Released in May 1976 No Earthly Connection is the sixth solo album released by Rick Wakeman after his departure from Yes, It was recorded in France with his band the English Rock Ensemble. The album isn’t as bombastic as his previous efforts, and only the length of a single vinyl album, with the first side devoted to the half-hour suite “Music Reincarnate” (it spills over to the second side in the original vinyl pressing) and the second splitting the difference between two songs, “The Prisoner” and “The Lost Cycle. The 2-CD deluxe edition comes with a bonus disc containing a concert from Hammersmith recorded in 1976 for the BBC. The booklet contains extensive notes and a new interview with Rick by Prog editor Jerry Ewing while the album was re-mastered at Abbey Road by Andrew Walter. The original LP contained a small square sheet of reflective plastic that could be curved into a cylinder, which when placed on the front cover allowed the viewer to see the cover drawing undistorted and with a 3D-like effect. A barely noticeable thin colourful arc on the cover appeared then as a rainbow keyboard about to be played by Wakeman’s hands, in consonance with the album’s theme of a creation myth based on music, this has been replicated in the vinyl album that accompanies the deluxe edition