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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS);faqs.400



Information Society:
Their self-titled album is peppered with samples from Star Trek.

Inner City Unit:
Punk band led by Nik Turner of Hawkwind.  Their first album, "Pass Out",
includes the tracks "Fall Out" (nuclear war), "Polly Ethelene",
"Cybernetic Love". Their second album, "Maximum Effect", starts with
a track suggesting that Elvis has been given Everlasting Life Via
Induced Suspendedanimation.

Iron Maiden:
The track "To Tame a Land" from "Piece of Mind" is about Dune.  (Frank
Herbert wouldn't let them call it "Dune", supposedly, 'cause he doesn't
like heavy metal.)  "Flight of Icarus" and "Quest for Fire" also appear
on "Piece of Mind".  "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" is a concept album
about a mystical clairvoyant.  The title track from "Powerslave" is about
the death of an Egyptian god; "Flash of the Blade" from the same LP is
about a young boy who is trained as a warrior and who avenges the death
of his master/teacher.  "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", from the same LP,
is based on the Coleridge poem.  They've also done two songs based on the
TV show, "The Prisoner": "The Prisoner" from "The Number of the Beast"
and "Back in the Village" from "Powerslave".  The title track from
"Number of the Beast" deals with the discovery of a Satanic ritual -- it
might be based on "The Omen".  Also from that album, "Children of the
Damned" (more horror than SF).  The album "Somewhere in Time" contains
"Caught Somewhere in Time", which is about time travel, the devil, and
other assorted fun stuff.  "Stranger in a Strange Land" from the same LP
is SF, but is apparently not related to the Heinlein book of the same
name.  It's based on a newspaper story about a body found in the ice
near the North Pole.  (The cover of that album really deserves note -- it's
a sci-fi scene, lots of details. Ditto for the 2 singles from that album,
"Wasted Years" and "Stranger in a Strange Land", which have sci-fi covers.)

Jackson, Joe:
"In the T.V. Age" from "Night And Day" (aliens as TV sets).
The album "Blaze of Glory" is a concept album with two album-side
long song sequences about (among other things) human interaction
with technology, and living with myths of the future.
"Tommorrow's World" especially deals with images of science and the
future seen by those growing up in the sixties.

Jad Fair and Kramer:
"Nosferatu" (vampire) and "King Kong" from "Roll Out the Barrel".

Jade Warrior:
LP "Horizon" contains "Images of Dune: a) Prescient Dawn, b) The Fremen, c)
Journey on a Dream".  Other albums contain fantasy and SF themes; like
Mannheim Steamroller, another prototype "New Age" group.  Most work done
1974-1978; other LP's include "Kites", "Waves", "Released", and "Way of
the Sun".  Frequent references to Oriental and Egyptian mythology.

Jefferson Airplane/Starship:
"Blows Against the Empire" (album) done by JA+Crosy, Nash, Freiberg.
etc.  "Have you seen the Saucers?" from"Thirty Seconds Over Winterland".
Also did CSN&Y's "Wooden Ships" (post-nuclear holocaust)
and "Crown of Creation" from Wyndham's "Re-Birth".  Finally, "War
Story" from "Bark" tells of rebellion in the US, mind control.
"Hyperdrive" from "Dragonfly", "Modern Times" and "Alien" from "Modern
Times", "Lightning Rose", "Awakening", "Freedom at Point Zero" from
"Freedom at Point Zero", "Back from the Jaws of the Dragon" from "Winds
of Change", "Connection", "Rose goes to Yale", "Champion" from "Nuclear
Furniture".  See also Paul Kantner's "The Planet Earth Rock and Roll
Orchestra", a followup to "Blows...".

Jethro Tull:
Folk tale "Jack in the Green" from "Songs From the Wood", and the songs
"BroadSword" and "Beastie" from "Broadsword and the Beast".  "Orion"
and "Flying Dutchman" off "Stormwatch", "Fylingdale Flyer" (Flyingdale
is an ICBM early warning station in the UK, and this seems to be about
the possibility of false alarms leading to a nuclear exchange),
"Protect and Survive" (nuclear war), "Batteries Not Included" (android
child), "And Further On" from the album "A".  "Astronomy" on the CD
version of "Under Wraps", and "Apogee" (either version).  Also see
"March, the Mad Scientist" from a 4-song EP (untitled, also contained
"Ring Out, Solstice Bells" and two other songs).

