Product Overview
Rick Wakeman – Return To The Centre Of The Earth / London Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Choir, Narrated By Patrick Stewart / EMI Classics Audio CD 1999 Stereo
UPC 724355676320
Return to the Centre of the Earth is a studio album by English keyboardist Rick Wakeman. It was released on 15 March 1999 on EMI Classics and is the sequel to his 1974 concept album Journey to the Centre of the Earth, itself based on the same-titled science fiction novel by Jules Verne. Ideas for a sequel developed in 1991 with initial plans for a 1994 release, the twentieth anniversary of the original. After Wakeman produced a demo tape of songs, he caught the interest of EMI Classics who signed him to a recording deal and supplied an advance to record it. Wakeman wrote a new story that details three unnamed travellers who attempt to follow the original journey 200 years later, and is narrated by actor Patrick Stewart. The album features guest performances by Ozzy Osbourne, Bonnie Tyler, Tony Mitchell, Trevor Rabin, Justin Hayward, and Katrina Leskanich. In 1998, production halted after Wakeman was hospitalised with a life threatening case of pneumonia and pleurisy.
The album went to No. 34 on the UK Albums Chart and promoted with a launch party and select material performed live on Wakeman's solo tours. The album did not chart in the US, and it failed to make a commercial impact there. Wakeman performed the album in its entirety with his rock band, orchestra, and choir, in June 2001 and July 2006, both times in Canada. A deluxe box set with live and previously unreleased audio and video material was released in 2021.
| Label: | EMI Classics – 724355676320 |
|---|---|
| Format: |
CD, Album
|
| Country: | |
| Released: |
1999 |
| Genre: | Rock |
| Style: | Prog Rock, Classic Rock |
Tracklist:
| 1 | A Vision | 2:33 | |
| 2 | The Return Overture | 2:40 | |
|
Mother Earth |
3:48 |
||
| 3.a | The Shadow Of June | ||
| 3.b | The Gallery | ||
| 3.c | The Avenue Of Prismed Light | ||
| 3.d | The Earthquake | ||
| 4 | Buried Alive |
|
6:01 |
|||
| 5 | The Enigma | 1:18 | |
| 6 | Is Anybody There? |
|
6:35 |
|||
| 7 | The Ravine | 0:50 | |
| 8 | The Dance Of A Thousand Lights | 5:41 | |
| 9 | The Shepherd | 2:01 | |
| 10 | Mr Slow | 3:47 | |
| 11 | Bridge Of Time | 1:12 | |
| 12 | Never Is A Long, Long Time |
|
5:19 |
|||
| Tales From The Lidenbrook Sea | 2:57 | ||
| 13.a | River Of Hope | ||
| 13.b | Hunter And Hunter | ||
| 13.c | Fight For Life | ||
| 14 | The Kill | 5:23 | |
| 15 | Timeless History | 1:11 | |
| 16 | Still Waters Run Deep |
|
5:21 |
|||
| Time Within Time | 2:39 | ||
| 17.a | The Ebbing Tide | ||
| 17.b | The Electric Storm | ||
| 18 | Ride Of Your Life |
|
6:02 |
|||
| Floating | 1:59 | ||
| 19.a | Globes Of Fire | ||
| 19.b | Cascades Of Fear | ||
| 20 | Floodflames | 2:00 | |
|
The Volcano |
2:10 |
||
| 21.a | Tongues Of Fire | ||
| 21.b | The Blue Mountains | ||
| 22 | The End Of The Return | 5:24 |
- Artwork By [Booklet Design] – Martyn Dean
- Artwork By [Painting, Drawings & Lettering] – Roger Dean
- Bass – Phil Williams
- Choir – English Chamber Choir
- Conductor [English Chamber Choir, The] – Guy Protheroe
- Conductor [London Symphony Orchestra, The] – David Snell (2)
- Drums – Simon Hanson
- Executive Producer – Frank Rodgers
- Guitar – Fraser Thorneycroft-Smith, Trevor Rabin (tracks: 12)
- Keyboards, Composed By, Lyrics By, Producer, Orchestrated By – Rick Wakeman
- Narrator – Patrick Stewart
- Orchestra – The London Symphony Orchestra
- Photography – Simon Fowler
- Vocals – Bonnie Tyler (tracks: 6), Katrina Leskanich (tracks: 18), Ozzy Osbourne (tracks: 4), Tony Mitchell (2), Trevor Rabin (tracks: 12)
