Release and Reception
The Six Wives of Henry VIII launched on national television in the United Kingdom on 16 January 1973, with Wakeman performing excerpts of the album on the BBC 2 music show The Old Grey Whistle Test. An audience of around 10 million planned to watch a controversial film about American pop figure Andy Warhol on ITV, but was temporarily banned for screening. As Wakeman noted, "It seems most of them, rather than watch repeats, switched over to Whistle Test and saw my preview of "Henry"...and suddenly it seemed as if the whole country had discovered my music...it was a tremendous break." The album made its general release on 23 January, and it topped the album charts in four countries. It peaked at number 7 on the UK Albums Chart and number 30 on the US Billboard 200. By July 1973, the record had sold 300,000 copies. A year later Wakeman was presented a platinum record at the Midem Festival for sales exceeding two million. The figure grew to six million after five years, and the album went on to sell 15 million copies in total. The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1975.
The album received some negative reaction upon its release. Wakeman recalled "dreadful reviews" and management at A&M calling the record "unsellable" since it was an instrumental concept album. An initial 12,500 copies were pressed by A&M in hope of earning back the money used for production. Though the album was seen by some as one of the worst examples of the progressive rock genre, the record was well received by others. Time magazine named it one of the best pop albums of 1973, describing the album as "an astonishing classic-rock hybrid". Rolling Stone noted Wakeman had "a brilliant feel for tasteful impressionistic composition", having made "an exceptionally interesting instrumental album with superb production". Mike DeGange of Allmusic described Wakeman's use of his synthesizers as "masterful" and "instrumentally stunning", and rated the album 4.5 out of 5.
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