Released April 1980 Sky 2
(1980) Sky 3
(1981) Release date April 1980 Label Esoteric Recordings | Length 79:56 Artist Sky Producer Haydn Bendall Genre Progressive rock | |
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Recorded Studio 3, Abbey Road Studios Similar Sky 3, Sky 4: Forthcoming, Sky Five Live, The Great Balloon Race, Sky | ||
John williams sky ii part 1 7 toccata
Sky 2 is the second album by English/Australian instrumental progressive rock band Sky, released in 1980. Despite being a double album it reached number one in the British Album charts, and at the time was the fastest double album to receive platinum status in the UK, while the instrumental single "Toccata" peaked at 5 in the British Singles Chart.
Contents
- John williams sky ii part 1 7 toccata
- 1992 Freestyle Records CD SKY CD 2
- 1992 Music Club CD MCCD 078 1994 Nota Blu CD 9403201
- 1992 1993 Success CDs 22620CD 16031CD
- 1994 Merlin Records CD
- 2005 Castle Music CD CMRCD1087
- 2014 Esoteric Recordings CD DVD
- Personnel
- Songs
- References
Francis Monkman played guitar on the 20-minute rock suite "FIFO" because, in his words, "I felt it necessary to inject a grunge element". "FIFO" stands for "First In, First Out", and is a song about computer processing.
The track "Vivaldi", is Sky's own version of an earlier track by fellow progressive rock band Curved Air, of which Monkman was formerly a member. It originally appeared on their 1970 album "Air Conditioning".
As of 2016, the album has never been released in its original, complete form on CD - perhaps due to the album's length (either just under or just over 80 minutes depending on the exact speed the recording is played at). Various record labels have attempted to solve this problem by editing tracks to be shorter, or even omitting album tracks entirely, but all have stopped short of actually reissuing it as a double CD, much to the chagrin of fans of the band.
1992 Freestyle Records CD (SKY CD 2)
This version omits "Gavotte & Variations" and "Andante" from the original album.
1992 Music Club CD (MCCD 078) & 1994 Nota Blu CD (9403201)
This version contains all tracks from the original album, although "Scipio" has been faded out early, omitting some repeats, in order to fit the album onto one CD.
1992 & 1993 Success CDs (22620CD / 16031CD)
Largely follows the track list of the 1992 Freestyle Records CD, except all movements of "FIFO" are combined into one track, and some track lengths are slightly different.
1994 Merlin Records CD
Almost the same as the Success pressings, except for some minor track length differences, and the fact that the early fade edit of "Scipio" from the Music Club issue has been used. The Merlin Records cassette, released at the same time as this CD, however, contains the full album in its original track order, albeit still with the edited version of "Scipio" ("Tuba Smarties" is the last track on side one and "Ballet-Volta" is the first track on side two).
2005 Castle Music CD (CMRCD1087)
This version contains all album tracks, including the full length version of "Scipio". However, "Gavotte & Variations" has been edited to omit the final variation instead.
2014 Esoteric Recordings CD & DVD
The CD in this version is sourced from the masters of the 2005 Castle reissue and as such contains the same edited version of "Gavotte & Variations".
Personnel
Songs
1Hotta7:47
2Dance of the Little Fairies3:31
3Sahara6:57