RICK WAKEMAN'S
JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH
Aufnahme vom 18. Januar 1974 mit dem London Symphonic Orchestra und The English Chamber Choir in The Royal Festival Hall, London, England
Seite 1: The Journey/Recollection - 21:10
Seite 2: The Battle/The Forest - 18:57
Rick's zweites Solo-Album "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" kam 1974 heraus. Es basiert auf Jules Verne's Fantasy-Novelle Journey to the Centre of the Earth (Reise zum Mittelpunkt der Erde) und war Rick's erstes Werk mit Text und Gesang. Die Aufnahme erfolgte live bei einem Konzert in The Royal Festival Hall in London, England, am 18. Januar 1974 und war ein sehr großer Erfolg, indem das Album in zahlreichen Ländern in den Charts auf top Plätze kam und sich inzwischen weit mehr als 16 Millionen Mal verkaufte.
"Journey to the Centre of the Earth" wird als eine Krönung des Progressive Rock angesehen und stellt ein in jeglicher Hinsicht originelles und unterhaltsames Album dar.
Rick schafft damit eine aufregende und spannende musikalische Erzählung einer klassischen Geschichte mit Orchester, Chor, Rockband und Synthesizern. Zwischen den einzelnen Stücken wird die Geschichte von David Hemmings erzählt (bei dieser Fassung wird während der Musik gesprochen), die Geschichte einer Gruppe von Forschern, die sich in die fantastische Welt des Erdinneren aufmachen. Rick schrieb dazu – einfach gesprochen – wunderschöne Themen und Melodien.
Wakeman dominiert vor allem mit kräftigen Hammond- und Moog-Sounds (auch wenn die Sounds verglichen mit der späteren Aufnahme – siehe unten – eher "dünn" wirken, so sind es schon in seiner frühen Schaffenszeit außerordentlich schöne Sounds). Die Kombination mit den Klängen und dem Klangvolumen des klassischen Orchesters erzeugt eine märchenhafte Atmosphäre. Der Chor und die Synthesizer-Klänge setzen einzigartige Spannungsakzente. Die einzelnen Komponenten des Line-Ups verschmelzen immer wieder zu einer selbst heute noch einzigartigen Einheit. Vor allem in dem Teil "The Battle" brilliert Rick an den Tasten und baut eine monumentale Soundlandschaft. Die Teile "The Journey" und "The Forest" haben ihre Schwerpunkte in der Verwendung von Streichern und Percussion (The London Symphony Orchestra) und betonen Fantasie und Mythos. Ashley Holt's Stimme ist sehr herausragend, und Mike Egan trägt einige Gitarren-Parts bei, die einhergehend oder kontradiktisch mit den Keyboards kooperieren.
Das Gesamtwerk "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" ist noch heute eine triumphale Kombination orchestraler und elektronischer Musik und ist wahrlich ein derart spektakuläres Projekt, wie es nur einem Rick Wakeman würdig ist.
Künstler
Rick Wakeman - Synthesizer
Gary Pickford-Hopkins, Ashley Holt - Vocals
David Hemmings - Narrations
Mike Egan - Guitar
Roger Newell - Bass
Barney James - Drums
London Symphony Orchestra
The English Chamber Choir
David Measham - Conductor
Weitere Beteiligte
Danny Beckerman - Arrangements
Wil Malone - Arrangements
Pete Flanagan - Engineer
Keith Grant - Production engineer
Lou Reizner - Production co-ordination
Paul Tregurtha - Engineer
Leider ist in die zahlreichen Veröffentlichungen (meiner Meinung nach) nicht wirklich eine Ordnung zu bringen:
Medium Katalog # Label Land
CD CDMIDI61 A&M UK
Vinyl LP AMLH 63621 A&M UK
Cassette CAM64515 A&M UK
Cassette CAM CRO 14 A&M UK
CD MFCD 848 MFSL USA
Vinyl LP SP3621 A&M USA
Cassette CS- 3156 A&M USA
Und weitere Veröffentlichungsangaben:
Jahr Typ Label Katalog #
CD A&M 75021-3156-2
2009 CD Universal Distribution 94236
2005 CD M C P 142177
2005 CD Universal Distribution 5500612
2005 CD A&M 3936212
2004 CD Disky 792262
2008 CD Euro Trend 142480
1999 CD Griffin 79226
1991 CD A&M 3936212
1990 CD A&M 3156
Eine spätere orchesterlose Studio-Aufnahme ist auf dem 1994-er "Greatest Hits" Album veröffentlicht.
