Rhapsodies (album)
Rhapsodies is a double LP by keyboardist Rick Wakeman, which was released in 1979. 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 | 1978–79 | |||
| Studio | La Grange; Mountain, Switzerland | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length | 70:17 | |||
| Label | A&M SP-6501 | |||
| Producer | Tony Visconti | |||
| Rick Wakeman chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Smash Hits | 4/10[2] |
Track listing
All tracks written 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 Grieg's pianoforte "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 |
Charts
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Norway (1979) | 15[3] |
| UK Albums Chart (1979) | 25[4] |
| United States Billboard 200 (1979) | 170[5] |
Personnel
- 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
- David K. Richards - assistant engineer
- Michael Ross - album design, art direction
- Paul Wakefield - photography
References
- Raiteri, Stephen. "Rhapsodies - Rick Wakeman". allmusic.com. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- Starr, Red. "Albums". Smash Hits (June 14–27, 1979): 25.
- "Album artist 702 - Rick Wakeman". tsort.info. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
- "Rhapsodies | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
- "Rick Wakeman". Billboard. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
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