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Story of the CD

Six months ago, the time felt right for a new tribute album to Eddie Jobson. It had been an eventful couple of years since April 2015, when we released our most recent project, Theme of Appreciation 4: A Worldwide Tribute to Eddie Jobson. During that time, U.K. played its last shows. and Eddie released the amazing Ultimate Collector’s Edition for the band. We sadly lost John Wetton and Allan Holdsworth.

Around this time, Eddie announced he would be moving back to New York, where he had lived until the 1990s, to transition into his retirement years.

But Eddie’s musical influence remains so thoroughly alive. The EJ fan community has a big pool of talented musicians inspired by his work. Prog bands around the globe carry variations of the musical DNA that Eddie introduced to the world. The first U.K. album was re-released on resurgent vinyl. A small cadre of intensely passionate Zealot fans attended the first-ever Eddie Jobson fan convention in New York City; this wonderful evening was graced by the presence of Eddie and his son Christopher.

So it shouldn’t have surprised us when we enthusiastically received many tracks from around the world on this album. These include first-time tracks from members of a few of the world’s most well-loved prog bands; you will surely recognize some names when reading the booklet for this album. And we received many contributions from musicians who were longtime members of Eddie’s fan community. You may not be familiar with other names in this album, but you will hear the influence of Eddie’s music and the passion for excellence that he inspires in us.

On this album, you will find mostly original tracks, along with a cover and numerous quotations from Eddie’s past work. The originals have a wide variety of influences, from Eddie’s U.K. years to his solo albums and his work with the Bulgarian Women’s Choir and other artists.

As always, the purpose of this project is to create a gift for Eddie, a token of how he has inspired us and created enjoyment for us through his music. The artwork evokes Eddie’s return to the world of high-rises and also the heights to which he has introduced us.

And speaking of returns, we received some fantastic news during the course of making this album: Eddie will be performing the music of U.K. in a one-off concert with a full band in October 2018 at ProgStock in New Jersey, near his new East Coast home. Along with the 35th anniversary of The Green Album this year, there remains much to celebrate and appreciate.

We hope the music in this album resonates with you as fellow fans of Eddie.

Ben P. Stein, May 2018.