Rick erzählt später selbst dazu (von seiner Homepage):
"Little known fact but I had to mortgage and sell nearly everything I owned in order to make this album as I only had £4,000 from A&M to pay towards it. In fact that is one of the reasons it was recorded live as I just couldn't afford to record it in the studio. On the day of the live concert I received a writ for non payment of my milk bill by the Express Dairy.
The original music was written to be much longer as well, but had to be severely edited to make it shorter to perform live so that it would fit on two sides of the album!!! And what happened to the edited music? Well suffice to say that throughout three divorces much has been lost!
The concert was recorded on 16 track tape and basically there was spillage onto all the tracks from everything. The Battle suffered the most as some terrible wrong notes, bad playing and a horrendous buzz made quite a substantial section completely unusable. It was not possible to re-record either and match sounds and so a chunk of the piece was copied and used twice, hence for the astute listener, there is a verse section of completely wrong lyrics."
"One up for musicians. A&M in England hated it and didn't want to release it. The issue on finally releasing it was forced through by A&M in America."
"The only person concerned with either the concert or the live recording who didn't go to the after show party, was me. I felt so ill and tired after being up day and night for 72 hours that I just went home to bed and slept for the first time in three days."
So musste Rick also Vieles verkaufen und sein Haus beleihen, um die Aufnahme machen zu können. Selbst eine Nachbearbeitung im Studio war wegen des beschränkten Budgets nicht möglich. Einiges musste von dem ursprünglich deutlich längerem Werk heraus geschnitten werden (nur Weniges konnte mit nachträglichen Studioaufnahmen überspielt werden, wie z.B. so manche Schlagzeug-Sequenz, da der Drummer live nicht immer einen konstanten Takt halten konnte!), da das Orchester so teuer war und Rick es sich schlichtweg nicht leisten konnte, alle erforderlichen Stellen nachträglich nochmals neu aufzunehmen. Daher sind auch einige Textstellen "daneben". Nach Abschluss der Aufnahmen und Nachbearbeitung weigerte sich A&M UK das Album zu produzieren, aber es gelang Wakeman, A&M USA zu überzeugen, die Produktion zu übernehmen, und heraus kam das erste A&M Quadraphonie (Surround Sound) Album, das das so genannte CD-4 System nutzte.
UND, es schrieb der Playboy, 10/74:
"From a solid "Yes," Rick Wakeman has wavered to a qualified "Maybe" in his new solo album, Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Even by bringing in such heavy sidemen as Jules Verne, the London Symphony Orchestra and David Hemmings -- as narrator -- Rick has managed to produce only a naïve attempt at a "classical-rock" cantata that would be great as the sound track of a Disney musical. It makes you wonder what sort of insecurity tempts a talented electronic musician to "legitimize" his sound by smothering it in pseudo-symphonic strings. The result is a mixed-métier mess of good crisp rock and sizzling synthesizer, splattered with silly orchestral caricatures of the 19th Century romanticism. Wakeman recently split Yes to pursue more of the same. A sad mistake, indeed, if this record is any indication of what's to follow."
Na ja
Bei amazon gefunden:
Journey to the Centre of Earth von Rick Wakeman (Audio CD - 2003) - JP-Import
1 neu ab EUR 164,99
2 gebraucht ab EUR 115,52
Aufnahme vom 4. Februar 1975 mit dem Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra in der Sydney Myer Concert Bowl in Melbourne, Australien, auch auf DVD (die auf der DVD enthaltene Dokumentation wurde im Januar 2005 in den Shepperton Studios, UK teilweise aus alten Super 8 Aufnahmen zusammengestellt)
3. Journey To The Centre of Earth 41' 20"
a. The Journey
b. The Recollection
c. The Battle
d. The Forest
und mit weiteren Stücken
1. Catherine Parr
2. Guinevere
4. Catherine Howard
5. Merlin
6. Anne Boleyn
7. Reprise From The Forest
1975 trat Rick Wakeman zusammen mit dem Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra in Melbourne vor 30.000 Menschen auf. Dieses legendäre Konzert war der Abschluss der langen "Journey Tour". Die einzigartige "Journey To The Centre Of The Earth - 30th Anniversary Collectors Edition" Live-DVD lässt den Zuschauer noch 30 Jahre später an diesen atemberaubenden 94 Minuten Rock-Geschichte teilhaben! Zudem beinhaltet die DVD die knapp 40 minütige Dokumentation "The Lost Journey", welche mit ihren noch nie gesehenen Aufnahmen und Interviews einen faszinierenden Einblick in die 30 Jahre zurückliegende Tour gibt.