Jobson Eddie/Zinc:
"The Green Album" has some interesting SF-style tracks; for instance,
"Listen to Reason" and "Through the Glass".

Joel, Billy:
"Miami 2017" from "Turnstiles"; a backwards reflection on our own future.

John, Elton:
"Rocket Man"...perhaps from Bradbury's "Illustrated Man"?  Anyway,
another road song.  Also "I've Seen the Saucers"...from "Caribou".
"I am Your Robot" from "Jump Up".

Jones, Grace:
"Slave to the Rhythm" is about man as a slave to machines.

Jonzun Crew:
Album "Lost in Space" includes "Space Cowboy"--apparently not the same
as the Steve Miller Band song.

Journey:
"Look in into the Future", from the album of the same name,
"Spaceman" from "Next" and "Wheel in the Sky" from "Infinity".

Judas Priest:
"The Green Manalishi with the Two-Pronged Crown".  See also "Electric
Eye" from "Screaming for Vengeance", an Orwellian song about covert
surveillance drones in the sky.

Kaleidascope:
The song "The Sky Children", an epic fairytale.

Kansas:
Lots of stuff.  See "Kansas", "Song For America", "Masque" and
"Leftoverture" for details...note, though, that Kerry Livgren is
heavily into Chrisianity, lending an alternative interpretation
to many of the lyrics.  "Point of Know Return" also has sf-related
stuff, such as "Nobody's Home".  Livgren says that he didn't consciously
think of himself as writing Christian-influenced songs until "Monolith",
the LP after "Point...", so interpretation of his earlier work in an
SF context is probably not reaching too much.

Kayak:
Nearly all of their work is fantasy/sf-related.  The tracks
"Journey Through Time", "Daphne (Laurel Tree)", "Phantom of the Night"
are interesting examples from the LP "Phantom of the Night".  The first
is an interesting time-travel song and the last two deal mostly with
Greek-mythology and its associated fantasy story-lines.  The album
"Periscope Life" contains "Astral Aliens".  The "Starlight Dancer" LP
contains the title track, an interesting piece.  The song "Relics
from a Distant Age" from "The Last Encore" is an SF piece.  Another is
"Trust in the Machine" from their first LP, Kayak.

Killdozer:
The quentissential mid-80's Wisconsen grundge-hardcore band
has a song off "Twelve Point Buck" named after that ancient British TV
series "Space: 1999", but it's pretty much about "babes."

King Crimson:
"Epitaph" and "21st Century Schizoid Man" from "In The Court of the
Crimson King".  Also "Dig Me", from "Three of a Perfect Pair",
is about the dehumanization of man by technology.

Kinks:
"I wish I could Fly (Like Superman)", and "A Gallon of Gas" from "Low Budget",
about a not-too-distant time when you can't buy a gallon of gas.

Kiss:
"(Music from) The Elder", a soundtrack for a never-made film.

Klaatu:
Best know for "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft", and "Little
Neutrino".  Albums: "Klaatu", "Hope".The Carpenters also recorded Calling
Occupants...Apparently the song was conceived as prayer to be recited
all over the globe to induce aliens to visit.  ("Klaatu" is the name of
the alien in "The Day the Earth Stood Still".)  Other known Klaatu
albums include "Sir Army Suit" and "Endangered Species"; there may be
another album entitled "EST 3:47" (a reference to the movie), but it's
possible that this is a different release of a pre-existing album.

Kraftwerk:
Sf-themes occasionally.  Certainly sounds sf-ish.
Albums include "Autobahn", "Radioactivity", "ManMachine",
"Computerworld", and "Trans-Europe Express"; tracks of note
include "The Robots", "Spacelab" and "Metropolis".  Also,
see the track "Kometenmelodia (1&2)".

Kooper, Al:
"Childhood's End" based on the Arthur C. Clarke novel.
A wild cover of Donovan's "Season of the Witch" appears on
the Bloomfield-Kooper-Stills "Super Session" album.

