Nolan & Wakeman - Tales By Gaslight.

Nolan & Wakeman
Tales By Gaslight
(Elflock/Burning Shed)
7/10
By Decibel Report - May 2, 2021

It's been over twenty years since Oliver Wakeman and Clive Nolan released their prog opera concept albums Jabberwocky and The Hound Of The Baskervilles. To mark this double decade passage of time, both of these musical interpretations of literary classics have been remastered and collected together with a third disc of unreleased recordings, Dark Fables, from what was to be a follow-up release based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; with outtakes from THOTB.

In the grand tradition of famous and well-thumbed tales set to modern music, the gothic structures of these prog-rock concepts, created by both keyboard players, build a rich tapestry of evocative arrangements that stitch together to create an aura of mood movements that mostly succeed in soundtracking the plots of these landmark stories. Guilefully aided by a distinguished cast of contributors, included are narrations by Oliver's keyboard wizard father, Rick Wakeman, reading Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky nonsense poem, and the once celluloid Son of God actor Robert Powell as Dr John Watson.

Further musical contributions are provided by a roll call of prestigious prog and rock guest musicians from Yes' original guitarist the late Peter Banks, Magnum vocalist Bob Catley, Ayreon mastermind Arjen Lucassen - himself no stranger to the grandiloquent concept album - and former Landmarq singer Tracy Hitchings who powerfully assist in capturing these enduring fictions in atmospheric sound.

The third disc of new recordings also involves Gordon Giltrap and Paul Manzi, amongst others, who have both previously collaborated with Nolan and Wakeman in the own individual careers. The intriguing results of these familiarities weave a trail of no little magic on these ambient musical curios.

Packaged in a dark and foreboding designed box set, each of the 3 CDs contain a 16-page booklet, unseen artwork, plus tales aplenty behind the creation of each of these releases that are sure to lure in the curious concept loving fan to the dramatic charms of these previously out of print and new recordings.