Im Januar 2005 – also 30 Jahre nach dem Auftritt! - kamen dann Rick Wakeman und die originalen Bandmitglieder Roger Newell, Ashley Holt, Barney James und Gary Pickford Hopkins in den Shepperton Studios zusammen und hatten ihren Spaß mit den unveröffentlichten exklusiven Super 8 Filmmaterial, das die seinerzeitige fantastische "Reise" (der Tour), die Bandmitglieder damals und zwahlreiche Intervies und lustige Geschichten dokumentierte. Dies ist ein faszinierende Einblick in ihre unvergessliche Reise und ihr Leben "on the road" rund um den Globus. Ein ABSOLUTES MUSS!!!
Künstler:
Rick Wakeman - Keyboards
Jeffrey Crampton - Guitars
Roger Newell - Guitars
Barney James - Drums
Ashley Holt - Vocals
Gary Pickford Hopkins - Vocals
John Hodgson - Percussion
Terry Taplin - Narrator
The Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra
The Melbourne Chamber Choir
Verdon Williams - Conductor
DVD PAL DVD1077X Classic Pictures Worldwide
DVD PAL DVD8049X Classic Pictures Worldwide
Qualitativ muss man für beide Audio-Aufnahmen und auch für den Video-Film immer vor Augen haben, dass selbst Nachbearbeitungstechniken nicht mehr hineinzaubern können, als ursprünglich enthalten war. Die Aufnahmen sind meiner Meinung nach nicht schlecht, gehören aber auf jeden Fall in erster Linie in die Kategorie "Zeitzeugen". Ich finde die Entwicklung über das Jahr zwischen der Erstaufnahme in London und dem Final-Concert der Tour in Melbourne sagenhaft. Das Werk blieb sich treu, aber es fand eine Entwicklung statt, die am augenfälligsten (= hörbarsten) bei den Synthesizer-Sounds auffällt. Im Detail erkennt man dann aber noch zahlreiche "Schliffe", die gekonnt das Werk verfeinern und abrunden.
Bei amazon gefunden:
Journey to the Centre of the Earth [UK Import] ~ Rick Wakeman (DVD - 2006) – Import
1 neu ab EUR 258,00
2 gebraucht ab EUR 202,20
2011 soll die Reise beginnen!
Der Vollständigkeit halber hier die Texte (die Noten habe ich natürlich auch
)"Rick Wakeman The Journey lyrics"
By horse, by rail, by land, by sea, our journey starts
Two men incensed by one man's journey from the past
In Iceland, where the mountain stood with pride
They set off with their guide
To reach the mountain side
Roped as one for safety through the long descent
Into the crater of volcanic rock they went
Look up from our telescopic laair,
One star for us to share,
We continue on our prayer.
Crystals of opaque quartz, studded limpid tears,
Forming magic chandeliers, lighting blistered galleries.
"Rick Wakeman Recollection lyrics"
Memories of a life on earth go flashing past,
Of home, of Grauben, friends of whom he's seen his last
Contemplating what his life's been worth,
While trapped beneath the earth,
An embryo at birth
Pain and fear destroy the beauty I have seen,
Of caverns, where no other man has been
Silurian epoch hosts me as my grave,
My final blow I wave,
A life too late to save
Crystals of opaque quartz, studded limpid tears,
Forming magic chandeliers, lighting blistered galleries
"Rick Wakeman The Battle lyrics"
Five days out on an infinite sea, they prayed for calm on an ocean free,
But the surface of the water ws indicating some disturbance.
