Lisztomania (album)


Lisztomania is a soundtrack album by English keyboardist Rick Wakeman, released in November 1975 on A&M Records. It features Wakeman's score for Ken Russell's film Lisztomania, itself a biography of the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt.
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 April 1975, Wakeman was asked to compose much of the score for Lisztomania, a contemporary biography of the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt directed by Ken Russell. An initial cut and master was produced by Wakeman which his label, A&M Records, declared unsatisfactory. This only complicated matters further between Wakeman and A&M as the two parties had disagreed over aspects of his earlier albums, The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Journey to the Centre of the Earth. This led A&M to produce a cut of its own and without Wakeman's approval, which contained less of his music and annoyed the keyboardist upon hearing what A&M had selected for release.

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 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."

Track listing

Side one
  1. "Rienzi/Chopsticks Fantasia" - 4:20
  2. "Love's Dream" - 4:25 - vocal: Roger Daltrey
  3. "Dante Period" - 2:05
  4. "Orpheus Song" - 3:10 - vocal: Roger Daltrey
  5. "Hell" - 1:59 - vocal: Linda Lewis
Side two
  1. "Hibernation" - 1:11
  2. "Excelsior Song" - 2:32 - vocal: Paul Nicholas
  3. "Master Race" - 0:45
  4. "Rape, Pillage and Clap" - 3:09
  5. "Funerailles" - 3:48 - vocal: Roger Daltrey
  6. "Free Song " - 1:57
  7. "Peace At Last" - 2:59 - vocal: Roger Daltrey

    Personnel

Musicians
Technical