----------------------------------------------------- APRIL 23, 1999 ----------------------------------------------------- Source: Kuno http://kuno.senserdesign.com/shnews.php?id=19 Rick Wakeman - Return To The Centre Of The Earth  By Alexander Ring Rick Wakeman is back. Almost two and a half years after his last split with YES, he comes up with the sequel of his 1974 recording "Journey To The Centre Of The Earth." That particular album had been a massive success exactly 25 years ago. The question may arise whether that level can be achieved again with "Return To The Centre Of The Earth."  Nobody should know better than the British keyboard wizard that these bombastic projects will not gain much interest anymore in the nineties -- as they even have not done since the second part of the seventies.  The London Philharmonic Orchestra and the English Chamber Choir are the only parties left from the original line-up of "Journey To The Centre Of The Earth." Former YES guitarist Trevor Rabin, Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath), Justin Hayward (Moody Blues) and Bonnie Tyler are -- amongst others -- the new faces in the project.  "Captain Picard" impersonator Patrick Stewart takes over the storyteller role.  This strange line-up may make you wonder. What has Bonnie Tyler to do on this record at all? With her raw organ, the singing on "Is Anybody There?" sounds strangely accented and almost ridiculous when accompanied by the English Chamber Choir. The song itself could have been easily taken from one of her dreadful solo efforts.  Also more than stereotype: Trevor Rabin with his typical guitar hook-lines, who along with Ozzy Osbourne fails to connect his boring AOR rock parts to those of classical music -- as opposite to the musicians on Wakeman´s real masterpiece "The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur."  "Return To The Centre Of The Earth" neither is a rock album, nor a classical recording, it is something somewhere in-between.  "Directionless" may be the best description.  Although Patrick Stewart does a fine job telling the story, less would be more as the narration overlays the music too much. This however was already the largest problem of predecessor "Journey To The Centre Of The Earth." Whether this work is the "most important and most exciting musical journey" of his life, Wakeman should think about once again. It is a relict of passed times, and by far not the best one.  Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, problems, corrections, or additions, contact YesinthePress@aol.com