| The Road to Freedom | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1986 | |||
| Recorded | 1984–1986 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 45:54 | |||
| Label | Revenimus Music Publishing | |||
| Producer | Church of Scientology and Golden Era Studios | |||
| L. Ron Hubbard chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Alternative cover | ||||
 Updated CD cover | ||||
The Road to Freedom is a 1986 record album by "L. Ron Hubbard & Friends". Artists that worked on the album include John Travolta, Chick Corea, Leif Garrett, Frank Stallone, and Karen Black. [1]
The album was produced by the Church of Scientology and their recording studio Golden Era Productions. The Church of Scientology says the album achieved its gold record within four months of its release. [2] The cover art for the original album and the updated version of the same cover feature a long bridge meandering off into the sky. This is reminiscent of "The Bridge to Total Freedom" that appears on the Scientology introductory book, What is Scientology. The album was promoted with a live performance, which was recorded and sold by the Church of Scientology. [3]
The Church of Scientology put out advertising directed towards its WISE International membership that directed them to order multiple copies of the album (offered in half-dozen lots) to give to associates as a means to introduce people to the concepts of Scientology. The advertising calls this album "the perfect dissemination tool". [4] This album was published by Revenimus Music Publishing, the music publishing division of the Church of Scientology, which also published the album Mission Earth , which was also written by L. Ron Hubbard and produced, arranged, and performed by Edgar Winter.
The album was panned by critics. [5] Jonathan Leggett of The Guardian compared it to the 2001 album The Joy of Creating - The Golden Era Musicians And Friends Play L Ron Hubbard which features Doug E. Fresh and Isaac Hayes, writing, "As with Joy of Creating, the lyrics are rotten." [6] Leggett noted, at one stage Travolta croons: "'Reality is me, reality is you. Yeah, yeah, yeah...'" [6] He wrote critically of the album, commenting, "Although praised on websites as 'a musical masterpiece' it actually sounds like the kind of jazz noodle that they used to demonstrate CD players in Dixons in the 1980s." [6]
Writer Kyle Jarrow incorporated musical themes from The Road to Freedom into the songs he wrote for his 2003 Obie Award-winning play, A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant . Jarrow explained that he was trying to discover what liturgical music existed in Scientology, and he came to believe that there were strong correlations between the album and 1980s pop. [7]
All tracks are written by L. Ron Hubbard
| No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Road to Freedom" | John Travolta, Leif Garrett, Frank Stallone, Lee Purcell | 4:34 |
| 2. | "The Worried Being" | Amanda Ambrose | 4:05 |
| 3. | "The Way to Happiness" | Leif Garrett, Gayle Moran, Nicky Hopkins | 5:43 |
| 4. | "Make It Go Right" | David Pomeranz | 3:59 |
| 5. | "Laugh a Little" | Michael Roberts, Pam Roberts, Margie Nelson | 3:37 |
| 6. | "The Good Go Free" | David Pomeranz | 4:28 |
| 7. | "Why Worship Death?" | Chick Corea, Julia Migenes | 6:16 |
| 8. | "The Evil Purpose" | Frank Stallone | 4:28 |
| 9. | "The ARC Song" | John Travolta, Karen Black, Jeff Pomerantz, Frank Stallone, Lee Purcell, Gloria Rusch | 6:19 |
| 10. | "L’envoi, Thank You for Listening" | L. Ron Hubbard | 2:25 |
Xenu, also called Xemu, is a figure in the Church of Scientology's secret "Advanced Technology", a sacred and esoteric teaching. According to the "Technology", Xenu was the extraterrestrial ruler of a "Galactic Confederacy" who brought billions of his people to Earth in DC-8-like spacecraft 75 million years ago, stacked them around volcanoes, and killed them with hydrogen bombs. Official Scientology scriptures hold that the thetans of these aliens adhere to humans, causing spiritual harm.
The Church of Scientology maintains a wide variety of beliefs and practices. The core belief holds that a human is an immortal, spiritual being (thetan) that is resident in a physical body. The thetan has had innumerable past lives, some of which, preceding the thetan's arrival on Earth, were lived in extraterrestrial cultures. Based on case studies at advanced levels, it is predicted that any Scientologist undergoing auditing will eventually come across and recount a common series of past-life events.
Revolt in the Stars is a science fiction film screenplay written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard in 1977. It tells the space opera story of how an evil galactic dictator, named Xenu, massacres many of his subjects by transporting them to Earth and killing them with atomic bombs. L. Ron Hubbard had already presented this story to his followers, as a true account of events that happened 75 million years ago, in a secret level of Scientology scripture called Operating Thetan, Level III. The screenplay was promoted around Hollywood circles in 1979, but attempts at fundraising and obtaining financing fell through, and the film was never made. Unofficial copies circulate on the internet.
