NO EARTHLY CONNECTION

Not in the same style as its predecessors like "King Arthur" but possibly his best album; certainly the best lyrically, the most ambitious in scope, and the one on which Rick's keyboards play as part of a band rather than just keyboards with a backing band.

It's always struck me as ironic that having left Yes because of Tales becoming too long-winded and pompous, unlike the earlier tunes of Fragile that he wanted to return to, Rick ended up producing an album with a very cosmic theme, and with one track (containing several parts) running to 27+ minutes - longer than anything Yes ever did! However the music itself is full of great melodies; and he uses a small brass section to great effect.

The album itself can be difficult to obtain on CD - the master tapes have apparently been lost; either you look for a Russian "special edition" (ie bootleg) that can turn up on e-bay, or else you can find if you look hard, a very good Japanese official import which includes a repoduction of the LP cover complete with foil to view Rick's reflection - bit lost on a CD!! From time to time, these have turned up on e.g. Amazon and having experienced both, its worth tracking down the Japanese import.