Fields of Green (1996)
| Rick's Perspective |
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| Notes |
| It's always difficult to get enthused in the studio about any album hat you know is not really going to get heard by very many people. I did my best and there is some pretty decent stuff on board,, but at the end of the day will never be considered a classic simply because it wasn't. |
| Wakey's Verdict |
| If you've bought everything else then you might as well buy this one!!!! |
| Little Known Trivia |
| During the recording of the vocals a baby hedgehog came and sat on the studio mat outside the door much to Chrissie Hammond's delight. We fed him milk and cat food and he seemed jolly happy as he nestled down on a warm bed of cotton wool that we lovingly made for him. We called him "Hedgey" In the morning we couldn't wait to see him but he obviously didn't want to see us as he was dead and later that morning we buried him with full hedgehog military honours. |
| Reviews |
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Rushton Howard on 25th August 2003 [Other reviews] This disc has much to recommend it. The construction of the songs is perfect Wakeman. "Rope Trick" is a good thump of fun, and the title track is one of his best bits of pop-song writing. The whole project might have come across better without the drum programming. Where was Tony Fernandez? |
Sergey Lenkov on 10th June 2003 [Other reviews] Classical mainstream prog-art-rock album. One of the best albums of the 90s. It starts with remake of Yes song "Starship Trooper". Romantic and emotional "The Promise of Love" follows it (with very beautiful keyboards party). After that - instumental "Spanish Wizard" (with acoustic guitar party)... It`s not a concept album, but Rick very well harmonized the sequence of songs, so you would listen to this album as a single piece of music. And the spirit of this album.. A kind of new beginning for Rick. Very optimistic. It seems that music were written by experienced craftsman (but still young and a little bit naive). By the way, if you are starting your acquaintance with Rick - this album would be a good choice. In this case I also recommend you "Six Wives of Henry VIII", "Journey" and "Return to the Centre of the Earth". |
Christian Loebenstein on 23rd November 2000 [Other reviews] This album, the original "Fields Of Green", was released in 1996. It opens with a good rendition of the classic "Starship Trooper", only the percussion programming sounds poor and way too straight, if you have either Bill Bruford's or Alan White's drumming in mind. "The Promise Of Love" is a nice ballad, which could have been on "1984", beautifully sung by Crissie Hammond. Fraser Thorneycroft-Smith shows his skills on "The Spanish Wizard". Generally the album keeps that level - good compositions / production and excellent playing, and even the drum programming improves throughout. It was re-released in 1997 on the Music Fusion label, plus one bonus track. My favourite track: "The Never Ending Road" |
Siggi Zielinski on 23rd August 1999 [Other reviews] I am very positively surprised by this album. Having the multitude of albums in mind, which are coming from Rick, it is still amazing that the quality doesn't suffer. "Fields of Green" opens with a Yes-track from their 3rd album,"Starship trooper/Wurm" (a |