The album's story is about a space explorer who longs to return to his one love on Earth, only to eventually find that true love has always been with him — inside. The album's synthesizer-heavy rock sound is similar to ELO's 1981 album Time. Although the album was well received by ELO fans,[5] it was not a commercial success, largely due to the absence of marketing.[2] Rock Legacy released a remastered special edition on CD in 2011.
On November 9, 2019, to commemorate the 50th year of the Moon landings, the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire performed an orchestral version of Earthrise with Tandy and Morgan.[6]
Track listing
The track order of the original 1986 release, on LP and cassette with the FMRevolver label, is:
Original track listing
Side one
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Earth Rise"
2:06
2.
"Under the Blue"
1:17
3.
"Asteroid"
1:57
4.
"Suddenly"
3:34
5.
"Escape from the Citadel"
2:47
6.
"Caesar of the Galaxy"
2:44
7.
"One Thousand Worlds"
3:30
8.
"Spaceship Earth"
4:35
Side two
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Zero Zero"
3:07
2.
"The Third Planet"
2:33
3.
"Ria"
2:48
4.
"Princeton"
6:00
5.
"Pictures in My Pillow"
4:00
6.
"The Secret"
3:54
Total length:
44:58
CD issue
The remastered CD, released on 18 August 2011, contains the following tracks, some of which are previously unreleased or bonus.
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Spaceship Earth"
4:32
2.
"Earth Rise"
1:52
3.
"Under the Blue" / "Asteroid"
3:12
4.
"Starclipse" / "Purpose"
3:36
5.
"Escape from the Citadel"
2:45
6.
"One Thousand Worlds"
4:01
7.
"The Third Planet"
2:29
8.
"Suddenly"
3:32
9.
"Princeton"
5:21
10.
"Wheels"
2:05
11.
"Caesar of the Galaxy"
3:00
12.
"The Secret"
3:49
13.
"Zero Zero" (plus 29 seconds of silence added)
3:07
Total length:
40:09
Additional tracks
No.
Title
Length
14.
"Pictures in My Pillow"
4:03
15.
"Ria" (instrumental + backing vocals)
3:11
16.
"Starclipse" (outmix)
2:59
Personnel
Personnel list according to the 1986 reissue liner notes.[7][8]
Earthrise
Richard Tandy - keyboards, bass guitar, guitar, producer
Dave Morgan - keyboards, vocoder, vocals, guitar, producer
Haydon James Simpson / Jim Simpson - drums, guitar, on "Zero Zero"
Tony Clarkin - guitar on "Ria"
Bob Wilson - guitar
Martin Smith - guitar on Secret (uncredited on re-issue)[3]
