Rhapsodies is a studio double album by English keyboardist Rick Wakeman, released in May 1979 on A&M Records. It was his last studio release on A&M and reached no. 25 in the UK. Described by Wakeman as "probably the most confusing I have ever made" due to the range of styles, it contains generally shorter tracks than his previous work to date, the longest being 5:32. All of his previous non-soundtrack albums had contained at least two tracks over seven minutes long.
| Rhapsodies | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 1979 | |||
| Recorded | 1978–1979 | |||
| Studio | La Grange using the A&M Mobile and Mountain, Montreux, Switzerland | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length | 70:17 | |||
| Label | A&M (SP-6501) | |||
| Producer | Tony Visconti | |||
| Rick Wakeman chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Rhapsodies | ||||
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Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Record Mirror |  [4] |
| Smash Hits | 4/10[3] |
The Globe and Mail wrote that Wakeman's "major problem is his insistence on inundating the marketplace with far more instrumentally adept but generally unexciting mishmash than it can possibly absorb."[5]
Track listing
editAll tracks by Rick Wakeman, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Pedra da Gavea" | 4:11 | |
| 2. | "Front Line" | 3:42 | |
| 3. | "Bombay Duck" | 3:14 | |
| 4. | "Animal Showdown (Yes We Have No Bananas)" | Wakeman, Frank Silver, Irving Cohn | 2:40 |
| 5. | "Big Ben" | 3:48 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6. | "Rhapsody in Blue" | George Gershwin; arranged by Tony Visconti | 5:26 |
| 7. | "Wooly Willy Tango" | 3:24 | |
| 8. | "The Pulse" | 5:21 | |
| 9. | "Swan Lager" | music taken from Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" and Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor; arranged and adapted by Rick Wakeman | 2:50 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 10. | "March of the Gladiators" | 4:53 |
| 11. | "Flacons de Neige" | 5:01 |
| 12. | "The Flasher" | 5:32 |
| 13. | "The Palais" | 2:23 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14. | "Stand-By" | 3:30 | |
| 15. | "Sea Horses" | 3:52 | |
| 16. | "Half Holiday" | 3:00 | |
| 17. | "Summertime" | George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward; arranged by Rick Wakeman | 4:27 |
| 18. | "Credits" | 2:39 |
Personnel
editMusic
- Rick Wakeman – keyboards, arrangements, vocals and vocoder on "Pedra da Gavea"
- Nico Ramsden – electric guitar
- Tony Visconti – acoustic guitar, engineer
- Bruce Lynch – bass guitars
- Frank Gibson Jr. – drums, percussion
Technical
- James Lougheed – engineer, Mobile One tape operator
- David K. Richards – assistant engineer
- Michael Ross – album design, art direction
- Paul Wakefield – photography
Charts
edit| Chart (1979) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[6] | 15 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[7] | 43 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[8] | 25 |
| US Billboard 200[9] | 170 |
References
edit- ^ "The Great Rock Discography". p. 878.
- ^ Raiteri, Stephen. "Rhapsodies - Rick Wakeman". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ Starr, Red. "Albums". Smash Hits. No. June 14–27, 1979. p. 25.
- ^ Paul, Sexton (9 June 1979). Rick Wakeman: 'Rhapsodies'. Record Mirror. p. 18.
- ^ Niester, Alan (14 July 1979). "Rhapsodies Rick Wakeman". The Globe and Mail. p. F4.
- ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Rick Wakeman – Rhapsodies". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Rick Wakeman – Rhapsodies". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- ^ "Rick Wakeman Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
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