Blue Sky on Mars is the sixth album by alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 musician Matthew Sweet

Matthew Sweet

Sidney Matthew Sweet is an American alternative rock/power pop musician. He was part of the burgeoning Athens, Georgia music scene in the early and mid-1980s before gaining commercial success during the early 1990s...

. It was Sweet's first album since his debut that did not feature contributions from legendary guitarists Robert Quine

Robert Quine

Robert Wolfe Quine was an American guitarist, known for his innovative guitar solos.A native of Akron, Ohio, Quine worked with a wide range of musicians, though he himself remained relatively unknown in comparison...

 and Richard Lloyd. It was released in 1997 on Zoo Entertainment.

The text on the album cover was created by fantastic art

Fantastic art

Fantastic art is an art genre. The parameters of fantastic art have been fairly rigorously defined in the scholarship on the subject ever since the 19th century. There was a movement of science fiction and fantasy artists prior to and during the Great Depression, which were mainly cover art and...

ist, Roger Dean.

The album title comes from the "Blue Sky on Mars" tour featured in the movie Total Recall

Total Recall

Total Recall is a 1990 American science fiction action film. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside, Ronny Cox & Mel Johnson, Jr.. It is based on the Philip K. Dick story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale”...

.

Track listing

All songs written by Matthew Sweet.

1. "Come to California" - 3:31
2. "Back to You" - 3:10
3. "Where You Get Love" - 3:35
4. "Hollow" - 4:03
5. "Behind the Smile" - 2:23
6. "Until You Break" - 4:50
7. "Over It" - 1:37
8. "Heaven and Earth" - 2:32
9. "All Over My Head" - 3:04
10. "Into Your Drug" - 2:39
11. "Make Believe" - 1:50
12. "Missing Time" - 3:15
13. "If It's Happening You'll Know"* - 3:10
14. "Close Inside"* - 4:32
15. "Final Hour"* - 3:37

• Tracks 13-15 appear as bonus tracks on the Japanese version.

Personnel

• Matthew Sweet
  Matthew Sweet
  Sidney Matthew Sweet is an American alternative rock/power pop musician. He was part of the burgeoning Athens, Georgia music scene in the early and mid-1980s before gaining commercial success during the early 1990s...
  
   – vocals, bass, guitar, synthesizer, theremin
• Brendan O'Brien
  Brendan O'Brien (music producer)
  Brendan O’Brien is a record producer, mixer, engineer, and musician.At age 14, O'Brien played guitar for the Atlanta-based cover band Pranks. In the late 1970s, he moved on to writing, performing and recording with the Samurai Catfish band...
  
  – piano
• Stuart Johnson – drums
• Ric Menck – drums

Production notes:

• Brendan O'Brien – mixing, producer
• Matthew Sweet – producer, arranger
• Nick DiDia – engineer
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• David Schiffman – recording technician
• Caram Costanzo – second engineer
• Martyn Dean – design
• Jeff Bender – photography