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 | ||||
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Studio albumby | ||||
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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Review scores | |
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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]
All tracks by Rick Wakeman, except where noted.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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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 |
Music
Technical
Chart (1979) | Peak position |
---|---|
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[6] | 15 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[7] | 43 |
UK Albums (OCC)[8] | 25 |
USBillboard 200[9] | 170 |
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