Gone to Earth (David Sylvian album)

Gone to Earth
Studio album by David Sylvian
Released	13 September 1986
Recorded	1985–1986 in London and Oxfordshire
Genre	Art rock, electronic, ambient
Length	80:27
Label	Virgin
Producer	Steve 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
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Mojo
Pitchfork	8.3/10

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.”

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. 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 and has been certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 60,000 copies.

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.

Track listing

Original vinyl and Weatherbox CD pressings

All tracks are written by David Sylvian, except as noted

Side A

No.	Title	Length
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.	Title	Length
1.	"Wave"	9:11
2.	"River Man"	4:54
3.	"Silver Moon"	6:19
Total length:		20:24

Side C

No.	Title	Length
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.	Title	Length
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.	Title	Length
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.	Title	Length
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.	Title	Length
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

• David Sylvian – lead vocals, keyboards (A1, A3, B1, B2, B3), guitar (A1, A3, A4, B2) electronics (A1, A2)
• Robert Fripp – guitar (A1, A4, B1, B2, B3, D1, D5), Frippertronics (A4, B1, B2, B3)
• Steve Jansen – drums (A1, A3, B1, B2, B3)
• Phil Palmer – acoustic guitar (A1)
• Ian Maidman – bass (A1, B2, B3)
• Kenny Wheeler – flugelhorn (A2, A3)
• John Taylor – piano (A2)
• Bill Nelson – guitar (A3, B1, B3, C1, C2, D4)
• Richard Barbieri – electronics (A3, B1)
• Harry Beckett – flugelhorn (B1)
• Mel Collins – sax (B2, B3)
• B.J. Cole – pedal steel (B3, C5)
• Joseph Beuys – voice (C1)
• John G. Bennett – voice (A4)
• Robert Graves – voice (D5)

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