Olias of Sunhillow

By mid-1975, Anderson had been the lead vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes for seven years. In August of that year the band, which was then a line-up of Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Steve Howe, drummer Alan White, and keyboardist Patrick Moraz, completed the 1974–1975 tour in support of their seventh album, Relayer. The group, who had been recording and touring consistently for the past five years, felt a break was necessary and agreed to take time off for each member to make their own solo album. The latter book by Alder describes the theory of four "nature tribes" that once lived on the planet: Negro, Oriental, Nordic, and Asian, which became the four tribes in Olias that were not of people, but "music consciousness tribes". Halfway through the album, it became clear to Anderson what he could and could not do: "You just find out where you're at in being able to express yourself. It was an intense period of time." Plot The planet of Sunhillow is home to four tribes—Nagrunium, Asatranius, Oractaniom and Nordranious—each of which represents a different aspect of music consciousness, which comes under threat after a catastrophic eruption of its volcano. Olias, a magician, is the chosen architect of an ark, named the Moorglade Mover, to fly Sunhillow's people to a new planet. He is helped by fellow magicians Ranyart, the harp-playing navigator of the glider, and Qoquaq (pronounced "ko-quake"), the mystic and appointed spokesperson who unites the four tribes to leave the planet together. Olias fashions the Moorglade Mover by persuading Sunhillow's trees and fish to sacrifice their lives and substance to form it, while Qoquaq travels across Sunhillow using trance singing to bring together the mutually suspicious tribes to unite and board the ship. With the population on board and in a collective trance, the ship leaves Sunhillow just before the planet explodes into millions of silent teardrops. As the glider travels through deep space, the refugees succumb to the mysterious Moon Ra, a force of disorientation. Creating an evil form out of their panic and frustration, they are reassured and reunified by Olias through his singing of chords of love and life. The Moorglade Mover lands on the plains of a new planet named Asguard, and the tribes disembark and go their separate ways. Their mission completed, Olias, Ranyart, and Qoquaq ascend the highest of Asguard's mountains to sleep and "become one with the universe". ==Recording==

The album was recorded in approximately four months in Anderson's then home at Long Grove in Seer Green, Buckinghamshire, which housed a garage that housed a mobile recording studio named the Mobile Mobile. Anderson performed all of the vocals and instruments himself, playing over thirty instruments (amongst them different types of keyboards, guitars, lutes, percussion, harp, wooden flute, Asian bells, sitar, Moog synthesiser and Turkish saz). ==Release==

The album was originally set for a release around Christmas of 1975, but it was pushed back some months so Anderson could complete it. "Ocean Song" was performed by Yes on their 1976 tour, but as with the other songs they performed from other members' solo albums, it was dropped after the first few weeks. == Artwork ==

Despite repeated requests from Anderson, Roger Dean was too busy to commit to designing the cover, so Anderson decided upon a series of designs by artist David Fairbrother-Roe, who was suggested by a friend. ==Reception==

