Return to the Centre of the Earth

This album is a stand alone album that is linked to the earlier album Journey To The Centre Of The Earth. The CD is a full DDD recording. When played on a multi channel receiver the CD plays in surround sound. While I am not a fan of YES, I am a fan of both Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman's solo albums. Both the story and the musicianship on this album are top shelf. Patrick Stewarts voice suits the narration perfectly. Highly recommended in its own right and as a follow up to the 1st album.

I only recently discovered this work and this recording, and find it to be magnificent -- perhaps not as bracing as live performances of the original Wakeman JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, but also grand and compelling in ways that the earlier piece only hinted at in spots. Wakeman's vision and music have become far more sophisticated in the decades since the first piece. Indeed, comparing the two is rather like putting early Beethoven up against late-era Beethoven, or the Wagner of age 20 against the work of the man who gave us PARSIFAL. As to the realization of the the music, the mix of voice and instruments -- and chorus -- is achieved with far more subtlety and effectiveness than it was for the original JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH. And Patrick Stewart's voice . . . . he could narrate every section of this piece and it would be a pleasure to hear. And it's all from EMI Classics, of all labels, which has done the whole piece justice in sound and packaging.

Not a remake but a sequel to the first "Journey" it features the Shakesperian trained voice of Patrick Stewart as the narrator, the vocals of Ozzy Osborne, Bonnie Tyler (she had that monster wall-of-sound, melancholic hit "Bright Eyes" is it? ) and three others as well as heavy symphonic back-up. Same quality as the first "Journey" in other words, good stuff

I really enjoyed the first "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" by Wakeman. This sequel was very good with the added benefit of special lead vocalists. Narration is nicely done by Patrick Stewart. All in all an great performance.

What a great journey back to my early years of discovering and enjoying rock music with orchestra - and with Captain Picard helping the narration… made my ears smile!

Patrick Stewart was an inspired choice to narrate. My husband and i listened to it on a trip - it was great! Hadn't heard it before now but I've been listening to Rick Wakeman for many, many years.

Excellent concept cd.I was slightly dissapointed in that RW did not add or change anything as he did in the remake of the origional Journey To The Center Of The Earth.However, it can be argued that perfection cannot be improved upon.

though i do love the original, this is one of the few times where a modern reproduction is just as good as the original

Anything Rick Wakeman does is brilliant. To me, this recording is like a revisiting to a previous journey. Some really good songs on this one with guest artists like Moody Blues' Justin Hayward, Black Sabbath's Ozzy Osbourne, Bonnie Tyler, and a couple other guest artists. If you're a Rick Wakeman fan, this is another one of his fine works that is a must for your collection. Very well written, produced and compiled.

The best part of this is the Patrick Stewart narration, giving it a certain gravitas. What doesn't work for me are the rather bland songs, featuring guest vocalists like Ozzy, Bonnie Tyler and Trevor Rabin, which add nothing at all to the storyline. Admittedly you can skip these if you have a programmable CD player but it does make me think why Rick bothered with them at all; perhaps it was to pad it out.Back to the original for me, then.

This CD replaced one I lent to someone and never got back! It was received in excellent condition and played perfectly.

Excellent cd

I appreciate that this is another version of the journey to the centre of the earth but not to my liking.