[Review] Rick Wakeman: Silent Nights (1985)
The presence of three Strawbs makes for a fruitful reunion on this progressive pop album.
Kronomyth 14.0: In the cost of living years.
From the title, I thought this would be either Christmas music or new age instrumentals. It is, fortunately, neither. Silent Nights continues in the vein of 1984 and Cost of Living: progressive pop/rock music with vaguely dystopian themes that feels like it was written for the stage. Once again, Rick Wakeman surrounds himself with an actual backing band, this time featuring ex-Strawbs mates Tony Fernandez and Chas Cronk plus Rick Fenn on guitar and Gordon Neville on lead vocals. If you’ve picked up any of the Tony Banks or Mike Rutherford albums from this period, you’ll know what to expect here. In fact, the title track sounds remarkably like Mike + the Mechanics’ “Silent Running.” Lyrically, Wakeman favors the dramatic (Tell ‘Em All You Know, The Opening Line) and the comic (The Dancer, Ghost of a Rock and Roll Star). Also included are two very nice instrumentals: Man’s Best Friend and Elgin Mansions. Despite being every bit as good as 1984, Silent Nights didn’t chart. The inaugural album for the reconstituted President Records, Silent Nights seems to have encountered some distribution issues, with no formal release in the U.S. Given the interest in Asia, GTR, and Mike + the Mechanics at the time, there was enough room on the charts for a Rick Wakeman record, and the single Glory Boys seemed ready to support the move, but it never came together. Not that I’m advocating for those acts; I probably still have some latent trauma from GTR. I do believe that Silent Nights deserves a wider audience, however. Wakeman was never one to suffer silence, and his creative outpouring over the years has yielded many pleasant moments. At this point, he was writing for a smaller stage, yet there’s always some measure of joy to be found in hearing him play.
Original elpee version
A1. Tell ‘Em All You Know (3:25)
A2. The Opening Line (3:43)
A3. The Opera (6:25)
A4. Man’s Best Friend (4:20)
A5. Glory Boys (3:15)
B1. Silent Nights (3:54)
B2. Ghost of a Rock and Roll Star (3:30)
B3. The Dancer (3:15)
B4. Elgin Mansions (5:20)
B5. That’s Who I Am (4:15)
All titles composed and arranged by Rick Wakeman.
Original Canadian elpee version
A1. Glory Boys (3:25)
A2. Silent Nights (3:54)
A3. Tell ‘Em All You Know (3:25)
A4. That’s Who I Am (4:15)
A5. Elgin Mansions (5:20)
B1. The Opening Line (3:43)
B2. The Opera (6:25)
B3. Man’s Best Friend (4:20)
B4. Ghost of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star (3:30)
B5. The Dancer (3:16)
The Players
Rick Wakeman (keyboards, lead vocals on B3), Tony Burrows (backing vocals), Chas Cronk (bass), Rick Fenn (guitars), Tony Fernandez (drums and percussion), Gordon Neville (lead vocals, backing vocals, backing vocal arrangements) with Bimbo Acock (saxophone on A3/B3), Alan Carvell (backing vocals on A1), Sue Glover (backing vocals on A3/A5), John Kirby (backing vocals on A5), Sonny Leslie (backing vocals on A5), Val McKenna (backing vocals on B2). Engineered by John Acock.
The Pictures
Front cover reproduced by kind permission of Sotheby’s Japanese Works of Art Department. Back cover photography by Peter Stone. Sleeve designed by Martin at Studio 88.
The Plastic
Released on elpee and cassette in March 1985 in the UK (President, RW/RWK 1), Australia (Titanic, SHIP/TCSHIP 240350), Canada (President, P-7551) and Japan (Nexus, K28P-594) with lyrics innersleeve.