Landscape:
On "From The Tea-Rooms of Mars...to The Hell Holes of Uranus", see
"Einstein A-Go-Go"; nuclear terrorism ("You better watch out,
you'd better beware; Albert said that E equals M C squared") a classic.
Also "European Man", a life of leisure in an automated world.
and still from that same LP, "Live... from the Tea-Rooms of Mars";
synthesized tea-room dance music with some gently crooned SF lyrics,
(e.g "Do you know what it's like to live where there's no trees and no sky ?
Night and day are just controls.")  See also "My Name is Norman Bates",
which isn't exactly SF, but horror.

Leatherwolf:
"Gypsies and Thieves" from their first album is Melnibonean
(that is, it concerns "Elric of Melnibone", one of Michael Moorcock's
characters who jointly are "The Eternal Champion".  See the entry
on Hawkwind.) and some of their other material is fantasy-ish.

Led Zeppelin:
"No Quarter" from  "Houses of the Holy" is rather eerie, but no one is
quite sure what it's about.  "The Battle of Evermore", from Led Zep IV
mentions Ringwraiths.  Also see "Ramble On" on Led Zep II for mention of
Mordor and Gollum.  See also "Misty Mountain Hop" on Led Zep IV.  Some
speculation that "Stairway to Heaven" is about Saruman'sjourney to the
west, but nobody seems to be sure.  Also "Kashmir" from "Physical Grafitti".

Level 42:
Song, "Star Child" -- is this about the Star Child from 2001?

Little River Band:
"Orbit Zero" from "Time Exposure" is the sad story of an alien race with
hopes of settling on Earth, only to find it already crowded by us humans.

Love and Rockets:
Rumored to have done songs relating to Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez'
comic book for which they're named.  See "Holiday on the Moon", a
B-side to a single, and their cover of Pink Floyd's "Lucifer Sam".

Lovich, Lene:
"Telepathy" from "Stateless", about a maddening psychic gift.

M:
"The Official Secrets Act" (an innocent gets caught up in government
plots and secret police, a la 1984)

MC-5:
On "Kick Out the Jams", "Rocket Reducer" and "Starship".

Machover, Ted:
"VALIS", an electronic space opera version of Philip K. Dick's novel.

Magma:
"Inedits", "Udu Wudu"...sort of cross between German language research
and H.P. Lovecraft.  Curious reference to "Ork" on Udu Wudu.
Here's a bit of background on the band...

  About Magma & its founder Christian Vander...what he invented was rather a
  cult than a subculture. Most Magma material deals with a mythology that
  Vander claims to have been given knowledge of during a revelation. This is
  when he also was given the umlaut-seasoned language "Kobaian" that pervades
  the lyrics on the Magma albums. In short, according to the mythology, there
  is a "highest being" in the Universe by the name of "Kreuhn Ko:hrmann". (I
  use ":" after a letter to denote umlaut, two dots over it.) Vander sees
  himself as some sort of prophet, and the people of the Earth have to listen
  and convert their lives to be more in accordance with the Right Way or a
  global disaster, a sort of divine punishment, will be the result. Also
  appearing are "orks" which "are to machines what machines are to men". All
  this sounds like bad heavy metal fantasies but Vander has persisted for many
  years so maybe he really believes in it, who knows? A good example of the
  Vander/Magma type of stuff is the album "Mekhanik Destruktiw Kommando:h"
  that is a sort of mass with lots of mystical chanting. The second side of
  "U:du Wu:du:", "De Futura", is about travelling in time which according to
  the liner notes on the sleeve enables us to see the orks.  --Bjorn Lisper

Magnum:
Many songs with generic SF&F themes such as "On A Storyteller's Night",
"Firebird" and possibly "Don't Wake the Lion".  (There's some speculation
that the latter might really be about WW I.)

Mannfred Mann's Earth Band:
"Solar Fire", "Time is Right".

Manowar:
They generally sing about heroic deeds, from days of old, when
men were bold. They like to dress like Conan, and their music
brings to mind images of Viking feasts and adventures.
"Defender", from "Fighting the World" is an example wherein the
hero goes off on some mighty quest.

Marillion:
"Grendel", i.e. Beowulf & friends is the B side of "Market Square Heroes",
a 12-inch EP.  This track is now also available on an import CD called
"B'Sides  Themselves".  (The band apparently took its name from "Simarillion".)
"Season's End" from the LP of the same name, talks about global warming.

Martha and the Muffins:
"Echo Beach" seems to be about a desire to travel back in time to
a beach at pre-war Hiroshima.

