London – Now available for pre-order RICK WAKEMAN, JEFF WAYNE, KEVIN PEEK “Beyond the Planets” Limited Edition of 100, Hand Numbered, 180 Gram Clear Vinyl personally SIGNED by Rick Wakeman!
Have you even wondered what would happen if the king of progressive rock keyboards teamed up with the bloke who wrote “The War Of The Worlds” rock opera and the guitarist with the late lamented Classical Rock group Sky? Well, you need wonder no longer! A reviewer on the Prog Archives writes: “Beyond the planets” is essentially the performance of Holst’s “The planets” in a rock context. Wayne’s contribution is limited to the composition of an Overture for the album. As this ends, some brief narration by Patrick Allen is heard. Allen does a great impression of Richard Burton, which when combined with Wayne’s distinctive sound, immediately creates echoes of “War of the Worlds.” Allen returns a couple of times during the album to link tracks together with further brief narration. The familiar introduction to “Mars” (as used by Rainbow on “Eyes of the World” among many others) then takes over, and we launch into a full rendition of “The Planets suite.” The music is performed dramatically and faithfully throughout, with Peek using various guitar sounds according to the mood of the piece.
This is a strict edition of 100 units, all hand numbered, pressed on 180 gram clear vinyl and personally SIGNED by Rick Wakeman released by The Strictly Limited Edition Vinyl Company.
Estimated delivery date : July 2019
TRACKLIST FACE A 1. Waves / The Journey composed by Jeff Wayne 2. Mars (The Bringer of War) 3. Venus (The Bringer of Peace) 4. Mercury (The Winged Messenger)
FACE B 1. Jupiter (The Bringer of Jollity) 2. Circles / Saturn (The Bringer of Old Age) 3. Uranus (The Magician) 4. Neptune (The Mystic) / The Heavens Reply / Beyond (The Finale written by Rick Wakeman)
THE STRICTLY LIMITED EDITION VINYL COMPANY UNITED KINGDOM The strictly limited edition vinyl company. produce strictly limited edition of 100 units per title 180gram, colour vinyl pressings of long lost classic albums and previously unreleased on vinyl
Right, here is my third attempt at writing this review, as so far I have ditched every attempt as it either comes across as too fawning or doesn’t really portray exactly what this album means to me. What we have here is the debut album from Michael-Alan Taylor of Nth Ascension, on which he provides lead vocals, guitars, and keyboards. He is joined by Darrel Treece-Birch (piano, additional keys, and guitar), Craig Martin Walker (low flute), David Austin Taylor (spoken word) and Melissa Brown (spoken word). This is a concept album, detailing the last days of the brave Knight Lancelot who recalls the battles for Camelot, his devotion to his King and his love of the Lady Guinevere.
To say that it is a cinematic atmospheric soundscape doesn’t really do this album justice, and for once an album cover manages to portray exactly the right feeling, as the way that the misty early morning sun finds its way down to the forest floor is a wonderful representation of an album that is beguiling and entrancing. In some ways it reminds me of some of Wakeman’s great concept albums, except that the keyboards are far more delicate: Taylor’s vocals capture the emotion of the music and are a perfect fit. There are times when I find myself thinking of Camel’s mighty ‘The Snow Goose’, and I can see myself playing this album a great many times late in the evening, as the mystical and magical atmosphere is so relaxing, and it takes me to a land far away in time. Delicate, but with a hidden strength and power, there is no need at all for drums, as the layered keyboards create a swirling curtain which moves like a magician’s cloak, never really sure what is going to happen next, but confident that it will be incredible. I can only hope that this release gets the acclaim it so richly deserves, as it is one of the most important releases I have come across for some time, and there is no doubt that it will feature in my Top Ten of 2018, no matter what the genre. This is an album that enriches the musical soul, and I love it. http://melodicrevolution.com/
Legendary keyboardist Rick Wakeman is launching his official YouTube channel in June 2018! The channel will feature many rare and unreleased videos, as well as the exclusive premiere of Rick’s forthcoming film “Live Portraits.”
