Olias of Sunhillow - Jon Anderson

Olias of Sunhillow is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Jon Anderson, released on 9 July 1976 by Atlantic Records. When the progressive rock band Yes took a break in activity in August 1975 for each member to record a solo album, Anderson, having established himself as their frontman, decided upon a concept album that tells the story of four tribes of an alien race and their journey to a new planet after their home is threatened by a volcanic eruption. Olias, a magician, builds a spacecraft named the Moorglade Mover and is helped by fellow magicians Ranyart and Qoquaq to gather and carry the population to their new home. The album was recorded using a mobile studio situated at Anderson’s country home in Seer Green, Buckinghamshire, with himself as the sole producer and Mike Dunne as the engineer. Musically, the album features elements of progressive rock with psychedelic folk, experimental electronics, and world music, and features Anderson playing every instrument, which includes a variety of keyboards, guitars, and percussion. The track “Ocean Song“ was performed live at select shows during Yes’s 1976 North American tour. Olias of Sunhillow peaked at number eight on the UK Album Charts, the best performing chart position of the solo albums released by the band at the time. It reached number forty-seven on the US Billboard 200. The album received generally favourable reviews from music critics, and was reissued in 2021 with a remastered stereo mix, from which a 5.1 surround sound mix was created. Since 2000, Anderson has been working on music for a sequel album entitled The Songs of Zamran: Son of Olias, which centres around the creation of Earth’s structure.