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I have Tomita's "Pictures" too. All ARP synths as I recall. Pretty impressive given the technology of the time. ......... I think Emerson won the Contemporary Keyboard (now Keyboard Magazine) readers' poll as Best Overall Keyboardist five consecutive years, until they finally created a Hall of Fame for him, which disqualified him from further polls.
I think Tomita's first two albums were done almost entirely on a Moog modular system and a Mellotron 400.
Yea, Keith was always going to win that poll, so they had to disqualify him. Wakeman was good, but had none of the inventiveness of Emerson.
As an impressionable keyboard-playing teen in the 70's, I was a huge fan of both Yes and ELP, but I always knew that Keith's playing was superior - perhaps partly due to the fact that ELP's sound, as a trio, was dominated by the keyboard, while Wakeman was more of a supporting player.
Wakeman was defintely second fiddle to Steve Howe, whose playing at that time far transcended any other rock guitarist. To this day Howe's guitar work on Relayer (with Patrick Moraz on keyboard, who was definitely superior to Wakeman) is some of the finest guitarwork on any album, any genre, each and every note, every space sheer perfection. So Wakeman definitely took a supportive role during his Yes years, though IMO he wasn't worthy of a dominant role.
So Wakeman definitely took a supportive role during his Yes years, though IMO he wasn't worthy of a dominant role.
Keyboardists don't usually take a dominant role in (popular)rock bands. Steve Walsh comes to mind but he had the advantage of also being the lead singer of Kansas.
My Keyboards: Estonia L-190, Roland RD88, Yamaha P-80, Bilhorn Telescope Organ c 1880, Antique Pump Organ, 1850 concertina, 3 other digital pianos ------------------------- My original piece on BandCamp: https://frankbaxtermrpianoworld.bandcamp.com/releases
Me banging out some tunes in the Estonia piano booth at the NAMM show...
Wakeman was good, but had none of the inventiveness of Emerson. 
