Rick Wakeman’s sixth solo album No Earthly Connection is to receive a deluxe edition next month.
It was originally released in 1976 and was recorded in France with Wakeman and his English Rock Ensemble.
It’s been remastered at Abbey Road Studios by Andrew Walter and will be released on November 11 via UMC on 2CD. The second disc will feature live material recorded at Wakeman’s show at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, in 1976 which was originally captured by the BBC.
No Earthly Connection will also feature a booklet with extensive liner notes, including an interview with Wakeman conducted by Prog editor Jerry Ewing.
A statement reads: “The album is also being released digitally as well as on a single CD and on vinyl. The original LP came with a small square sheet of reflective plastic, which when curved into a cylinder and placed on the front cover, allowed the viewer to see the cover’s drawing undistorted and with a 3D-like effect – a barely discernible, thin, colourful arc on the cover then appeared as a rainbow keyboard about to be played by Wakeman’s hands.
“This was in consonance with the album’s theme of a creation myth based on music. Excitingly, this has been replicated on the vinyl edition of the album.”
Wakeman will enter the studio next year to work on new music with his former Yes bandmates, Jon Anderson and Trevor Rabin. The trio will tour the UK in March next year.
- Pantera covered every song on GNR's Appetite For Destruction
- Firefly Burning Release Portishead Cover
- Van Der Graaf Generator’s Hammill lines up London residency
- Magenta to headline one-day UK event
Rick Wakeman No Earthly Connection tracklist
CD1
- Part I: The Warning
- Part II: The Maker
- Part III: The Spaceman
- Part IV: The Realisation
- Part V: The Reaper
- The Prisoner
- The Lost Cycle
CD2
- Music Reincarnate: The Spaceman
- Catherine Howard
- Myth And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table: Sir Lancelot And The Black Knight
- Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table: Arthur
- Music Reincarnate: The Realisation
- The Forest
- Catherine Parr
- Music Reincarnate: The Prisoner
- Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table: Merlin The Magician
Anderson, Rabin & Wakeman UK tour 2017
Mar 12: Cardiff Arena
Mar 13: Birmingham Symphony Hall
Mar 15: Brighton Dome
Mar 16: Bournemouth International Centre
Mar 19: London Hammersmith Apollo
Mar 21: Nottingham Royal Concert Hall
Mar 22: Edinburgh Usher Hall
Mar 24: Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Mar 25: Manchester Apollo
