Rhapsodies (album)

Rhapsodies
Studio album by Rick Wakeman
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
Rick Wakeman's Criminal Record (1977) Rhapsodies (1979) The Burning (1981)
Singles from Rhapsodies
"Animal Showdown" Released: June 1979[1] "Swan Lager" Released: November 1979

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.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
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]

Track listing

All tracks by Rick Wakeman, except where noted.

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
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

Side two

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

Side three

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

Side four

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

Personnel

Music

• Rick Wakeman – keyboards, arrangements, vocals and vocoder on "Pedra da Gavea"
• Nico Ramsden – electric guitar
• Tony Visconti – acoustic guitar, engineer
• Bruce Lynch – bass guitars
• Frank Gibson Jr. – drums, percussion

Technical

• James Lougheed – engineer, Mobile One tape operator
• David K. Richards – assistant engineer
• Michael Ross – album design, art direction
• Paul Wakefield – photography

Charts

Chart (1979)	Peak position
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[6]	15
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[7]	43
UK Albums (OCC)[8]	25
US Billboard 200[9]	170

References

1. "The Great Rock Discography". p. 878.
2. Raiteri, Stephen. "Rhapsodies - Rick Wakeman". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
3. Starr, Red. "Albums". Smash Hits. No. June 14–27, 1979. p. 25.
4. Paul, Sexton (9 June 1979). Rick Wakeman: 'Rhapsodies'. Record Mirror. p. 18.
5. Niester, Alan (14 July 1979). "Rhapsodies Rick Wakeman". The Globe and Mail. p. F4.
6. "Norwegiancharts.com – Rick Wakeman – Rhapsodies". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
7. "Swedishcharts.com – Rick Wakeman – Rhapsodies". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
8. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
9. "Rick Wakeman Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 5, 2023.