Rick Wakeman: The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Live at Hampton Court Palace Blu-ray Review By Dennis Burger

The Concert

In 1973, prog rock keyboardist extraordinaire Rick Wakeman (of Yes and Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe fame) requested the chance to perform his first solo album, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, at Hampton Court Palace in London. When his request was denied, he threw a hissy and refused to perform the album live in its entirety at all, although Yes fans have certainly had to the chance to hear selections from it in concert over the years.

That makes The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Live at Hampton Court Palace something of a holy grail for Wakeman fans. Thirty-six years after its release, the album has finally received the public exhibition it deserves, expanded and updated with extended solos and new songs based on old themes that simply wouldn't fit on the original LP.

Granted, you've got to be a bit of a Wakeman geek to really get into it all. The music is pretentious, noodly, instrumental fair, and Wakeman performs it in a getup that calls to mind a latter-day David St. Hubbins doing his best impersonation of Father Christmas dressed up as Aleister Crowley for Halloween. But if that's your gig (and it most certainly is mine), The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Live at Hampton Court Palace is a highly enjoyable document of a memorable event, complete with informative narration between songs by Boss Nass himself, Brian Blessed.

The Picture

If you've seen any of Eagle Rock's recent Blu-ray releases, the image for this one should hold no surprises. For the most part, it's a wonderful AVC 1080i video transfer. Detail is, at times, startling. In fact, some shots very nearly resemble convincing 3D without the glasses. Colors are well saturated -- perhaps a bit too saturated at times -- but flesh tones and the like are hard to judge, given that the entire stage is bathed in bright blue light from beginning to end. Contrasts are pretty solid throughout, if a weensy bit overblown a times, and what little video noise there is really doesn't detract from a fine video presentation overall.

The Sound

Unfortunately, the sound is a bit lackluster. Although the packaging and the menus list the audio options as PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, in fact, the last track is standard 1.5 Mbps DTS. Both 5.1 tracks are rather flat and front-heavy, with sufficient low-end, but not much sparkle, and little in the way of dynamics. The surround channels are only ever really engaged for the occasional crowd noise, and the mix as a whole simply lacks dimensionality.

The 2.0 PCM track is a bit better, especially in terms of tonal balance and the presence of individual instruments in the mix. And when run through Pro Logic II or Neo:6, it exhibits a better sense of space than the 5.1 mix. It's still nothing to get terribly excited over, though. Neither mix successfully captures the live nature of the show, nor the energy of the music itself, which is a shame.

The Extras

The sole extra included on the disc is the seventeen-minute Behind the Scenes with Rick, a fun little documentary that offers a bit of background information on the project and a fun visit with the people who made it happen. My only gripe here is that the interviews are marred by pervasive 60-cycle hum in the audio, which quite frankly becomes intolerable after a few minutes. But if you can get past that, it's a piece that's definitely worth watching.

Final Thoughts

The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Live at Hampton Court Palace certainly isn't for the casual Yes or Rick Wakeman fan. But for those who know (and care) what the project is about, the disc is a worthy addition to any serious prog Blu-ray collection. Unfortunately, the lackluster audio isn't going to win over any new devotees.

Pick it up if you love the album and want to explore it in a new light; just don't expect to be blown away by the audio presentation.

Product Details