“Would you believe I now have an official YouTube channel. If you fancy subscribing to it you’re going to see lots of different things. Some things perhaps you’ve seen before…certainly a lot you’ve never seen before. There will be some exclusive stuff – exclusive purely to this channel. So please subscribe and see some of the silly things I get up to, and the musical stuff as well.” – Rick Wakeman
Once the votes have been counted, the ten most voted tracks will be posted exclusively on Rick’s YouTube Channel for 48 hours. Fans should subscribe to Rick’s official YouTube Channel to be notified when this event will take place. Click here to Subscribe https://rick-wakeman.lnk.to/subscribe
1. MORNING HAS BROKEN
2. AND YOU AND I
3. SUMMERTIME
4. SWAN LAKE
5. SPACE ODDITY
6. AFTER THE BALL
7. SWEET GEORGIA BROWN
8. HELP
9. AMAZING GRACE
10. WONDROUS STORIES
11. MERLIN THE MAGICIAN
12. LIFE ON MARS
13. ELEANOR RIGBY
14. CLAIR DE LUNE
In other news:
Following the hugely successful “Piano Portraits” tour last year, in support of the album of the same name, Rick Wakeman will return in Autumn 2018 with a new show based on the follow-up release, entitled “Piano Odyssey.” The fourteen-date tour will feature even more classic tracks given Rick’s unique piano treatment and will travel to towns and cities not previously visited in 2017.
A live version of Rick’s critically acclaimed album “Piano Portraits” was filmed & recorded at the Lincoln Cathedral in London on March 7th, 2018. “Live Portraits” will be released on CD/DVD soon. It can be ordered exclusively from Pledge Music by using the following link: https://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/rick-wakeman-live-portraits
What do you get when you match a Brit from London who loves American AOR with an American from California who grew up on British Prog? Dukes of the Orientis the masterful pairing of vocalist John Payne (ex-ASIA, GPS) with keyboardist Erik Norlander (Last in Line, Lana Lane, Rocket Scientists) who now present their eponymous debut album, ten years in the making. Payne’s powerful arena-seasoned vocals carry soaring melodies and lush harmonies over the sea of classic synthesizers and keyboards artfully painted with Norlander’s signature sonic palette.
Payne says of the album, “With Dukes of the Orient we have dug deep with analog soundscapes, superlative musicians, and song-driven epics. Add to this the masterful artwork of Rodney Matthews and a journey that started with the supergroup ASIA, we give you the next chapter, one we are extremely proud of.”
The two are backed by a world-renown ensemble of top musicians including Jeff Kollman, Guthrie Govan, Moni Scaria and Bruce Bouillet on guitar, Molly Rogers on strings and Jay Schellen on drums. Payne provides bass guitar and additional lead and rhythm guitar parts to complete the audiophile production. The album was mixed on a traditional analog console to preserve and enhance the natural depth, clarity, and soul of the tracks with great care taken to avoid over-compression, extreme equalization, and distortion.
Dukes of the Orienthas its origins in 2007 as “ASIA Featuring John Payne,” a band that continued on after ASIA keyboardist, Geoff Downes, left the band to re-form the original 1982 lineup. Payne recruited Norlander to join Guthrie Govan and Jay Schellen for tour dates in the US and initial recordings, some of which endured to appear on the Dukes of the Orient album here. Govan left the band to form The Aristocrats and was replaced by guitarist Bruce Bouillet followed by Jeff Kollman and Moni Scaria. The final lineup resulted in the track, “Seasons Will Change,” released as a video in 2013 and also now appears on the Dukes of the Orientalbum. Following the death of original ASIA vocalist, John Wetton, in early 2017, Payne and Norlander decided that these recordings should give birth to a new band, both out of respect for Wetton and for clarity with the Downes-led ASIA.