Auditing, also known as processing, is the core practice of Scientology. Scientologists believe that the role of auditing is to improve a person's abilities and to reduce or eliminate their neuroses. The Scientologist is asked questions about past events while holding two metal cylinders attached to an electrical resistance meter (galvanometer) with a dial. The term "auditing" was coined by L. Ron Hubbard in his 1950 book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, which describes the process. Auditing uses techniques from hypnosis that are intended to create dependency and obedience in the subject.
Scientology has been referenced in popular culture in many different forms of media including fiction, film, music, television and theatre. In the 1960s, author William S. Burroughs wrote about Scientology in both fictional short stories and non-fictional essays. The topic was dealt with more directly in his book, Ali's Smile/Naked Scientology. The 2000 film Battlefield Earth was an adaptation of a novel by L. Ron Hubbard.
Michelle Stith, née Henderson, also known as Chel Stith, was in 2005 President. A of the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles. She has since moved on to being the Deputy Executive Director of the Church of Scientology of Pasadena. Stith has been quoted in the press answering questions about Scientology and its practices. According to Scientology publications, Stith has attained the Operating Thetan level of "OT III Expanded". In 2005, she stated that she had been a member of Scientology for thirty-four years.
Battlefield Earth is a 2000 American science fiction film based on the 1982 novel of the same name by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. It was directed by Roger Christian and stars John Travolta, Barry Pepper, and Forest Whitaker. The film follows a rebellion against the alien Psychlos, who have ruled Earth for 1,000 years.
Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 is a 1982 science fiction novel written by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology. He also composed a soundtrack to the book called Space Jazz.
Mission Earth is an album adaption of the novel series of the same name by Edgar Winter with words and music written by the novel series' author L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology.
A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant is a satirical musical about Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard, written by Kyle Jarrow from a concept by Alex Timbers, the show's original director. Jarrow based the story of the one-act, one-hour musical on Hubbard's writings and Church of Scientology literature. The musical follows the life of Hubbard as he develops Dianetics and then Scientology. Though the musical pokes fun at Hubbard's science fiction writing and personal beliefs, it has been called a "deadpan presentation" of his life story. Topics explored in the piece include Dianetics, the E-meter, Thetans, and the story of Xenu. The show was originally presented in 2003 in New York City by Les Freres Corbusier, an experimental theater troupe, enjoying sold-out Off-Off-Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. Later productions have included Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Kyle Jarrow is a Los Angeles–based writer and rock musician.
The Bridge to Total Freedom, also known as the Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart, is Scientology's primary action plan and road map to guide a person through the sequential steps to attain Scientology's concept of spiritual freedom. Displayed in every Scientology organization as an enormous poster using red ink, the comprehensive chart contains almost every service available within Scientology. All steps on the Bridge cost money.
Thomas William Davis is an American financial executive. From 2005 to 2011, Davis was the head of external affairs and chief spokesperson of the Church of Scientology International and Senior Vice President at the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International from the early 1990s. Between 2011 and 2013, Davis did not make any media public appearances. In June 2013, it was revealed Davis and his wife had relocated from Gold Base in Riverside County, California, to Austin, Texas. He currently resides in Los Angeles.
Space Jazz: The soundtrack of the book Battlefield Earth is a music album and soundtrack companion to the novel Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard, released in 1982. Hubbard composed the music for the album.
To the Stars is a science fiction novel by American writer L. Ron Hubbard. The novel's story is set in a dystopian future, and chronicles the experiences of protagonist Alan Corday aboard a starship called the Hound of Heaven as he copes with the travails of time dilation from traveling at near light speed. Corday is kidnapped by the ship's captain and forced to become a member of their crew, and when he next returns to Earth his fiancée has aged and barely remembers him. He becomes accustomed to life aboard the ship, and when the captain dies Corday assumes command.
To the Stars is an album by American jazz fusion group the Chick Corea Elektric Band, released on August 24, 2004, by Stretch Records. Jazz musician Chick Corea, a longtime member of the Church of Scientology, was inspired by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's science fiction 1954 novel To the Stars. Hubbard's book tells the story of an interstellar crew which experiences the effects of time dilation due to traveling at near light speed. A few days experienced by the ship's crew could amount to hundreds of years for their friends and family back on Earth.
Scientology in the United Kingdom is practised mainly within the Church of Scientology and its related groups which go under names including "Hubbard Academy of Personal Independence" and "Dianetics and Scientology Life Improvement Centre". The national headquarters, and former global headquarters, is Saint Hill Manor at East Grinstead, which for seven years was the home of L. Ron Hubbard, the pulp fiction author who created Scientology. In the 2021 census, there were 1,844 individuals in England and Wales who listed themselves as Scientologists in their census returns, almost half of which lived in the area around East Grinstead in West Sussex, which hosts the British Scientology Headquarters at Saint Hill Manor. This is a decline of just under a quarter since census day, 2011.
LifeTimes is an album by Diana Hubbard, released in 1979 by Waterhouse Records 8. In addition to Diana Hubbard, the album includes musical contributions from Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, John Goodsall, Michael Boddicker, and Patrick Moraz.
