Musicians:
Billy Sherwood: vocals (1, 2, 4, 5, 7-10), backing vocals (3, 6, 11), guitars (1-3, 5-9, 11), keys (2-4, 6, 10, 11), bass (2-11), drums (all), harmonica (3)
Chris Squire: bass (1)
Tony Kaye: keys (1), Hammond organ (1)
Steve Hackett: guitar (2)
Colin Moulding: vocals (3)
Steve Morse: guitar (4)
Rick Wakeman: keys (5), grand piano (5)
Alan Parsons: lead & backing vocals (6)
Jerry Goodman: violins (6)
Geoff Downes: keys (7)
Patrick Moraz: keys (8)
Jordan Rudess: keys (9)
John Wesley: guitar (10)
Jon Davison: vocals (11)
 

Produced, recorded and mixed by Sherwood at CIRCA: HQ Studios California
Additional engineers: Erik Jordan (for Rick Wakeman), Gianluca Trombetta (for Jordan Rudess)
Mastered by Maor Appelbaum

Pictures by Michi Sherwood
Artwork/layout by Stan-W Decker

Tracks:
1. "The Citizen" (6:34)
2. "Man and the Machine" (6:44)
3. "Just Galileo and Me" (5:01)
4. "No Mans Land" (5:35)
5. "The Great Depression" (8:40)
6. "Empire" (5:34)
7. "Age of the Atom" (6:23)
8. "Trail of Tears" (6:28)
9. "Escape Velocity" (6:03)
10. "A Theory All It's Own" (5:32)
11. "Written in the Centuries" (7:20)

all songs written by Sherwood
 

Notes: Digital pre-orders came with the tracks "The Citizen", "Just Galileo and Me" and "No Mans Land".

After a series of self-released and self-recorded solo albums, Sherwood landed a release with Frontiers (Yes's label) for this album. (He still found time to self-release Archived around the same time, plus do two new tracks for a compilation Collection.) Citizen takes the same approach as his Cleopatra releases like The Prog Collective by using an array of guest stars on top of a base performed and written by Sherwood, but this time the album is under his own name. Notably, as far as we know, this is the last recording by Squire before his death in 2015. John Wetton was due to be involved too, but was unable to contribute due to ill health, his own diagnosis and treatment for cancer in spring/summer 2015. Squire recorded a 5-string bass track for the album in a hotel when Sherwood was visiting Arizona, not long before he told Sherwood about his diagnosis. On 5 Jul, Sherwood said on Facebook:

In memory of Chris I decided to mix the title lead off track from [...] "CITIZEN". The song is titled "The Citizen" and features the last recording of Chris playing great (about 7 weeks ago) !!! ALong side him is my dear friend and bandmate in CIRCA: Tony Kaye [...] This is an important track because it sets the stage for the conceptu...al aspect of the record [...] The record also features other friends [...] John Wetton co[m]mitted to the project early on but has since fallen ill and is dealing with his health, I hope and pray for my friends recovery, I hope he can make it to the party [...] today it's just been my pleasure to hear Chris blazing out of my speakers.

Sherwood continued mixing through the month (he talked of mixing "Trail of Tears" on 6 Jul). Later in Jul, Sherwood continued on Facebook:

Just finished mixing "CITIZEN" [...] I wrote with a conceptual theme. A lost soul reincarnated into various periods of history, he is the citizen... A conscript legionnaire in the Roman army at the end of the empire. A trench runner in WW1. A friend to Galileo as he discovers the earth is not flat. A distraught Wall Street man stepping out onto the ledge... a casualty of the great depression. Assistant to Darwin as he discovers his Theory. A member of the tribe during the trail of tears. Reborn as Nostr[adamus] [...] For me the most special track on the record is the title track "The Citizen" which sets the stage for the concept behind it all, on this track is the last recording of Chris Squire and he's larger than life on it !! I recorded him not too long ago in a Holiday Inn when I went to visit with him just before he fell ill.

This is a concept album about an individual, the eponymous citizen, through history. Sherwood described the album in Apr 2015 press as: "the story of a lost soul wandering through time and living through many lives during historic periods of time." Silly errors abound. It should be "its", not "it's" in (10), and "man's" not "mans" in (4). The thrust of the lyrics in (3) is about Galileo saying the world isn't flat, but most people had known the world isn't flat for decades before Galileo was born: his contribution was around heliocentrism. The music is better than the lyrics, however; less prog in style than The Prog Collective, with some reviewers making comparisons to World Trade. (HP, 7 Nov 15)