Mary's Danish:
Their album "Circa" includes the song "Venus loves Leonard", which is
sort of a '50s SF movie soundalike.

Material:
The entire CD "Seven Souls", with liner notes from William S. Burroughs.
Appears to be about the effect of nuclear explosions on electromagnetically-
constituted souls.

Matthews, David:
"Dune".

Men at Work:
"Helpless Automaton" from "Business as Usual" is about a robot falling
in love with a human.  "Doctor Heckle and Mister Jive" refers to
the Robert Louis Stevenson classic.

Men Without Hats:
"The Great Ones Remember" from "The Rhythm of Youth"; "Folk of
the 80's" from "Folk of the 80's (Part III)"; "Moonbeam" from
"Pop Goes the World".
"In the 21st Century", "Hey Men", and "Here Come the 90's"
from "The Adventures of Men and Women Without Hate in the 21st Century"

Metallica:
"The Call of Ktulu" on "Ride the Lightning" (Lovecraft reference; the
name was changed from "Cthulhu" to avoid legal entanglements)
and "The Thing That Should Not Be" from "Master of Puppets" (also
Lovecraft-ian, about a critter named Nyogtha -- it's unclear whether
Lovecraft mentioned this particular beastie or not).
Also see "The Four Horsemen" from "Kill 'Em All".

Midnight Oil:
Albums "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1" and "Red Sails in the Sunset"
both have nuclear cautionary themes running thru them.  "Red Sails"
depicts Sydney, Australia after a nuclear strike.

Midnight Star:
"Freak-A-Zoid" is about the perfect robot lover.

Mike and the Mechanics:
"Silent Running" depicts life after a major war; as far as I can tell,
it's unrelated to the SF film starring Bruce Dern.

Ministry:
"Thieves" seems to have references to a future facist government.

Misex:
An Australian-based band (really from New Zealand) released a
minor hit single "Computer Games", from the album " Space Race".
The rest of the album is also SF.

Moody Blues:
"To Our Children's Children's Children", which seems to be a musical
score for Olaf Stapledon's novel, "The Star Maker"; also "On the
Threshold of a Dream" begins with a man questioning his existence and
turns into computer rantings.  Spooky psychedelia...

Moorcock, Michael:
(Some commentary on M.M. from Jeff Berry; see also the entries
for Blue Oyster Cult, Candlemass, Deep Fix, Hawkwind, and Leatherwolf.)

    Michael Moorcock is a very prolific science fiction fantasy writer,
    most widely known for the "Elric of Melnibone" series, a fantasy
    staple.  That series is, however, part of a more sweeping
    "supra-series" concerning the Eternal Champion, a warrior who returns
    again and again to live out various lives in a grand and ultimately
    doomed cycle of birth and re-birth.  (As an aside note, this concept
    is satirized in Craig Shaw Garnder's "Ballad of Wuntvor" as
    the Eternal Apprentice).

    Moorcock has published at least 30 or 40 books, in many different
    series, as well as a number of stand alone novels, both in science
    fiction and in fantasy.  Musically he has collaborated with Hawkwind
    and Blue Oyster Cult, writing songs and occasionally performing.
    Futhermore, Elric cover art by Michael Whelan has appeared as album
    cover art in at least a few places (for example, Cirith Ungol
    uses one of his covers for one of their albums).

    The Chaosium Game Company has acquired rights to most of Moorcock's
    work for gaming purposes, and has released games based on both Elric
    and on Hawkmoon (yet another incarnation of the Eternal Champion).
    Moorcock books should be available at almost any reputable book dealer.
    More info available at request.
        --- Jeff Barry, [e-mail]

Moore, Gary:
"Nuclear Attack" from "Dirty Fingers" is about World War III; the
title track from "After the War" seems to focus on the same topic.

Moraz, Patrick:
The entire theme of the album "i" is SF; also see another LP,
"Transplanetary Flight".

Mortifee, Ann:
Has done a few albums with fantastic themes on them.  Her album
"Journey To Kairos", includes the song "Centaur", about the mythological
beast, "Shankarananda", about the afterlife as described by Eastern
religions, "Streets of Banaras", which seems to be about a rather
surreal search.. On her album "Born To Live", she does a song called
"Merlin" about the mythical wizard, and a pair of songs at the end
called "The Companion/Phoenix" about a strange creature called
The Companion that attends an old man, or something like that.

