The Six Wives of Henry VIII (album) The Six Wives of Henry VIII (album) The Six Wives of Henry VIII is the second studio album by English keyboardist Rick Wakeman, released in January 1973 on A&M Records. It is an instrumental progressive rock album with its concept based on his interpretations of the musical characteristics of the wives of Henry VIII. After signing with A&M as a solo artist, Wakeman decided on the album's concept during a tour of the United States as a member of the rock band Yes. As he read a book about the subject on his travels, melodies he had written the previous
Journey to the Centre of the Earth (album) Wakeman wished to make an album that told a story with its music, something that he had been inspired to do so since his father took him to see a performance of the symphonic fairy tale "Peter and the Wolf" by Sergei Prokofiev which features a narrator telling the story and an orchestra illustrating the action. Wakeman had wanted to do an orchestral rock piece based on the 1864 science fiction novel "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" by Jules Verne as early as November 1971, but he put the project on hold until he had finished recording "The