Six Wives Of Henry VIII, The - Rick Wakeman > Reviews > Six wives, first inspiration

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Not applicable
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Set a precedent for future use of keyboards in rock music
Disadvantages:	Mastered from tape which "whines" on occasion

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Wakeman isn't one to write 3-minute pop songs. Indeed, the longest track on the album runs for a total of 7mins 51 - virtually taking up the whole of the first side of the vinyl when it was originally released - and is completely instrumental. Widely acknowledged as one of his greatest releases, this was one of the first albums to feature the "modern" synthesizer in such diverse ways. The sleeve notes themselves claim that the album is "my personal conception of [the wives'] characters in relation to keyboard instruments". So, there you go.

Wakeman had been the temperamental keyboard player for progressive rock sueprgroup Yes for a couple of years before trying out his talents on this, his debut album.

So Six Wives. Six tracks. Each one about one of Henry VIII's six wives. It's a simple concept. And a concept it is - each track intended to capture the essence of the six very different women that Henry married, divorced and executed throughout his reign. Curiously, though, the tracks aren't in the order that Henry got through them all. I guess it's because the album musically hangs better together this way (and the track lengths split a lot easier onto two sides of the original vinyl).

The album opens with the syncopatic opening bars of Catherine of Aragon, quickly sweeping into meloncholic arpeggios that suggest the tempestuous relationship between Henry and his first wife of over 20 years. We are also treated to the sound of a soaring choir in amongst the trend-sounding buzz and sweeps of Rick's Moog keyboards.

Anne of Cleves, arguably the ugliest of Henry's wives if contemporary accounts are to be believed, arguably sounds the complete opposite of her portrait: funky and upbeat. It does begin with one of the most painful arpeggios on the album, though, and features a selection of strange time signatures and noises.

Catherine Howard, perhaps one of the most tragic of Henry's wives, has a beautiful piece on the album. You can hear Wakeman's mastery of the Mellotron - a notoriously temperamental early "sampler" keyboard. Catherine's easy-going nature, the flirtatiousness of which eventually got her the chop - literally - is captured very well in this piece with occasional breaks to East-End and ragtime influenced piano breaks.

The organ for Jane Seymour was recorded at St. Giles Church in Cripplegate, London. It astounds me that Wakeman was able to record the entire piece in one go, then take the tapes back to the studio for the addition of other instrumentation. The use of the organ and a harpsichord make this track the most "medieval" sounding on the album, although a buzzing Moog synthesiser and occasional perscussion ocassionally interfere with this.

Anne Boleyn, the first victim of Henry's axe, begins with a blues-style, plodding piano intro before breaking into agressive square waves to reflect her eventual outcome. The biting crescendo erupts with the sudden cut into an excerpt from the hymn entitled, "The Day Thou Gavest Lord Hath Ended". A touching moment.

The album closes with the powerful Catherine Parr. Catherine herself was the only wife to outlive Henry, and was with him through the most horrific time of his life as he was slowly dying of syphillis and gout. Not nice. She was, by all accounts, an incredibly strong and forceful woman, which is captured in the powerful opening of the track. It is no surprise that this is one of the most "covered" of Wakeman's tracks, a particularly good version having been recorded by the Japanese prog rock trio Ars Nova. This track also soars the album to its climactic close with multi-layered instrumentation that must have taken hours to record!

The band that played on the album was a curious collection of Wakeman's friends. Members of different Yes line-ups appear on a few of the tracks, along with others such as Dave Cousins from his first group, The Strawbs, who plays electric banjo(!) on Catherine Howard.

The CD master was taken from the original tapes, but sadly has not experienced the level of resotration that one might expect from such a seminal work. Indeed, occasional clicks are heard (which could have been removed), and some "whining" of the organs is audible on long notes. However, this only makes it sound like the authentic original vinyl release and so is arguably keeping the album natural! This was also put onto CD after Wakeman was forced to sell the rights to his early works, and so this may explain something about the qaulity of the release. As a result the inlay is a little washed-out, but still features the astounding gatefold birds-eye view of Rick in amongst his enormous rig of keyboards.

The album is worth acquiring if only for Catherine Parr. However, listening to the other tracks (especially Catherine Howard) may help you recognise Wakeman's influence on popular music throughout the 1970s. You can definitely hear piano parts reminiscent of his session work on Cat Stevens' "Morning Has Broken" and Bowie's "Life on Mars".