Customer Reviews

No Earthly Connection

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When this album came out in 1976 I was visiting UK and I bought 4 records almost straight off the plane - this one, 10cc's How Dare You, Queen's A Night at the Opera, and Patrick Moraz's I. Of the four, No Earthly Connection brings back the most poignant memories of England for me, and it seems to have the most English sound and feel to it. I fell in love with it instantly, and time doesn't seem to have wearied it either, on hearing it almost 30 years later.

I'm not sure the space imagery in the lyrics works for me - but the sound is just fine. The musicians and singers blend together well and nobody seems to get in the way of anybody else either in vocals or instrumentals. The theme is well developed and carried through the album, the horns are fresh, the keyboards are melodic and Rick shows he can write and arrange a song with sensitivity and class. There are also some poignant moments of tenderness you don't expect after listening to some of Wakeman's other works from the same era.

I like this album as much as Journey to the Centre of the Earth - and although I love Wakeman as a virtuoso soloist, I think he works his best music with an ensemble or a band as in Yes. Like Al Pacino, less is more, somehow.

The mix is crisp and well balanced as well, no worries there. My favourite tracks are Part 1, the Warning and Part 3, the Spaceman.

Overall, No Earthly Connection is a stylish collection of prog rock pieces - neither as showy as Journey, nor as dazzling as some of Wakeman's other works, but more satisfying musically and a real delight to listen to again after so long.

Trivia moment: listen to the sound of water at the end of Part 2: The Maker. A lovely, falling waterfall in a forest, right? Sadly, no - the source of the sound effect is that most basic of human functions, though not emanating from the maestro himself, thankfully.

I waited over 20 years for this record to be released on CD. And it was worth waiting for it.(My old record was not anymore in a good condition, after having played it over thousand times.) This early work presents fine music with wonderful inventiv melodies. It is more diversified and intellegent than many of the other CDs of Rick. There is gregorian like choral, mixed up with sweet Piano melodies and superb progressiv rockmusic of the seventies. For me it's a must for everyone, who loves intelligent music. Just relax and enjoy it !!! Helmut

If you were ever wondering how Journey to the Centre of the Earth and The Myths and Legends of King Arthur might sound like if those albums featured no orchestra, no choirs, and no narrator, then look to No Earthly Connection. It's no real secret that those two projects nearly bankrupted Wakeman, so it's little wonder why No Earthly Connection lacked the orchestra and choir. Still the band is the same as before, although by now calling themselves The English Rock Ensemble, with Ashley Holt handling the vocals, Roger Newell on bass, John Dunterville on guitar, Tony Fernandez on drums, and now a couple wind instrument players, Martyn Shields and Reg Brooks. The other vocalist Garry Pickford-Hopkins was now out of the picture. The old LP featured a silver plastic sheeting you were supposed to roll in to a tube and place in the center of the cover. You see, the cover features a warped face of Wakeman and a keyboard, and placing this silver plastic tube in the center allowed you to view Wakeman the way it was supposed to be, that is his face looking normal and keyboard straight. The album was yet another one of those concepts, this time something about music being the maker of the universe, or something to that effect. Without the orchestra, it's nice to see him once again bringing his Mellotron back to use, plenty of nice use of tron flute, as well as his usual Hammond organ and Moog synthesizer. I absolutely love how the album opened up with him doing multiple overdubs on his Moog synthesizer. The album starts off with a five piece suite, "Music Reincarnate". In reality they really sound like five different songs, like "The Warning", "The Maker", "The Reaper", etc. "The Maker" tends to be more of a ballad while "The Spaceman" tends to be on the funky side, complete with clavinet. "The Reaper" features some really trippy use of Mellotron while in the background you hear recurring themes from "Music Reincarnate". The last two cuts, "The Prisoner" and "The Lost Cycle" are to me give or take, not bad, but not really remarkable. Since No Earthly Connection didn't do as well as his previous albums, it didn't help him recover his debt from his costly projects from Journey and Myths & Legends, it basically forced him to rejoin Yes. Regardless, this album is still recommended if you like Wakeman's solo albums. Of course, newcomers should try The Six Wives of Henry VIII first.

The common opinion among Rick's fans is his best is "Six Wives" or "Jorney to the Centre of the Earth", or, probably "King Arthur".