Move, The:
"Yellow Rainbow"

Murphy, Peter:
The song "Shy" has a segment called "The Sister of Sleep" which
is based on the comic "Sandman".  He also is the physical basis for the
character Klaus in the comic book Night's Children.  (See also Bauhaus.)

NRBQ:
"Rocket 9".

National Health:
"Tenemos Roads", from their eponymous debut album, is about a war on Mercury.

Nektar:
"Remember the Future", "Recycle" and "Journey to the Centre of the Eye"
are all LP's with SF-ish themes.

Nelson, Bill/Red Noise:
"Sound on Sound" has a number of songs with SF themes, including
"Atom Man Loves Radium Girl".  He's also done a lot of (mainly instrumental)
tracks with SF/magic themes.

Nena:
"99 Luftballons" (WW3 & aftermath)

The Neon Judgement:
"Billy Tcherno and Pretty Petrouchka" from "Horny as Hell" is about
Russian mutants after a nuclear accident.

New England:
"L-5".

New Model Army:
"White Coats" talks about genetic engineering and its problems.

New Musik:
"On Islands" asks the question whether there might be other beings
in the universe, and "Living by Numbers" rehashes the old numbers
instead of names theme; both are found on the "Straight Lines" EP,
and on the "From A To B" LP.

Nilsson, Harry:
See "Spaceman" from "Son of Schmilsson"; and "Son of Dracula",
the soundtrack for a very silly movie he made with Ringo Starr.

Normaali, Eppu:
"Science Fiction", which is mostly derogatory things about people reading SF.

Numan, Gary:
"Cars", of course, and an LP done with a band called "Tubeway Army",
"Are Friends Electric", containing the title track and "Praying to
the Aliens"; it's apparently about alien androids taking over the earth.
See also "Down in the Park", "We Are Engineers".

O'Brien, Richard:
"Science Fiction Double Feature", from the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
(How much of the rest of it did he write?)

Oingo Boingo:
"Perfect System" and "Controller" (both from the LP "Only a Lad") discuss
Orwellian/Huxleyian societies.  "No Spill Blood" from "Good for Your Soul"
is based on "The Island of Dr. Moreau" by H.G. Wells.  See also the
soundtrack for "Weird Science", and "Dead Man's Party" for various
songs on spooks and life after the bomb.

Oldfield, Mike:
A track from "Discovery" called "Saved By the Bell"
describes a trip through the universe.

Omega:
(Hungarian) has a record called "Idorablo" (add some dots and
accentes here), meaning "Time Robber". The title suite contains
one part called "Napot hoztam csillagot", "Sun and Stars I brought".

The Only Ones:
A New Zealand band with a song "Another Girl, Another Planet", which
is about futuristic space travel.

The Orb:
Their album "U.F.Orb" includes songs such as "Close Encounters", "O.O.B.E.",
"Blue Room" (supposedly the nickname of the room in the US where UFO's
are kept), "Majestic", and the title track.  Their first album, "The Orb's
Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld" featured songs identified by orbits
and probes instead of numbers, viz.:
    Earth Orbit One - Little Fluffy Clouds
    Earth Orbit Two - Earth (Gaia)
    Earth Orbit Three - Super Nova at the End of the Universe
    Earth Orbit Four - Perpetual Dawn
    Earth Orbit Five - Into the Fourth Dimension
    Ultraworld Probe Six - Outlands
    Ultraworld Probe Seven - Star 6 & 7 8 9
    Ultraworld Probe Eight - A huge ever growing pulsating brain that
        rules from the centre of the ultraworld: live mix mk 10.
They also have all sorts of SF related singles.

Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark (OMD):
A lot of their songs have a futuristic feel to them. Tracks called "Genetic
Engineering" and "Pretending to see the future" are examples.  See also
"Enola Gay", about the bombing of Hiroshima.

Orion:
"Star Trek", a techno mix.

Pallas:
The album "The Sentinel" contains "Rise and Fall" and "Atlantis", which
are both about Atlantis; also on this album is "Ark of Infinity", which
is about a deep space hibernation ship.

Parker, Graham:
"Waiting for the UFOs" on "Squeezing Out Sparks".

Pearls Before Swine:
"Ring Thing" -- Three rings for the elven kings...good rendition.

Peek, Kevin:
"Starship Suite" from "Awakening", actually managed to work the word
"cryogenic" into a song.

