''Rhapsodies'' is a studio double album by English keyboardist

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist and composer best known as a member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his prolific solo career. AllMusic describes Wakema ...

, released in May 1979 on

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

. 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.

Critical reception

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' 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."

Track listing

All tracks by Rick Wakeman, except where noted.

Personnel

Music *

– keyboards, arrangements, vocals and vocoder on "Pedra da Gavea" * Nico Ramsden – electric guitar *

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

– 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

References

{{Authority control 1979 albums Rick Wakeman albums Albums produced by Tony Visconti A&M Records albums