The raft was hurled by an unseen source, two hundred feet, with
frightening force
And a dark mass rising showed to be a giant porpoise
Rising out of the angry sea, towered the creatures' enemy,
And so the two sea monsters closed for battle
Crocodile teeth, lizard's head, bloodshot eye, stained ocean red
Moving close to their raft's side, the two men prayed as one and cried
"Save me, save me, save me, save me"
The serpents' fight went on for hours, two monsters soaring up like towers
And driving downn to the depths in a single motion
Suddenly, the serpent's head, shot out of the water bathed in red
And the serpentine form lay lifeless on the ocean
Crocodile teeth, lizard's head, bloodshot eye stained ocean read
Battle won, a victor's pride, the three men thanked the Lord and cried
"Praise God, praise God, praise God, praise God."
"Rick Wakeman The Forest lyrics"
Journey on through ages gone, to the centre of the earth
Past rocks of quartz and granite, which gave mother nature birth
Burial ground of ancient man, his life no more is seen,
A journey through his time unknown, I wonder where he's been
Wonder where he's been, wonder where he's been, wonder where he's been
The shore now gone behind the hills, a forest in our sight,
Rocks and distant mountains, bathed in waves of blinding light
Forests from far gone time, no living man has seen,
A private prehistoric world, for you and I a dream
Brownish hue dicates my eye, no colour hides their fear,
Flowers faded, dull and cold, now bleached by atmosphere
Creatures twisting under trees, huge monsters soaked with rage
Hidden deep below our earth, a frightening, bygone age
Their shepherd came, now long extinct, a huge primeval man
The three men filled with disbelief, just turned as one and ran.
"Rick Wakeman Narration 1 lyrics"
Admiring shades of lava which imperceptibly passed from reddish
brown to bright yellow, their way lit by crystals appearing as
lighted globes, they continued through the lava gallery, which
gently sloped until they reached the inter section of two roads.
Without hesitation Professor Lidenbrook chose the eastern tunnel.
And the journey continued through a succession of arches, appearing
before them as if they were the aisles of a gothic cathedral; the
walls were enhanced with impressions of Rock weeds and mosses from
the Silurian epoch.
"Rick Wakeman Narration 2 lyrics"
The Eastern route they had taken had come to a dead end. With three
days'walk back to the fork to find Arne Saknussemm's original
route, they found their water rations were limited to one day.
Knowing their only change of finding water was on that route, they
set off for the fork and there finally they fell almost lifeless on
the third day. After sleep, they continued down the other tunnel in
their quest for water, and whilst searching on his own, Hans, the
guide, heard the sound of water thundering behind a granite wall,
and, with a pick axe, attacked the wall so as to allow a stream of
boiling water to enter and cool in their tunnel. Not only had they
found life in the water but they had also found a flowing guide to
the Centre of the Earth. They called the stream the Hansbach.
"Rick Wakeman Narration 3 lyrics"
Replenished with the water the journey continued with haste, but
somehow they find themselves separated. Professor Lidenbrook's
nephew Axel found himself alone. His mind was seized with
unparalleled fear and he saw memories of home flashing before him.
His fiancee Grauben, his house and friends in Hamburg. He saw
hallucinations of all the incidents of the journey. And, unworthy
as he felt, he knelt in fervent prayer and then, in panic, e ran
blindly through a tunnel only to reach a dead end, where he fell
panting for breath. In the darkness he cried... voices...
voices... voices... He heard voices. He heard his uncle's voice.
Due to the shape of the gallery and the conducting power of the
rocks, his uncle's voice was uncannily travelling around the
walls. By means of their chronometers they discovered they were
four miles apart, so Axel set about the task of rejoining the
Professor and their guide.
"Rick Wakeman Narration 4 lyrics"
Suddenly the ground disappeared from beneath his feet. He fell down
a vertical shaft, his head hitting a sharp rock. Hhe lost
consciousness. On opening his eyes, he found himself with the
Professor and the guide, and, looking around him, he saw an ocean
stretching as faras the eye could see, a giant forest of
mushrooms, a line of huge cliffs, and strange clouds hung
overhead, as he lay on a deeply indented shore of golden sand
strewn with shells. For a moment, he thought he was back on the
surface of the earth, but soon realised that they had reached a
world within a world.
