Return to the Centre of the Earth Leskanich. The story is narrated by Patrick Stewart. Recording was delayed after Wakeman was hospitalised with a life threatening case of double pneumonia and pleurisy, and needed time to recover. Upon release, the album reached number 34 on the UK Albums Chart. In 1974, Wakeman released his second solo album "Journey to the Centre of the Earth", a concept album based on the same-titled science fiction novel by Jules Verne. It tells the story of Professor Lidenbrook, his nephew Axel, and their guide Hans who follow a passage to the Earth's centre originally discovered by Arne Saknussemm, an Icelandic alchemist.
The Fabulous World of Jules Verne additional high-profile admirers. "The New York Times" critic Howard Thompson found it "fresh, funny and highly imaginative," with "a marvelous eyeful of trick effects." Pauline Kael was similarly glowing, calling the film a "wonderful giddy science fantasy" and adding that Zeman "sustains the Victorian tone, with its delight in the magic of science, that makes Verne seem so playfully archaic." Charles Stinson of the "Los Angeles Times" began a highly positive review for the film by saying: ""The Fabulous World of Jules Verne" is precisely that. For once the title writers and the press agents have been found failing to