Journey to the Centre of the Earth (album) earned Wakeman a nomination for an Ivor Novello Award and a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. In 1999, Wakeman released a sequel album "Return to the Centre of the Earth". After the original score was presumed lost, Wakeman was reunited with it in 2009 and re-recorded the album three years later with 18 minutes of music previously cut due to time constraints. By mid-1973, Wakeman had been with the progressive rock band Yes for almost two years, and he had released his debut solo effort, "The Six Wives of Henry VIII", to critical acclaim. For his next release
The Six Wives of Henry VIII (album) dedicated for Henry himself, but Wakeman had recorded the tracks on the wives first and used up the available space on a vinyl record. He decided to leave the Henry track and rename the album accordingly. When the album was finished, its final production cost had reached around £25,000. Wakeman described working on it as "difficult and cumbersome", but said the project was eventually a rewarding one. He was excited when it came to presenting the album to A&M management at their London office, which included a lawyer who represented the label's US division. After the album was played in