Although they are great albums, I belive No Earthly Connection is Risk's climax. It has everything: haunting and memorable themes, grand polyphonic playing, concept and great band that did a great job supporting Rick.

If you like Rick's or Yes music, I highly recommend this album! This is Rick Wakeman in his best form and with his signature playing!

I promise you won't be disappointed, and I'm sure you will be humming melodies from this album after the very first listening!

Warning!

There is NO legitimate edition of this album on CD, except of remastered Japanese mini-LP version! This version is available here on Amazon and eBay.

Yes, this version is quite expensive, but...

1) Sound quality is great!

2) LP replica is exact and very accurate, and it has all inserts the original LP had.

All "import editions" of this album in jewel case are pirte Russian CDs with 4-pages insert without lirics, etc.

Besides, sound quality of this "edition" is terrible: the CD was made by direct transferring from an LP in not very good condition. So, you can imaging how it sounds.

Even Rick himself complained in his interviews that pirates literally flooded market with illegal copies of his albums.

This is a shame many of great Ricks albums are still not available on LEGAL CDs, and many of them, like Criminal Records or 1984, are available only as expensive Japanese editions!

I had this on Vinyl when it came out and wore the thing out. It's finally great to see this thing available on CD even if it is an expensive Japanese import.

The concept of this album is great, life and death and meaning arrived through cultivating your music soul. And Rick's playing is outstanding. He has all the great sounding solo's like in Six Wives, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Round Table. The English Ensemble was an outstanding back up to Rick's playing. This album has a much deeper and moody feeling than most of his albums. Just a great ablum, if you are a fan of Rick's, this IS his masterpeice.

Hands down! This is the most solid art-rock record by any one of the giants of the keys. I wish I could point to something by Emerson that's this good. Rick even outdoes himself -- the music here is actually on a par (no pun intended!) with his SIX WIVES, and the vocals better than those on MYTHS AND LEGENDS. Rock momentums and classically trained delicacies all made to work in a complete and interesting "journey" (well better than than that album, BTW). When you think you can't take anymore of the crafty, meat-and-potatoes rockin' greatness, it starts over again: you discover you've got one more hunky track to go and you're thankful. That ain't excess; that's a perfect assembly of players and, most importantly, Rick having gotten on and stayed on a consistently melodious wagonwheel of progressive songwriting since his deft but spare contributions to Yes. NO EARTHLY CONNECTION has the best of everything, thus doesn't really even have the feel of a keyboardist's solo album. So glad it's back. And the production? Even the mp3s sound fabulous!

Just like Yes had a "main series" of albums, No Earthly Connection is one of Wakeman's "main series".

The tracks on this album are separate but interconnected, with themes appearing, developing, then re-appearing. All this happens effortlessly, and is a demonstration of Wakeman at the peak of his creativity. The tunes are highly engaging and just flow easily. This is very melodic rock, brimming with beautiful sounds, music and tunes.

ONE OF RICK'S BEST ALBUMS, EVERY TRACK IS GREAT, MUST HAVE FOR ANY CD COLLECTION, BUT DON'T PAY THESE RIDICULOUS OVER-INFLATED PRICES, I BOUGHT MINE FROM THE MUSIC SPECIALIST ON E BAY, THEY ALSO HAVE A STORE IN GEMM, ANTEATERMUSIC. SAVE YOURSELF A TON OF CASH.
CHEERS!

This is by far the best Wakeman's album. It is basically one long song (almost 30 min) + 2 long complement songs, actually this album is intended to be listened in its entirely without interruptions. I would give this album 8 stars but because there is not an american CD version I am only throwing 6 stars, ( sorry the max is 5 ). Anyway buy this cd or mp3 download with your eyes closed, JUST BUY IT and then enjoy it. This is one of the best album from the 70's.

Originally released 1976, this is a concept album (like most of Wakeman's and prog in general). The theme is where music comes from and how it affects our lives. This is explored on the first half's suite. "The Prisoner" is about a convicted murderer being executed. This is the first with Tony Fernández on drums. Ashley Holt does the vocals on his own for the first time. This was cut at the same French studio Elton John recorded a few albums, in tax dodge fashion. I could listen to this a lot, but there's no need. I have the UK LP, but if I find the mini-LP at a decent price, I might get it. One of the best Yes solo releases ever. Followed up in 2003 by "Out There" with the same theme gone further.