The Six Wives of Henry VIII (album) He loosely compared the music to that of progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and mentioned Wakeman's "lyrical" and "deep, vast sound". In a retrospective review, Mike DeGange of AllMusic described Wakeman's use of his synthesizers as "masterful" and "instrumentally stunning", and rated the album 4.5 out of 5. Excerpts from the album were first performed during Wakeman's solo spots on Yes's Fragile Tour from 1971–1972. A recording of his solo was included on the band's first live album "Yessongs" (1973) titled "Excerpts from 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII'", as well as their same-titled concert film (1975) and
1984 (Rick Wakeman album) album, and was able to get his first choice each time. The album was recorded between 23 February–14 April 1981 at Morgan Studios in London, with Wakeman as the sole producer. It was then cut at Townhouse Studios. Upon completion, the album cost under £100,000 to make. At the time of recording Wakeman knew what keyboards he wanted to use and ordered some models from Korg, but they failed to arrive in time. Instead, he used a mix of his own instruments with rented or borrowed equipment. Wakeman said the finished product contains just one tape edit which occurs towards