Wakeman with Wakeman

Wakeman With Wakeman is where both Rick and son Adam collaborate to create some outstanding keyboard music, heavily layered and intelligently catapulted forward with energy and instrumental brilliance. Even the piano work is becoming, fusing the talents of both generations together and creating some fully charged pieces of pure keyboard playing. With barely any percussion or strings, the Wakemans dominate ten different types of synthesizers and keyboards, combining both intricate and simplistic playing styles across a vast range of rhythms and rock tempos. The power of the Korg and Hammond organ is best applied on “Sync or Swim” and on the turbulent “Megalomania,” as the intensity of the synthesizers are kept controlled and expertly piloted throughout the course of the song’s duration. A version of the Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black” is performed as well, with the crescendoed solo played by Adam Wakeman in a clean and pleasingly thrift fashion, but the resemblances are miles apart. Overall, the album stands as a straightforward concordance of keyboard work, showcasing the skills of both musicians. If the purpose of Wakeman With Wakeman is to demonstrate the flexibility of the keyboard, then it fulfills its intentions meticulously. – Mike DeGagne