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 na&iuuml;ve 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.

- Playboy, 10/74.

Bonus Review!

Wakeman's chart-topping album (in England) paints a broader musical canvas than its predecessor, with orchestra, chorus, narrator, and rock band surrounding his dozen or so swirling keyboards instruments. The mass of sounds is nowhere near as neat or concise as Wakeman's first album, but it evidently satisfied people looking for a post-psychedelic thrill as well as the more majestic side of progressive rock, and in its own pretentious way, is very effective. * * * *

- Bruce Eder, The All-Music Guide to Rock, 1995.

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