Gone to Earth (David Sylvian album)

Gone to Earth is technically the third solo album by David Sylvian, released in 1986. However, David Sylvian’s website davidsylvian.com states that Gone to Earth is “David Sylvian’s second solo album proper,” and that the previous release Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities is an “intermediary album.”

Gone to Earth
Studio album by
David Sylvian
Released13 September 1986
Recorded1985–1986 in London and Oxfordshire
GenreArt rock, electronic, ambient
Length80:27
LabelVirgin
ProducerSteve Nye, David Sylvian
David Sylvian chronology
Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities
(1985)		 Gone to Earth
(1986)		 Secrets of the Beehive
(1987)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Mojo[2]
Pitchfork8.3/10[3]

History

The album is a two-record set featuring one record of experimental rock songs with vocals and one consisting entirely of ambient instrumental tracks.[4] Guest artists include Robert Fripp (who co-wrote three songs) and Bill Nelson (who co-wrote one song). It was recorded in part at The Manor Studios in Oxfordshire, England, with producer Steve Nye. The album peaked at no.24. in the UK albums chart[5] and has been certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 60,000 copies.[6]

Original UK, US and Japanese CD pressings omit four of the instrumentals: "Silver Moon Over Sleeping Steeples", "Camp Fire: Coyote Country", "A Bird of Prey Vanishes Into a Bright Blue Cloudless Sky" and "Sunlight Seen Through Towering Trees". Later Japanese CD editions and the Weatherbox set both included the complete album on two discs. In 2003, the album was re-released in a double-disc format that mirrors the original vinyl release, and included three bonus remixes, while shortening the intro to "Before the Bullfight".

In February 2019, as part of a redesigned monochrome sleeved vinyl reissue batch of his 80's albums, Gone To Earth was released as a double album with a b/w picture of Sylvian replacing the original artwork. No new mastering was done for this; the 2003 remaster was used.

Critical reception

Gone to Earth was well received by the contemporary British music press. Sounds' Chris Roberts praised the album: "it's the perfect realisation of artist converting image to mood, subverting fantasy to super-reality. Delicate, but with the strength of legions, it's an Eighties masterpiece and conceivably his finest approximation of distilled beauty ever... [Gone to Earth] is almost as breathtaking as it is life giving."[7]

Track listing
Original vinyl and Weatherbox CD pressings

All tracks are written by David Sylvian, except as noted.

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Taking the Veil"4:40
2."Laughter and Forgetting"2:40
3."Before the Bullfight"9:45
4."Gone to Earth" (Robert Fripp/Sylvian)3:06
Total length:20:11
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Wave"9:11
2."River Man"4:54
3."Silver Moon"6:19
Total length:20:24
Side C
No.TitleLength
1."The Healing Place"5:34
2."Answered Prayers" (Bill Nelson/Sylvian)3:10
3."Where the Railroad Meets the Sea"2:52
4."The Wooden Cross"5:04
5."Silver Moon Over Sleeping Steeples"2:22
Total length:19:02
Side D
No.TitleLength
1."Camp Fire : Coyote Country" (Fripp/Sylvian)3:51
2."A Bird of Prey Vanishes into a Bright Blue Cloudless Sky"3:16
3."Home"4:33
4."Sunlight Seen Through Towering Trees"3:02
5."Upon This Earth" (Fripp/Sylvian)6:30
Total length:21:12

For Weatherbox, Disc 1 included sides A and B, while Disc 2 included sides C and D.


Original CD pressing
No.TitleLength
1."Taking the Veil"4:40
2."Laughter and Forgetting"2:40
3."Before the Bullfight"9:45
4."Gone to Earth" (Robert Fripp/Sylvian)3:06
5."Wave"9:11
6."River Man"4:54
7."Silver Moon"6:19
8."The Healing Place"5:34
9."Answered Prayers" (Bill Nelson/Sylvian)3:10
10."Where the Railroad Meets the Sea"2:52
11."The Wooden Cross"5:04
12."Home"4:33
13."Upon This Earth" (Fripp/Sylvian)6:30
Total length:68:18


2003 CD pressing

All tracks are written by David Sylvian, except as noted.

Disc 1
No.TitleLength
1."Taking the Veil"4:40
2."Laughter and Forgetting"2:41
3."Before the Bullfight"9:57
4."Gone to Earth" (Robert Fripp/Sylvian)3:06
5."Wave"9:11
6."River Man"4:54
7."Silver Moon"6:19
8."River Man (Remix)"4:24
9."Gone to Earth (Remix)" (Robert Fripp/Sylvian)1:56
10."Camp Fire : Coyote Country (Remix)" (Fripp/Sylvian)3:46
Total length:50:53
Disc Two
No.TitleLength
1."The Healing Place"5:34
2."Answered Prayers" (Bill Nelson/Sylvian)3:10
3."Where the Railroad Meets the Sea"2:52
4."The Wooden Cross"5:04
5."Silver Moon Over Sleeping Steeples"2:22
6."Camp Fire : Coyote Country" (Fripp/Sylvian)3:51
7."A Bird of Prey Vanishes into a Bright Blue Cloudless Sky"3:16
8."Home"4:33
9."Sunlight Seen Through Towering Trees"3:02
10."Upon This Earth" (Fripp/Sylvian)6:30
Total length:40:14

Personnel

Additional personnel
  • Russell Mills – design
  • David Buckland – photography
  • Steve Nye – engineer, piano (C3)
  • Nick Blundell- assistant engineer
  • Julian Wheatley assistant engineer
  • Noel Haris – assistant engineer
  • Catherine Wilson – assistant engineer
  • Yuka Fujii – special thanks

References
  1. Bultman, Scott. "Gone to Earth – David Sylvian". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  2. Eccleston, Danny (April 2019). "Ghosts busters". Mojo (305): 100.
  3. Sodomsky, Sam (23 February 2019). "David Sylvian: Secrets of the Beehive / Brilliant Trees / Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities / Gone to Earth". Pitchfork. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  4. Hegarty, Paul; Halliwell, Martin (2011). Beyond and Before: Progressive Rock since the 1960s. Bloomsbury. p. 119. ISBN 9781441114808.
  5. David Sylvian the official charts
  6. British Phonographic Industry online database Archived 6 February 2013 at WebCite
  7. Martin Power David Sylvian: The Last Romantic Omnibus Press 2012, chapter 11
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