''Only Visiting This Planet'' is a

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...

album recorded by

Larry Norman Larry David Norman (April 8, 1947 – February 24, 2008) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, record label owner, and record producer. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Christian rock music and released more than 100 album ...

in 1972. The album was selected as the second-best album in ''

CCM Magazine ''CCM Magazine'' is a twice-monthly online magazine focusing on contemporary Christian music, published by Salem Publishing, a division of Salem Communications. History ''CCM'' was first published in July 1978, as a printed magazine. It has bee ...

''s ''The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music''. In April 2014 the album was announced as one of 25 sound recordings inducted for 2013 into the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...

, that preserves as "cultural, artistic and/or historical treasures, representing the richness and diversity of the American soundscape","Hallelujah, the 2013 National Recording Registry Reaches 400"
"News from the Library of Congress" (April 2, 2014). making it the first Christian rock album chosen for the registry.

History

On September 8, 1972 Norman began recording his second studio album, ''Only Visiting This Planet'', the first album in a projected trilogy,''Larry Norman - So Long Ago the Garden''
''Newmusicplease.com'' August 28, 2006 retrieved December 27, 2007 in

AIR Studios Associated Independent Recording (AIR) is an independent recording company founded in London in 1965 by record producer Sir George Martin and his business partner John Burgess, after their departure from Parlophone. The studio complex was founded ...

in London. ''Only Visiting This Planet'', often ranked as Norman's best album, "mixed his Christian message with strong political themes", and "was meant to reach the

flower children Flower child originated as a synonym for hippie, especially among the idealistic young people who gathered in San Francisco and the surrounding area during the Summer of Love in 1967. It was the custom of "flower children" to wear and distribute ...

disillusioned by the government and the church" with its "abrasive, urban reality of

the gospel The gospel or good news is a theological concept in several religions. In the historical Roman imperial cult and today in Christianity, the gospel is a message about salvation by a divine figure, a savior, who has brought peace or other benefits ...

". In a 1980 interview, Norman explained its purpose:

''Only Visiting This Planet'' is the first part of the trilogy, and represents the present. On the front cover, I find myself standing in the middle of New York City, with buildings and traffic pressed around me and my hand on my head kind of saying, What is going on in this life? Is this really earth?, and the back cover is me visiting the site of a previous civilisation with its own
monolith A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive rock (geology), stone or rock, such as some mountains. For instance, Savandurga, Savandurga mountain is a monolith mountain in India. Erosion usually exposes the geological for ...
s, not skyscrapers, but amazing, architecturally sound structures just the same. The
Druids A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...
apparently constructed
Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...
to help them observe or worship the sun, and their civilisation is now as dead as will someday be New York. And I'm just standing there, looking around, wondering what happened to kill off this culture and reduce its entire recorded history to a few standing structures.

On January 6, 1973 Norman was one of three named as Best New Male Artist of the year by '' Cashbox''. By February 1973 songs from ''Only Visiting This Planet'' had been recommended by ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' for "heavy

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

airplay", and were being played on

WVVS-FM WVVS-FM (90.9 FM) was a radio station broadcasting a college radio format, and licensed to serve Valdosta, Georgia, United States. The station was owned and operated by the students of Valdosta State University, though unlike other college radio ...

KSHE KSHE (styled as K-SHE) is a Classic rock radio station licensed to Crestwood, Missouri which serves the Greater St. Louis area. KSHE transmits on 94.7 MHz and currently uses the slogan "KSHE 95, Real Rock Radio". Owned by Hubbard Broadcasti ...

-FM, and

WKTK WKTK (98.5 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Crystal River, Florida, and serving the Gainesville–Ocala radio market. It is owned by Audacy, Inc., and carries an adult contemporary radio format, switching to Christmas music fo ...

-FM. In 1990

voted it "the greatest Christian album ever recorded". ''Only Visiting This Planet'' was one of 25 sound recordings inducted for 2013 into the Library of Congress

, that preserves as "cultural, artistic and/or historical treasures, representing the richness and diversity of the American soundscape." A statement by the Library of Congress called the album "the key work in the early history of Christian rock," describing Norman as one who "commented on the world as he saw it from his position as a passionate, idiosyncratic outsider to mainstream churches." After a tour of South Africa in June and

the UK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in July, and the release in July of his "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?", a songbook featuring some of Norman's songs from both ''Upon This Rock'' and ''Only Visiting This Planet''. In the song "Reader's Digest" Norman sings the following verse: "Dear

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, who's more popular now? I've been listening to Paul's records. I think he really is dead." (See

Paul is dead "Paul is dead" is an urban legend and conspiracy theory alleging that English musician Paul McCartney of the Beatles died on 9 November 1966 and was secretly replaced by a look-alike. The rumour began circulating in 1967, gaining broad popular ...

