''Mission Earth'' is an album adaption of the novel series of the same name by

Edgar Winter Edgar Holland Winter (born December 28, 1946) is an American musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist, playing keyboards, guitar, saxophone, and percussion, as well as singing. His success peaked in the 1970s with his band the Edgar Winter Group ...

with words and music written by

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a Scientology as a business, business, or a new religious movement. The most recent ...

founder

L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy stories, who is best known for having founded the Church of Scientology. In 1950, Hubbard authored '' Dianeti ...

Production

L. Ron Hubbard left detailed instructions and audio tapes for the musicians and producers to follow when making this album, which was released posthumously for Hubbard. Edgar described ''Mission Earth'' as "both a return to rock’s primal roots and yet highly experimental". Winter had glowing words for Hubbard when he wrote, "Ron's technical insight of the recording process was outstanding." Winter also described Hubbard's delineation of counter-rhythm in rock as something "which was nothing short of phenomenal, particularly inasmuch as it had then been entirely unexplored and only later heard in the African-based rhythms of Paul Simon's work, some five years after Ron’s analysis."

Album cover

The

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

cover artwork for the album and cassette tape feature a blond man, resembling Winter, floating in the clouds behind an iron fist that appears to be holding a representation of the Earth. The iron fist graphic also appears on the cover of '' Mission Earth'', the novel. The background includes a night sky. The words on the album include "Edgar Winter" written in a futuristic-looking font and the words "Mission Earth", written in a cursive script. Some versions of the album were sold with a gold foil sticker that said, "Words and Music by L. Ron Hubbard".

Release

This album was published by Revenimus Music Publishing, the music publishing division of the Church of Scientology, which also published the album '' The Road to Freedom'', which was also written by L. Ron Hubbard, but performed by various artists. It was issued by

Rhino Entertainment Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus. History Founded in 1978, Rhino was originall ...

. The album was predicted to sell 800,000 copies by Rhino Entertainment, however, it probably sold poorly due to the lack of any public interest in Mission Earth as well as Hubbard's infamous status likely swaying away anyone who wanted to buy the album.

Track listing

Personnel

– soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones, sampler, keyboards, vocals *Rick Cruzen – synthesizers, sound effects *

Ron Miscavige ''Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me'' is a book by Ron Miscavige and Dan Koon published in 2016 in the United States and United Kingdom. It presents the personal account of Ron Miscavige's almost five decades in the Church o ...

– trumpet, cornet *Tamia Arbuckle – bass, guitar, sound effects *Charlie Rush – sequencing, percussion, sound effects *Barry Stein – Hammond B3 organ, accordion, vocals ;Additional personnel *Pavel Farkas – first violin *David Campbell – viola *John Walz – cello *Bob Peterson – violin *Vladimir Polimatidi – violin *Bob Becker – viola *Peter Schless – programming, sequencing ("Planet Earth") *Ali Darwich – Turkish tabla drums *Kotto Gabal – Turkish tambourine *Monique Winter – vocals ("Just a Kid") *Margie Nelson – vocals ("Teach Me") *Steve Ambrose – vocals ("The Spacer's Lot") *Bo Tomlyn – programming

References