Tuesday 14 April 2015

Music Reincarnate (Rick Wakeman, 1976)

Here you are a true old progressive rock suite, coming from one of the men who mostly contributed to the definition of the genre. "Music Reincarnate" comes from Rick's album "No Earthly Connection" and spans over 28 minutes of duration. This track is divided into five parts (The WarningThe Maker, The Spaceman, The Realisation and The Reaper) each one featuring its own spirit, but all fitting very well into the big picture. Due to the length of the suite, its last part opened the original LP's B-side. 

The original LP included instructions to "bring the cover to life"...
 
...by placing a reflecting cylinder as shown!
 
The lyrics about God being musically deceived by humans probably aren't Wakeman's best literary achievement, but the music is excellent, including several well found melodies, tons of tempos, moods, vocal harmonies, orchestral arrangements and - of course - keyboard solos. Ashley Holt's vocals are another good reason to dig up this song: a warm, bittersweet voice going up and down your spine, especially during the second section of the epic, likely my favourite one (but I'm also partial to part 3). Well, it's about time to let you listen this pearl once again.

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