) "Who's more popular now?" makes reference to John Lennon's famous claim that the Beatles were

more popular than Jesus "More popular than Jesus" is part of a remark made by John Lennon of the Beatles in a March 1966 interview in which he argued that the public were more infatuated with the band than with Jesus and that Christian faith was declining to the exte ...

. The album features future

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

bassist and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

frontman,

John Wetton John Kenneth Wetton (12 June 1949 – 31 January 2017) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. Known for his dexterous bass playing and booming baritone voice, Wetton first gained fame in the early 1970s. Wetton was the singer and p ...

on bass guitar, then a member of the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band

Family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

. A three-LP

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

containing the entire trilogy in their originally intended forms and titled ''The Compleat Trilogy'' (as mentioned on the insert of the Street Level reissue of ''Only Visiting This Planet'') has never been released.

Solid Rock Records Solid Rock Records is a record label started by Larry Norman. It was established in 1975 to distribute his work after he had been released by Capitol Records. Solid Rock had a distribution deal with Word Records until 1980. The label's roster ...

has created multiple reissues.

Tracks

All tracks composed by Larry Norman Original LP release This is the order on the original Verve album. On the Street Level vinyl re-issue in 1977, Norman claimed that he always wanted the album to open with "I've Got to Learn to Live Without You" and subsequent re-releases had it first and "Why Don't you Look into Jesus" third. Side 1 # "Why Don't You Look into Jesus" – 4:03 # "The Outlaw" – 3:52 # "I've Got to Learn to Live Without You" – 3:35 # "Righteous Rocker #1" – 3:32 # "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" – 4:31 Side 2 # "I Am Six O'Clock News" – 6:04 # "The Great American Novel" – 4:30 # "Pardon Me" – 3:36 # "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music" – 2:37 # "Reader's Digest" – 2:43 # "Oh, How I Love You" – 0:42 (brief song snippet – not listed on label or album sleeve) Additional tracks on some subsequent releases # "PeacePollutionRevolution" (1971 single) # "Righteous Rocker" (rough mix) ''or'' (Hard Rock Version) ''or'' (Delta Swamp Version) # "The Outlaw" (demo) ''or'' (Rock Remake) ''or'' (Peace Mix Remake) # "Digest" (rock version) ''or'' "Reader's Digest" (Hard Rock Remake) ''or'' (Solid Rock Studio Remake) Maximum Planet (The Anthology Series) # "I've Got to Learn to Live Without You" – basic master track # "Why Don't You Look into Jesus" – master track # "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" – basic master track # "I Am the Six O'Clock News" – basic master track # "Six O'Clock News" – jet fade-in with stewardess # "Six O'Clock News" – jet fade-out jam # "The Great American Novel" – demo No. 2 with faint vox # "Pardon Me" – with vox & no orchestra # "Why Should the Devil Have All The Good Music" – vox 2.0 # "Uncredited, Unidentified Song" – spiral out-groove # "The Great American Novel" – warm-up demo # "I've Got to Learn to Live Without You" – basic track # "The Outlaw" – with electric guitars and guide vocal # "I Am The Six O'Clock News" – basic track with guitars and guide vocal # "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" – with orchestra & no vox # "Why Should the Devil" – with guide vocal # "Why Don't You Look into Jesus" – on stage

Personnel

– vocals, piano *

– bass * Keith Smart – drums * Mickey Keen – guitar * Rod Edwards – piano and backing vocals * Roger Hand – backing vocals *

Gordon Giltrap Gordon Giltrap, MBE (born 6 April 1948) is an English guitarist and composer. His music crosses several genres. He has been described as "one of the most revered guitarists of his generation", and has drawn praise from fellow musicians including S ...

– guitar * Bob Brady – piano * Bill Price – engineer

References

External links

Library of Congress essay
on album. * {{Authority control 1972 albums Larry Norman albums United States National Recording Registry recordings United States National Recording Registry albums

History

Tracks

Personnel

See also

References

External links