Writing in RAM in July 1976, Bob Edmunds described the album as being "as impressive as anything Yes have produced collectively... Musicians with greater skills (e.g. Mike Oldfield) have created instrumental works on this scale but have always been denied access to the wonderful instrument of Jon Anderson's voice. Endless tours have done nothing to detract from one of the richest, purest voices in rock … . Olias has a continuity of intensity rarely found on any album, let alone one this ambitious. It won't go down too well with those who reject anything except full-tilt rock'n'roll. But there's no way you can deny the sheer grandeur of Jon Anderson's music, no matter what opinions you hold about rock." Paul Stump's 1997 History of Progressive Rock called the album "probably the most complete manifesto to Progressive ideology (infinitely more so than Tales from Topographic Oceans|[Tales from] Topographic [Oceans])." Stump praised the album's divergence from the normally accepted practices and language of mainstream rock, while noting that it is also very accessible to a mainstream rock audience. In AllMusic, Dave Connolly concluded "the idea may seem overly ambitious, but Anderson fills the record with enough magical moments to delight fans of Yes' mystic side... at no point does the music lose its spellbinding effect for lack of sonic detail. Olias of Sunhillow is faithful to the spirit of Yes, though decidedly more airy than that band's visceral style ... Olias of Sunhillow is not the missing Yes album some might hope it to be, though it does prefigure the later Jon & Vangelis collaborations of the '80s." Writing on his own Progrography website, Connolly has also commented that "it's not a stretch to say that Olias of Sunhillow looks and sounds like [Roger] Dean's previous Yes artwork come to life. Since Anderson himself handles all the instruments, the album is an airier affair than Yes, and yet at the heart of these songs is the same captivating, intoxicating core that the singer brought to that band.... Olias of Sunhillow is the one Anderson album most likely to please Yes fans, immersed as it is in their mystical aura. It's also a gorgeously packaged product (in LP form, anyway), which helps set the mood immeasurably." Writing about Olias of Sunhillow on his Mewsings blog in 2009 (thirty-three years after the album's initial release), Murray Ewing reflected "there’s a dangerous swerve towards the New Age in Anderson’s first solo album, both in the optimistic whimsy of its fantasy world, and the musical palette of soft, sparkling synths and world instruments. Thankfully, it easily escapes that particular doldrum of musical hell through sheer energy (on the musical front) and sheer weirdness (on the fantasy front). This isn’t music to attune your chakras to, it’s adventurous, full of drama, uplifting melodies, evocative soundscapes, and a fresh unearthliness that makes it the only fantasy album I can think of which genuinely sounds like it could have come from another world." Classic Rock said the album's lyrics were "as preposterous as they come." ==Reissues==

The album has been released several times. Wounded Bird Records in the US released the album on 28 February 2006. Contrary to some earlier releases it presents all the artwork, but very small. Some earlier CD releases include only part of the original artwork and story, omitting pages 3–6 of the original vinyl album. The Japanese pressing on MMG Inc/Atlantic AMCY-18 presents the complete artwork in a booklet, like the vinyl version with eight pages (including frontcover and backcover). The album was reissued in January 2014 on SACD by Audio Fidelity Records. In 2021 the album was reissued in a CD+DVD package from Cherry Red Records. The CD contains a remastered version of the album in stereo. The DVD contains the remastered audio in 96/24 stereo LPCM, as well as a 5.1 surround mix in both DTS 96/24 and Dolby AC3 formats; the 5.1 audio is upmixed from the stereo masters because the original 24-track tapes could not be located. The packaging includes reproductions of the original album art and story, although again with small reproduction that may make the lettering hard to read. Two enclosed booklets contain track listings, technical information, lyrics, and an interview with Anderson by Malcolm Dome. ==Sequel==

In 2004, Anderson called for collaborators to contact him via his website. He described a project that would be a "return to Olias". In 2006, around the time Olias of Sunhillow was re-released, Anderson announced that he was making a sequel called The Songs of Zamran: Son of Olias. On 3 January 2013, Anderson confirmed he was still working on The Songs of Zamran: Son of Olias. The following year, Anderson stated on his Facebook page: "I keep myself busy working on the Zamran project." ==Track listing==

Words and music by Jon Anderson. ==Personnel==

Adapted from the 2021 release booklet notes. Music • Jon Anderson • vocals • keyboards (Minimoog, Korg miniKORGs Mk 1 & 2, Farfisa organ, Rhodes 66 electric piano, double manual Mellotron, church organ in Beaconsfield, Baldwin baby grand piano, Freeman String Symphonizer) • guitars, lutes and other stringed instruments (Martin and Gibson acoustic guitars, Gibson Melody Maker electric guitar, Höfner violin bass guitar, Gibson mandocello, sitar, tampuri, bouzouki, saz) • percussion (Ludwig wood blocks, tambourine, triangle, custom-built cymbal tree, assorted cymbals and gongs, marimba, glockenspiel, toy xylophone, bells, Chinese bells, African cowbells, Tibetan bells) • other instruments (Celtic harp, Mbira, assorted African wooden flutes, drums, large brass band drum, brass band snare drum, Caribbean long drums, assorted Navajo drums, African skin drums, tabla) Production • Mike Dunne – engineer • Brian "It's Going Now" Gaylor – electronics • John Martin – co-ordination, equipment, goodies • Brian East – mastering at RCA • Dave Roe – illustrator, designer • Hipgnosis – art direction • Jeff Cummings – portrait • Richard Manning – portrait colouring ==Charts==