Journey To The Centre Of The Earth is a recording of a live performance given by keyboard maestro Rick Wakeman at the Royal Festival Hall in London in January 1974.
Journey was the second solo album by Rick Wakeman and the first after he left Yes and is based on the Jules Verne story.
It must have been a stunning show as Rick Wakeman didn’t hold back on his ambitions.
Performing with him are the London Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Choir and a rock band that later became known as The English Rock Ensemble. The story is narrated by the actor David Hemmings.
Confusingly, to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of this album, Rick Wakeman re-recorded it in the studio and added back some extra songs that he’s written at the time. Wakeman then toured with this new version.
The first ever rock concert I went to was by Rick Wakeman on the No Earthy Connection tour in 1976. It was very impressive to see him surrounded by different keyboards and jumping from one to another with his long hair and cape flying. he also told some funny jokes.
Rick Wakeman Journey To The Centre Of The Earth
Set List
- The Journey / Recollection – 21:12
- The Battle / The Forest – 18:59
What Other People Say About Journey To The Centre Of The Earth
It hasn’t appeared on any general lists of best live albums I’ve seen.
This is what Amazon has to say:
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Buying This Rick Wakeman Live Album
To help you to find the album quickly and easily, I’ve given you the following links:
- Amazon.com as a CD or mp3
- Amazon.co.uk as a CD or mp3
- iTunes as a digital download
- eBay as a CD
You may however want to do a little searching of your own as there are various versions of the album available.
What Do You Think?
Is this Rick Wakeman’s finest moment?
The Best Prog Rock Live Album
Journey To The Centre Of The Earth is one of the albums nominated in the readers poll to find out the best live prog rock albums.

Please vote and see what the other readers think.