Petra:
Christian rock band with numerous SF allusions in their cover art and
music; see "Computer Brains" on "Beat the System".

Phillips, Anton:
"1984", inspired by Orwell's book.

Pickett, Bobby "Boris":
Famous for "Monster Mash", he also recorded a song titled "King Kong"
(chorus:  "King Kong, King Kong, the white man done you wrong.") and a Star
Trek parody called "Star Drek" (with Peter Ferrara).

Pinhas, Richard:
Has done an LP about Dune ("Rhizosphere" or "Chronolyse", the contributor
couldn't recall which), and also has Norman Spinrad doing vocals on a piece
on "East/West" that is about some air disaster. Pinhas did and electronics
and played guitar in Heldon (see above).

Pierre Etoile ("Stone Star"):
Song "In The Sun" on Rough Trade records.
Can be found also on Indie Top 20 Vol.13.

Pink Floyd:
Of course.  "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" & "Astronomy
Domine", (on "Ummagumma") are fairly representative.  Much of their
instrumental music has an sf/fantasy feel to it.  See also "Piper at the
Gates of Dawn", "Saucerful of Secrets", Some speculation that "Set
the Controls..." influenced Douglas Adam's writing about the group
Disaster Area.

Pixies:
"Wave of Mutilation" and "Monkey Gone to Heaven" from "Doolittle",
"Allison" and "The Happening" from "Bossanova". "Trompe Le Monde" has,
in addition to the title track, "Palace of the Brine" and
"Olympus Mons" (the large extinct volcano on Mars). The whole
album is about an alien looking for the "Planet of Sound" (Earth).

Planet P:
Albums: "Planet P" and "Pink World".  Now known as Planet P Project.
"Planet P" is the name that Tony Carey ("A Fine Day for a Reunion")
uses when writing SF-oriented music.

Platinum Bond:
Album "Alien Shores".

The Polecats:
"Juvenile Delinquents from a Planet Near Mars"

Police:
"Synchronicity II" (Loch Ness monster references, but not really an
SF tune) from "Synchronicity".  Also "Synchronicity" (a different
song on the same LP) is about action-at-a-distance; it seems to be
part mystical, part quantum mechanics.  (There's a short short SF story
called "Synchronicity", but I can't recall the author.)
Also see "Wrapped Around Your Finger", which some claim is about a spirit
trapped inside a sorcerer's ring; I tend to go with a more mundane
interpretation.  "Demolition Man" (also done by Manfred Mann) from
"Ghost in the Machine".

Pop Will Eat Itself:
This band often samples the movie "Blade Runner"; the song "Wake Up!
Time to Die..." is built around that quote from the film.  "Def Con One"
from the album "This is th Day...This is the Hour...This is This"
describes a nuclear attack.  "X Y & Zee" from "Cure for Sanity"
is a description of a future world.

Powell, Roger:
Former keyboard player with Todd Rundgren's Utopia; has a solo
album ("Cosmic Furnace"?) with tracks like "Sandworm of Arrakis".

Punishment of Luxury:
Has done an album (title unknown) with a track about receiving
signals from an alien civilization.

Quadrophonia:
Album called "Cozmic Jam" contains songs "Djoum 1000", "The Wave of the
Future", "Cozm'" and "Ovo", along with the title track.

Quantum Jump:
(group lead by Rupert Hine) "No American Starship".

Queen:
"Thirty-Nine", from "A Night at the Opera", discusses the problems of
relatavistic travel.  Also "Machine World" from "The Works"; other
albums include the Flash Gordon soundtrack and "Fun in Space", a solo
album by drummer Roger Taylor. "Ogre Battle" (seems to be about the fantasy
game Ogre) "March of the Black Queen" and "Seven Seas of Rhye" from "Queen II".
The album "A Kind of Magic" contains fantasy tunes from the film "Highlander".

Queensryche:
Their first and second albums, "The Warning" and "Rage for Order"
both contain songs about sentient machinery, e.g. "Screaming in
Digital" and "I Only Dream in Infra-Red".  Most of their self-titled
EP is also fantasy, include "NM 156" which is full of computer terminology.
The album "Operation: Mindcrime" is a rock opera about mind control.  It
tell the story of a man who is programmed by revolutionaries to kill political
and religious leaders (and his girlfriend).

