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Journey to the Centre of the Earth (album)
''Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' is the second album from the English keyboardist and composer Rick Wakeman, released in 1974 through A&M Records. The album is a live recording of his second of two concerts on 18 January 1974 at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Its concept is based on Jules Verne's eponymous science fiction novel, which tells the story of Professor Lidenbrok, his nephew Axel, and their guide Hans, who follow a passage to the Earth's centre originally discovered by Arne Saknussemm, an Icelandic alchemist. Wakeman performs with the London Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Choir, and a group of hand-picked musicians for his band which later became The English Rock Ensemble. Actor David Hemmings provides the narration to the story.
As the cost of recording the album in a studio was too high, the music was instead recorded live in concert. After a number of problems were resolved during the mixing of the album, ''Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' was overall well received by music critics. The record topped the UK Albums Chart, the first album from A&M Records to do so, and peaked at number 3 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in October 1974, and earned Wakeman an Ivor Novello Award and a nomination for a Grammy. A total of 14 million copies of the album have been sold worldwide. In 1999, Wakeman released a sequel titled ''Return to the Centre of the Earth''.
==Conception==
Keyboardist Rick Wakeman had wanted to make an album that told a story with its music after his father took him to see ''Peter and the Wolf'' by Sergei Prokofiev.〔 In November 1971, he started work on a record based on the 1864 science fiction novel ''Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' by Jules Verne. He put the project on hold until recording for his debut studio release, ''The Six Wives of Henry VIII'', had finished in October 1972.〔Concert programme for ''Rick Wakeman: Journey to the Centre of the Earth''. 18 January 1974.〕 He performed at the rock opera concerts of The Who's ''Tommy'' that December which featured the London Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Choir, conductor David Measham and arranger Will Malone. Producing the shows was Lou Reizner, who learned about Wakeman's idea for ''Journey'' and put him in contact with Measham.〔Wooding, p. 11〕〔Wooding, p. 12〕 Wakeman made a demo tape for Measham that contained a rough outline of the structure of the music using a Minimoog synthesiser, Mellotron, Rhodes piano and Clavinet while indicating where the orchestral parts would come in.〔 After Measham agreed to take part, Wakeman met with his manager Brian Lane to pitch the idea of performing ''Journey'' in concert with an orchestra, choir, and a rock band.〔 As the cost of producing the album in a studio was too high, A&M Records agreed to record the album live. To help finance the project, Wakeman sold a few of his cars and "mortgage(himself ) up to the hilt to help finance the whole thing", which had cost around £40,000.〔Wooding, p. 15〕
Wakeman received help with the score from Malone and arranger Danny Beckerman.〔Wooding, p. 13〕 The original version had a running time of 55 minutes, but it had to be reduced due to the time constraints on vinyl records. In selecting the musicians for his band, Wakeman chose people he used to play with at a country pub in Buckinghamshire called the Valiant Trooper.〔 Said Wakeman, "I'd played with them for fun quite a bit on Sunday evenings...I was playing keyboards with the lads when I thought, they could play ''Journey'' for me. I'm sure they could do the concert and do it well".〔 He picked vocalists Ashley Holt and Gary Pickford-Hopkins, drummer Barney James, and bassist Roger Newell. Guitarist Mike Egan, who had played on ''Six Wives'', rounded out the band.〔〔 A&M Records had wanted Wakeman to pick more well-known musicians, but he intended to make the album known for its music rather than its performers.〔Wakeman 1995, p. 120.〕 Richard Harris was the first choice to narrate the story, but he was unavailable. Actor David Hemmings was then chosen, and agreed to take part.〔Wooding, p. 14〕
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
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