"Rick Wakeman Narration 5 lyrics"
Having made a raft from wood taken from the giant mushroom forest,
with rigging consisting of a mast made of two staves lashed
together, a yard made of a third, and a sail borrowed from their
stock of rugs, they set sail from the harbour - Port Grauben,
named after Axel's fiancee. With a north-westerly wind propelling
them along at about three miles an hour, silvery beams of light,
reflected here and there by drops of spray, produced luminous
points in the eddy created by the raft. Soon all land was lost to
view. Five days out to sea, they witnessed a terrifying battle
between two sea monsters. One having the snout of a porpoise, the
head of a lizard, and teeth of a crocodile - an Ichthyosaurus. And
the other, the mortal enemy of the first, a serpent with a
turtle's shell, the Plesiosaurus.
"Rick Wakeman Narration 6 lyrics"
Cumulus clouds formed heavily in the south, like huge wool packs
heaped up in picturesque disorder. Under the influence of the
breezes they merged together, growing darker, forming a single
menacing mass. The raft lay motionless on the sluggish waveless
sea and in silence they waited for the storm.
"Rick Wakeman Narration 7 lyrics"
For four days the storm had raged as they clung to the mast of
their raft for safety. Finally, with their raft wrecked after
being bashed against the reefs, they lay sheltered from the
pouring rain beneath a few overhanging rocks where they ate and
slept. The next day all trace of the storm had disappeared and
what remained of their stock seemed intact. Checking the compass
brought only heartbreak as it showed that a chance of wind during
the storm had returned them to just a few miles north of Port
Grauben. So, deciding to try and find the original route they
advanced with difficulty over granite fragments mingled with
flint, quartz, and alluvial deposits, eventually reaching a plain
covered with bones. like a huge cemetery. A mile further on, they
reached the edge of a huge forest made up of vegetation of the
Tertiary period. Tall palms were linked by a network of
inextricable creepers, a carpet of moss covering the ground and
the leaves were colourless, everything having a brownish hue.
Exploring the forest they discovered a heard of gigantic animals,
Mastadons, which were being marshalled by a primitive human being,
a Proteus. He stood over twelve foot high and brandished an
enormous bough, a crook worthy of this antediluvian shepherd.
"Rick Wakeman Narration 8 lyrics"
Dumb with astonishment and amazement which bordered on
stupefaction, they fled the forest. Instinctively, they made
towards the Lidenbrook Sea. Discovering a rusty dagger on the
beach, and the carved initials of the explorer before them on a
slab of granite, they realised that thay were once again treading
the route of Arne Saknussemm. Following a short sea journey around
a cape, they came ashore where a dark tunnel plunged deep into
rock. Venturing down, their progress was halted by a piece of rock
blocking their way. After deciding to blow their way through, and
setting the charge, they put out to sea for safety. With the
explosion, the rocks before them opened like a curtain, and a
bottomless pit appeared in the shore. The explosion had caused an
earthquake, the abyss had opened up, and the sea was pouring into
it. Down and down they plunged into the huge gallery, but on
regaining their senses found their raft rising at tremendous
speed. Trapped in the shaft of an active volcano they rose through
the ages of man to be finally expelled out on a mountain-side
riddled with tiny lava streams. Their journey was completed and
they found themselves 3000 miles from their original starting
point in Iceland. They had entered by one volcano and they had
come out by another. With the blue mountains of Calabria in the
east they walked away from the mountain that had returned them.
The frightening Mount Etna.
Zum Schluss ein paar ausgewählte youtube Veröffentlichungen (es gibt noch viel mehr, was aber über die youtube-Vorschläge bei diesen Veröffentlichungen leicht zu finden ist):
rick wakeman - journey to the center of the earth.. in 10min - live version
Rick Wakeman in Płock - Suite from Journey To The Centre Of The Earth part 1 of 3
Rick Wakeman in Płock - Suite from Journey To The Centre Of The Earth part 2 of 3
Rick Wakeman in Płock - Suite from Journey To The Centre Of The Earth part 3 of 3
RICK WAKEMAN-JOURNEY Pt1 TheVideoMusicTribute
RICK WAKEMAN-Journey Pt2 TheVideoMusicTribute RELOADED
RICK WAKEMAN-Journey Pt3 TheVideoMusicTribute
RICK WAKEMAN-Journey Pt4 TheVideoMusicTribute
RICK WAKEMAN-Journey Pt5 TheVideoMusicTribute
:
(Isch weis, de fieeese Möppp..) 