Rick Wakeman Live in Cuba DVD & Retro CD

[Scottmoose]

If you're a progressive rock fan, you must buy these. I've had Retro for a while, and it's stunning. Minimum age of the keyboards is 25 years; Rick's decided to do a complete album using the old analogue stuff, so all the old favourites from the 1970s are in place. I'm not always convinced about Rick's lyrics, but the playing is as fantastic as ever. What further superlatives can you say about the greatest keyboard player of all time (and I'll argue that with anyone)? The rest of his group are as slick as ever, and it's nice to hear his daughter singing with them too. The recording and engineering quality is superb -getting on for reference standard. Compression? What compression? It was straight to HD in high res, and the CD mastering from that is excellent. I honestly can't fault the sound. It embarasses most modern rock recordings.

The DVD is the best recorded live show I've seen of Rick's to date. Some of the sound isn't perfect, but that adds to the live feel -ever been to a live rock concert with perfect sound? No, I haven't either. Great picture, true to the live-venue sound, fantastic playing, and all the old favourites in place. Rick's dressed like a goldfish in that legendary gold / red cloak, and the crowd clearly loved every second of it. You really have to try these. Even if you don't like progressive rock, but have rock leanings, give one or both a whirl (I'd advise the DVD initially). I promise you won't regret it -two of the most enjoyable silver disks I've bought for a couple of years.