Renaissance:
"Jekyll and Hyde" from "Azure D'Or", and "Kalynda (A Magical Isle)".

Replacements:
"Androgynous" off "Let it Be" discusses "unisex evolution" and how
"Dick and Janes" who wear pants and skirts will be future outcasts.

Return to Forever:
Fusion jazz with Chick Corea and Al DiMeola. "Romantic Warrior" is
a medieval/fantasy concept album. Tracks include "The Sorceress"
and "The Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant".

Revolting Cocks
"We Shall Cleanse the World" from the album "Big Sexyland" is based
on, and contains samples from the movie "The Omega Man." "Attack
Ships on Fire" is on the same album, but the only SF connection seems
to be the title (Rutger Hauer quote from "Blade Runner.")

Rezzilos:
See "2000 AD", and "Flying Saucer Attack" from "Can't Stand the Rezzilos".

REM:
Single "Superman".

Radiorama:
This Italian pop/disco group released an album entitled "2nd Album",
which contains ongs like "Aliens" (inspired by the movie), "Yeti"
and "Vampire".

Rainbow:
Heavy Metal.  Some fantasy tracks, e.g. "Temple of the King",
"16th century greensleeves", "Kill the King", "Stargazer".
See the album "Rainbow Rising".

Ramases:
"Space Hymns", including great fold-out cover, studiowork by
Godley & Creme; apparently expounds religious visions of infinite
regress of microscopic universes.

Ramatam:
"In April Came the Dawning of the Red Suns" contains
"Downrange Party".  Band featured April Lawton, the female Jimi Hendrix.

Rapp, Tom:
The lead singer of Pearls before Swine broke out with two solo
albums which included these songs:  "The Rocket Man", based on the
Bradbury short story of the same name;  "Stardancer", based on the
Bradbury story, Kaleidoscope;  and "For the Dead in Space" an
original (and equally depressing) song.

Reed, Lou:
"Red Joystick" and "Down at the Arcade".  Also "Satellite of Love".

Residents:
"The Mole Trilogy", a conflict between two alien cultures.  Other
SF-ish songs and albums, included "God in Three Persons", which is
about a pair of Siamese twins with healing powers.

Richmond, Jonathan  & the Modern Lovers:
"Here Come the Martian Martians" is a funny song about the Martians'
inability to deal with earth and the concept of capitalism.  See also
"Abominable Snowman in the Supermarket", which is similar in nature.

Ridgway, Stan:
Ex-vocalist from Wall of Voodoo. Quirky subject matter in general,
but sci-fi specifically on the album "Partyball".  See the songs
"I Want to be a Boss", "Overlords", and "Beyond Tomorrow".

Rinder & Lewis:
Early 80's new-wave group that produced some SF songs, including
"Apocalypse" and "New Malibu".

Robinson, Tom:
"Listen to the Radio", about a war that is yet to happen.

Rolling Stones:
Wrote the ultimate road song for astronauts, "2000 Light Years From
Home", which is on "Their Satanic Majesties' Request".  Also "2000
Man", about how child-parent relationships still don't work, even in
the 21st century.

Roth, Uli John:
"Electric Sun".

Rundgren, Todd:
"King Kong Reggae" and "Sons of 1984" from "Todd".  See also Utopia.
"Healing" is about a man who recives the power to become a healer.

Rush:
In "2112", based on the book "Anthem" by Ayn Rand, the protagonist
discovers an ancient guitar and winds up battling the dictatorial
priesthood.  The LP also contains "Twilight Zone", about the TV show of
the same name.  "Red Barchetta" on "Moving Pictures"is similar, except
the guitar is replaced by a car. (It's based on the story "A Nice
Morning's Drive".)  See also "Cygnux X-1" (thought to be a black hole),
"Rivendell" (Tolkien reference), "The Necromancer".  See also "The Body
Electric" and "Red Sector A" from "Grace Under Pressure".  See also
"By-Tor and the Snow Dog" from "Fly by Night".  "Hemispheres" (title
track thereof) is a sequel to "Cygnus X-1".  "Countdown" from "Signals"
is about the space shuttle.  See also "Manhattan Project" from "Power
Windows".  The song "Xanadu" from "A Farewell to Kings" is based on the
Colerige poem of the same name.  See also "The Fountain of Lamneth" from