Rick Wakeman - "Grumpy Old Picture Show" DVD Review

Artist/ Band: Rick Wakeman
Title: Grumpy Old Picture Show
Label: MVD Visual
Year of Release: 2008
Artist/ Band Link (click for more details)

The Review:

Rick Wakeman, most noted for his tenure with the progressive rock band Yes, hasn’t done much touring lately due to health reasons so he decided to re-invent himself. That re-invention came in the form of a comedy/music routine, where in between piano based songs he would tell jokes and funny stories. His last DVD, ‘The Other Side of Rick Wakeman’ was reviewed by one of our staff last year and from it I thought “hey I want in on this’. So when the ‘Grumpy Old Picture Show’ DVD was offered for a review I kept it aside to review for myself.

The difference this time around is Rick is accompanied by guests via a large screen centrally located behind him. Some of the guests include, The English Rock Ensemble (“Sea Horses”), Gordon Giltrap (“Counter Attack“), The English Chamber Choir (“The Six Wives Medley/The Day Thou Gavest“), The Children’s Choir (“Judas Iscariot” )and his daughter Jemma Wakeman (“An Angel Spoke To Me“ and “Amazing Grace“ with The English Chamber Choir).

Overall, once you watch this video, you’ll see that while Rick Wakeman has aged in appearance, he’s still quite youthful in his playing and sense of humor. He’s one grumpy old man that can still kick serious arse when it comes to keyboards. If you enjoyed his recent comedy/music excursion, then this is a no-brainer. Also I would recommend this for fans of both piano music and British-styled humor.

Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on October 17th, 2008

Tracks:

1. See A Monkey On A Stick

2. The Jig

3. Sea Horses (Featuring The English Rock Ensemble)

4. Birdman Of Alcatraz

5. Judas Iscariot (Featuring The Children's Choir)

6. Always With Me

7. An Angel Spoke To Me (Featuring Jemma Wakeman & Chris Blakey)

8. Eleanor Rigby

9. Tigger The Bounce

10. Counter Attack (Featuring Gordon Giltrap)

11. Merlin The Magician

12. Amazing Grace (Featuring Jemma Wakeman & The English Chamber Choir)

13. Starship Trooper (Featuring The English Rock Ensemble)

14. The Six Wives Medley/The Day Thou Gavest (Featuring The Children's Choir)

Reviewed Discography

Here are other reviews by this artist at ProgNaut.com.