Rick Wakeman

You don't need to be a dork to enjoy this Yes member's ultra nerdy solo masterpiece. Fans of Lightning Bolt and the new math (rock) will find plenty of parallels here -- just replace LB's brain-melting distortion with Wakeman's brain-melting New Age (in the best way) pianos, covered-by-insects Moog work, and drumming by whoever that is.

It says in the fine print on Rick Wakeman's first solo album that the music is "based around
[my] interpretations of the musical characteristics of the wives of Henry VIII." The idea for
the album came from the book of the same name, which Yes' Wakeman purchased at a
London airport. He writes that the music for each of King Henry's wives came flowing
inside his head as he read about them. A bit apocryphal perhaps, but apparently... More >