Lisztomania (album)
Lisztomania is the first soundtrack album by English keyboardist Rick Wakeman. It was released in November 1975 by A&M Records as the soundtrack for the Ken Russell's musical biographical film "Lisztomania" about the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt. By 1975, Wakeman had established himself as the former Yes keyboardist and a successful solo artist. After completing a world tour in early 1975, Wakeman was invited to compose the score to "Lisztomania". Some tracks feature The Who's Roger Daltrey singing lead vocals. The album was later upgraded as "The Real Lisztomania" by Wakeman because he was dissatisfied with  the original release. Background. By 1975, Wakeman had established himself as the former Yes keyboardist and a successful solo artist with three rock concept albums: "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" (1973), "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" (1974), and "The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table" (1975). After Wakeman finished touring "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" in March 1975, he was asked to compose the score for "Lisztomania", a contemporary biographical film of the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt directed by Ken Russell. Wakeman recorded the album through 1975 during  gaps between recording and live performances, and worked closely with Russell on the score. Once Russell knew exactly what music was going to be used, he gave Wakeman artistic freedom to record what he wanted. Initially Wakeman considered the record "a bonus soundtrack", but after writing and recording the music for it, he was "very happy" with the results and regarded it as his "next official album". An initial cut and master was produced by Wakeman which his label, A&M Records, declared unsatisfactory. This complicated matters further between Wakeman and A&M, as the two parties had disagreed over aspects of  his earlier solo albums. In August 1975, after the album had been recorded, Wakeman said he was pleased with the music, but had no control over what tracks were to be included on the album. The situation culminated in A&M producing a cut featuring less of the music Wakeman had written and recorded without his approval which, upon hearing what the label had selected for release, annoyed him greatly. Release and reception. When Allmusic rated the album they said "The soundtrack to Ken Russell's movie provided Wakeman with a canvas upon which to work his magic (or do his  damage—it depends upon one's attitude) upon the music of Franz Liszt and, to a lesser degree, Richard Wagner. Actually, much of what is here is more substantial than the material on Journey or Myths and Legends, which can be attributed largely to the composers' contributions." Wakeman himself has written on his website that "this album stinks". Excerpts from the album were performed live on Wakeman's tour of North America and Brazil in late 1975. Personnel. Musicians Production