Rick Wakeman – Return To The Red Planet
Rick Wakeman returns to Mars with ‘Return To The Red Planet’, a new progressive rock suite inspired by recent research and discoveries on the Red Planet
Rick Wakeman – Return To The Red Planet
Format: CD / CD + Blu-ray / 2LP
Label: Madfish Music
Release date: October 16, 2026
Six years after ‘The Red Planet’, Rick Wakeman revisits Mars with ‘Return To The Red Planet’, due for release on October 16 via Madfish Music.
The album takes inspiration from new scientific data, photographs and research that have expanded our understanding of the planet since Wakeman’s previous Mars-themed work.
“Once I started looking at the new data and photographs, I realised there was an entirely new album waiting to be written. There was simply too much more to say about Mars – musically and spiritually – not to return,” Wakeman explains.
Across nine compositions, the album draws on features and phenomena including ancient landscapes, crater systems, dust devils and different geological epochs.
Titles such as The Jezero Crater, Noctis Labyrinthus, Martian Dust Devils and The Epochs of Mars reflect the planetary research behind the project.
‘Return To The Red Planet’ was recorded between August 2025 and January 2026. Wakeman initially created keyboard templates at Nursery Studios before developing the music with his English Rock Ensemble at Decoy Studios.
The line-up features Lee Pomeroy on bass, Dave Colquhoun on guitar, Adam Falkner on drums and Mollie Marriott on vocals.
The sessions at Decoy Studios were engineered by Toby Wood, while final overdubs and mixing were handled with producer and engineer Erik Jordan. Simon Heyworth mastered the album.
One track has a particularly personal connection. Bowie’s Vision pays tribute to David Bowie, Wakeman’s friend and former collaborator.
Wakeman played piano on Bowie’s Life on Mars?, giving the new composition a direct link to their shared musical history as well as to the album’s Martian theme.
Website: https://www.rwcc.com/
Tracks:
01. The Jezero Crater – 06:56
02. Bowie’s Vision – 05:45
03. Noctis Labyrinthus – 05:28
04. Noachis Terra (Land of Noah) – 06:23
05. Witch Hazel Hill – 04:02
06. St Paul’s Bay – 06:53
07. Martian Dust Devils – 04:53
08. Medusae Fossae – 04:26
09. The Epochs of Mars – 07:45
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Rick Wakeman – Melancholia
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Arjen Anthony Lucassen – Songs No One Will Hear
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