Journey to the Centre of the Earth is the third album by English keyboardist Rick Wakeman, released on 3 May 1974 by A&M Records.
It is a live recording of the second of his two concerts at the Royal Festival Hall on 18 January 1974, the premiere of his 40-minute orchestral rock piece based on Jules Verne's 1864 science fiction novel of the same name.
It tells the story of Professor Lidinbrook, his nephew Axel, and their guide Hans, who follow a passage to the Earth's centre originally discovered by Arne Saknussemm, an Icelandic alchemist.
Wakeman performs with the London Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Choir, and a group of hand-picked musicians for his rock band, which later became the English Rock Ensemble. Actor David Hemmings narrates the story.
Journey to the Centre of the Earth is one of progressive rock's crowning achievements. With the help of the London Symphony Orchestra and the English Chamber Choir, Rick Wakeman turns this classic Jules Verne tale into an exciting and suspenseful instrumental narrative. The story is told by David Hemmings in between the use of Wakeman's keyboards, especially the powerful Hammond organ and the innovative Moog synthesizer, and when coupled with the prestigious sound of the orchestra, creates the album's fairy tale-like climate. Recorded at London's Royal Festival Hall, the tale of a group of explorers who wander into the fantastic living world that exists in the Earth's core is told musically through Wakeman's synthesized theatrics and enriched by the haunting vocals of a chamber choir. Broken into four parts, the album's most riveting segment, entitled "The Battle," involves Wakeman's most furious synthesized attack, churning and swirling the keyboards into a mass instrumental hysteria. With both "The Journey" and "The Forest," it's the effective use of the strings and percussion section of the London Symphony Orchestra that causes the elements of fantasy and myth to emerge from the album's depths. The gorgeous voice of Ashley Holt is effectively prominent, and some interesting guitar work via Mike Egan arises occasionally but meritoriously amidst the keyboard fervor. The whole of Journey to the Centre of the Earth still stands as one of the most interesting conglomerations of orchestral and synthesized music, and it is truly one of Wakeman's most flamboyant projects
The 40-minute piece is in four distinct sections: "The Journey", "Recollection", "The Battle", and "The Forest". Wakeman wrote all the lyrics and narration. Wakeman was not confident with his lyric writing, and admitted that his first set of lyrics were "really bad" which prompted a rewrite. His band nicknamed him "Longfellow". "The Forest" includes an excerpt of In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg.
Journey to the Centre of the Earth was overall well received by music critics. It reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart, the first album from A&M to do so, and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 in the United States.
Side A
A1. The Journey / Recollection - 21:12
Side B
B1. The Battle / The Forest - 18:59
Notes
Release: 1974
Format: LP (Gatefold)
Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: A&M Records
Catalog# AMLH 63621
Vinyl: VG
Cover: VG
Prijs: €10,00
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