John Payne grew up in Luton, England. Upon moving to Harpenden, England in his teen years, he started his first band. His love of music started long before, though. As a young teenager, he taught guitar at school and also played into the early hours of the morning at clubs in a local cover band. Tired of playing other people’s songs, he formed a three-piece called Moonstone. With influences such as Santana, Hendrix, Trower and Deep Purple, Moonstone toured both locally and around the UK rock circuit. With encouragement from Jim Rodford of The Kinks and Rod Argent, the music bug would not let go. John went on write, tour, session (both as a vocalist and guitarist), record and produce. Moving to London gave him his first break singing backing vocals for Roger Daltry of The Who on the album Under a Raging Moon. This started much session work leading to purchasing The Wall, his first recording studio, which would be one of many. Between session work, Payne was invited to Power Station recording studio to record vocals for the group ELO at the invitation of drummer Bev Bevan and producer Jim Steinman. When legal complications regarding the name arose, Payne made the decision to return to London, where he was invited to join Asia in 1992.
Payne has since toured as “The Parson” in Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds, toured and recorded with GPS, co-created and co-wrote the Las Vegas musical Raiding The Rock Vault, and formed The Rock Pack, hosting a plethora of iconic classic rock vocalists. His love of music and analog recording has taken him on a journey as multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, scriptwriter, studio engineer, and producer.
Erik Norlander was born in Hollywood, California and went against the tide of 80s Sunset Strip pop metal, instead learning the craft of progressive rock keyboards inspired by the founding fathers of the movement, Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, Eddie Jobson, Patrick Moraz and others, many of whom became friends as Norlander’s career developed. Both Emerson and Wakeman even wrote liner notes for Norlander’s early solo albums. As part of his indoctrination into the genre, he became obsessed with synthesizers and classic keyboards of all kinds, learning the subtleties of sound design and the inner workings of these arcane instruments including his own 1967 modular Moog synthesizer famously dubbed the “Wall of Doom.” This led Norlander to actually work on the design of synthesizers including the legendary Alesis Andromeda analog hardware synthesizer and IK Multimedia Syntronik virtual instrument among many others. Norlander has released 10 solo albums, 7 with his prog-rock band, Rocket Scientists, and 10 albums with his vocalist wife, Lana Lane. He also works with the Bob Moog Foundation to forward the legacy of the maverick inventor.
Dukes of the Orient to release their eponymous debut album with stunning cover art by Rodney Matthews on February 23, 2018, with select tour dates to follow.
Pre-order experiences, albums, merchandise and much more!
Keyboard legend Rick Wakeman will be recording a live version of his critically acclaimed album “Piano Portraits” at the Lincoln Cathedral in London on March 7th, 2018. “Live Portraits” be released on CD/DVD later this year. A new PledgeMusic campaign has been started to help fund the recording & filming of the event!
Hello everyone. Last year I released the studio album Piano Portraits which was really well received and went Top 10 in the UK for several weeks… Over the past year, I have been touring “Live Portraits” to sell out audiences, so as a lasting record I have decided to film and record a very special performance of “Live Portraits” at Lincoln Cathedral on 7th March 2018. After the success of the “The Myth & Legends of King Arthur” campaign in 2016 here on PledgeMusic I have decided to again work directly with you the fans on bringing this one off concert and recording to life. By working this way I can offer so much more in the way of experiences, signed memorabilia and different formats, and create exactly what I would like everybody to see and hear. The concert will be based on many of the tracks from the Piano Portraits album plus many additional pieces, all embellished as can only be achieved in a staged live setting,. Thank you in advance for supporting the campaign and I hope you enjoy what we create together. Rick
The Lincoln Cathedral in Lincoln, England is the seat of the Anglican bishop. Building commenced in 1088 and continued in several phases throughout the medieval period. It was the tallest building in the world for 238 years (1311–1549), and the first building to hold that title after the Great Pyramid of Giza. The cathedral is the third largest in Britain (in floor area) and is highly regarded by architectural scholars. Part of the blockbuster film “The Davinci Code” was filmed there.
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Payne says of the album, “With Dukes of the Orient we have dug deep with analog soundscapes, superlative musicians, and song-driven epics. Add to this the masterful artwork of Rodney Matthews and a journey that started with the supergroup ASIA, we give you the next chapter, one we are extremely proud of.”
