Return to the Centre of the Earth

Return to the Centre of the Earth
Return to the Centre of the Earth
Studio album by Rick Wakeman
Released	15 March 1999
Recorded	March–December 1998
Studio	POP Sound; (Santa Monica, California); CTS Studios; (Wembley, London); The Jacaranda Room; (Hollywood, California); A&M Studios; (Hollywood, California); Bajonor Studios; (Isle of Man); The Dog House Studio; (Henley-on-Thames, England)
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	76:51
Label	EMI Classics
Producer	Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman chronology

Return to the Centre of the Earth is a studio album by English keyboardist Rick Wakeman. It was released on 15 March 1999 on EMI Classics and is the sequel to his 1974 concept album Journey to the Centre of the Earth, itself based on the same-titled science fiction novel by Jules Verne. It tells a new story of three unnamed travellers who attempt to follow the original journey 200 years later, but from a different entrance. It is narrated by actor Patrick Stewart.

Ideas for a sequel developed in 1991 with initial plans for a 1994 release, the twentieth anniversary of the original. After Wakeman produced a demo tape of songs, he caught the interest of EMI Classics who signed him to a recording deal and supplied an advance to record it. The album features the London Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Choir, and guest performances by Ozzy Osbourne, Bonnie Tyler, Tony Mitchell, Trevor Rabin, Justin Hayward, and Katrina Leskanich. In 1998, production halted after Wakeman was hospitalised with a life threatening case of pneumonia and pleurisy.

The album was Wakeman's most significant album of the decade and peaked at No. 34 on the UK Albums Chart, his first UK Top 40 hit in 18 years, but failed to make a commercial impact in the US. Wakeman performed the album in its entirety with his rock band, orchestra, and choir, in 2001 and 2006, both times in Canada. A deluxe box set with live and previously unreleased audio and video material was released in 2021.