
College Chapel
Choir)
The Word
(Robert Powell)
The Hour
(The Eton College
Chapel Choir)
The Children Of Mine
(Ramon Remedios
& The Eton
College Chapel
Choir)
The Last Verse
(Robert Powell)
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Rick Wakeman
"The Word And The Gospels"
It was one year ago (09/01/2003) that Rick Wakeman made his debut on the
WSVNRadio website, a beautiful new age jazz album,
Zodiaque, with Tony Fernandez. A year later he returns with the
religious-themed The Word And The Gospels, (re)released in 1988. Rick
Wakeman has done it all -- rock, new age jazz, religious, and classical albums.
His solo career outside of being the keyboardist for Yes (which everyone would
probably remember him best by), is truly outstanding, and many may not know how
broad his musical tastes other than Rock is. Listening to The Word And The
Gospels, it's another amazing entertaining journey into beautifully orchestrated
music -- a bit of progressive, even new age jazz could fit the category of
some songs, and opera.
The two-disc set, takes a look at 4 Gospels according to various religious
spiritual authors: St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John. Disc One
looks at the Gospels according to St. Matthew and St. Mark. Disc Two
relates to the latter two.
The Gospels according to St. Matthew:
"The Baptism" has just a small taste of progressive, with narration by
Robert Powell; very impressive song to start off the album. "The
Welcoming" features the powerful choir voices by The Eton College Chapel
Choir. "The Sermon On The Mount" features powerful opera-styled vocals
by tenor Ramon Remediors. "The Lord's Prayer" is very religious themed,
featuring the beautiful church organ, and Ramon Remediors' voice is truly
outstanding. Remediors would later be part of Wakeman's 1989 release,
Black Knights at the Court of Ferdinand IV.
The Gospels according to St. Mark:
"The Way" features amazing synthesizer works by Wakeman, this song
is very mesmerizing, keeping your attention with its beautiful orchestration.
"The Road To Jerusalem" has great synthesizer works, with narration by
Robert Powell; an increasing build, from start to finish. "Trial And
Error" features Ramon Remediors and the Eton College Chapel Choir; having
a bit of a mellow progressive feel, it's another captivating song of spirit,
emotion, and power. "Galilee" features the energy of Wakeman's
incredible organ/synthesizers, and the powerful tenor voice of Ramon Remediors.
The Gospels according to St. Luke:
"The Gift" -- a very church-oriented song in sound, it's title
definitely fits. Rick Wakeman does have a gift, in creating incredible gifted
music. Medieval Times music relates to the next song, "The Magnificat,"
very powerful with the organ-driven accompaniment. "Welcome A Star" is
another opera-styled song with Ramon Remediors, which also could be used in
church; very well-done and spiritual. "Power" has a more progressive
feel, likewise the next song...
The Gospels according to St. John:
"The Word" -- very heavily orchestrated, progressive-styled, and
powerful, with narration by Robert Powell. "The Hour" is another
progressive-styled number, with the wonderful voices of the Eton College Chapel
Choir. Another captivating song, "The Children Of Mine" keeps your
attention from start to finish, giving it a bit of mystery, and Ramon Remediors'
voice returns in full vigor. It is a powerful 15-minute journey of progressive,
medieval, and opera all rolled into one. And ending the album is "The Last
Verse," a short, beautiful and pleasant song (less than 2 minutes) that
features narration by Robert Powell and the tenor AMEN voice of Ramon Remediors.
It recites the following:
"And there are also many other things Jesus did, the which, if they should
be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain
the books that should be written."
That quote alone could relate to Wakeman himself, as there are
albums and musical styles accomplished, and and continues today. The world
itself may not know how incredible each album has been done, and should take
full attention, that Rick Wakeman is a genius in his own right.
An incredible and powerful look at religion, incorporating musical styles
such as Progressive and Opera, Rick Wakeman does it again with taking music
into a different and entertaining direction. Wakeman's interest in Classical
music undergoes heavy treatment, in expanding his horizons into his well-known
progressive style from the Yes days, and blending it with Classical/Opera.
The Word And The Gospels was released originally in 1987, titled The
Gospels, and re-released in 1988 as The Word And The Gospels. A
New Gospels video was released in 1996, another re-release of The
New Gospels would also be released that same year. All in all, it is the
same assortment of "gospels," and for classical fans, Rick Wakeman's music
is a must. Even for the die-hard fans of Yes, they will listen to Wakeman's
solo music, and agree, that his musical tastes are outside of Rock, where he
can truly place his own style on music, and produce incredible and outstanding
results.
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Review or any portion may not be reproduced
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