Search - Jade Warrior :: Elements - Island Anthology

The four Best Jade Warrior in One!

Carl Johnson | Detroit, MI United States | 03/18/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first record I ever heard from Jade Warrior was back in 1975 and I heard Waves. Being a Gentle Giant fanatic back then, I was not taken by the band until I heard their 74 album, Floating Worlds. That record melted me, but



Then... Wow. Just wow. WOOAAAWWHHH!



I bought Kites. Kites has more of a classical base structure, yet a bit avant gaurd... and WONDERFUL! I agree that is their best effort ever, but NO Jade Warrior is bad! The Way of the Sun got quite a bit of attention on Detroit public Radio and has a special latin flare to it that you do not hear on the other albums. That is the last record with Island Records in 1978.



I will just summurize by stating that these four records had a lot of influence on the so called New Age Movement, though they are not technically new age. Honestly, there is more passion to their music.



Jade Warrior Island recordings actually have a more acoustic feel to them than electronic. They used orchestra, acoustic & electric guitar,piano, choirs, FLUTE, some acoustic and electric effects, percussion, etc. They were the ultimate studio band. I played them through high school and college and still today now and then. They are compositionally original, musically profient and aesthetically pleasing.



Who do I compare them to? They started out sound Jethro Tullish but by 1974, they moved well beyond that space on to new and orientally flavored horizons. The music might make you cry, feel alive and really heal you. The records will move you.



SIDE NOTE: I think the record company is remastering this but I do NOT know that. The mix on this version (UK, Germany) is excellent except Waves could use a remix. However, this is an Un-challenged spin!"

More choices!

Musicus | Oslo, Norway | 09/12/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I know these albums by LP-versions only. The reason for not buying this Elements is: "Waves" was "criminally shortened when released as part of the "Elements" anthology by PolyGram in 1995" - hence my four stars only. (Besides I never liked "Way of the Sun".)

Anyway, these four albums are now - September 2006 - reissued separately, so if you search Jade Warrior at Amazon, your going to find them in original cover design: Floating World (1974), Waves (1975), Kites (1976) and Way of the Sun (1978).

My favourite is the dreamy Waves, second I put Floating World, third Kites.

Jade Warroir made rather fantastic world music from the beginning of the 1970ties, a blend of Asiatic, African, jazz, rock (not so much in fact, in spite of some tough riffs) and ambient music. Brian Eno is said to be an early fan of the (then) duo. Since I was only a teenager when I first listened to them, I am not the right one to estimate how they will sound to a modern ear, if they have stood the ravages of time or if they sound dated. My guess is of course that Jade Warrior will bring you back to the post-hippie era more than anything else. My guess is that when a piece of art got artistic necessity by time of issue, this necessity will remain by the piece, the one way or other.

One sign of my veneration 30 years ago may be the fact that I copied the music to cassettes, in order to save the sensitive LPs for the rest of my life. It became clear that the commerical potential of Jade Warrior wasn't the greatest and there was no reason to recon they would remain in the catalogue. (The only other LP I saved the same way was An Electric Storm (1969) by The White Noise.)"