Search - Jade Warrior :: Fifth Element

One of Jade Warrior's best

Mark Jeantheau | Berea, KY USA | 01/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having been a Jade Warrior fan since discovering their music in the early 1980s, it was great to see their two unreleased albums from the 1970s--"Eclipse" and "Fifth Element"--finally put to disc. I think "Fifth Element" is one of their best albums. It's a little more consistent than their first three albums (I, Released, and Last Autumn's Dream), which all have some amazing tracks but occasionally get mired in psychedelic excess. That seems to be less of a problem on "Fifth Element." I'll admit that my favorite Jade Warrior tunes still lie on those first three albums, but I think FE is just as strong overall. For anyone who loves the first three JW albums, this is a must-have too."

Very uneven

Allen Ray | Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, South Korea | 04/17/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I totally agree with Mr. Phillips above. The instrumental tracks are well-performed and hint at better things to come, whereas most of the tracks with vocals are anywhere from mildly disappointing (when compared with those on "Jade Warrior" or "Last Autumn's Dream") to downright embarrassing, such as on the cheesily-titled "Discotecnique," "Have You Ever," and others. It's hard to believe that Glyn Havard, the vocalist/bassist/lyricist on this album is the same person who penned the gorgeous, picturesque words on "A Winter's Tale," "May Queen" and "Lady of the Lake." Obviously, I regard "Fifth Element" as a very expensive purchase considering it's only half good; however, since I've become a hopeless fan of Jade Warrior, I'm keeping my copy. After listening to this, though, I can appreciate why Vertigo didn't renew their contract and why their future record company Island Records insisted that they lose the vocalist. The real reason was that Island wanted to have an instrumental artist on their rosters that could compete with Virgin records' Mike Oldfield. (Musically, Jade Warrior are head and shoulders above Mike.) Perhaps it's one of the bigger anomalies in the annals of music business decisions, but as a result of a record company's "suggestion," an artist's music took a quantum leap forward. Go figure!Though "Eclipse," the other album from these same 1973 sessions, also suffers from the same uneveness, it actually has a much better ratio of good vs. mediocre/bad material. And like like the above reviewer suggested, someone should release "Reflections," which would constitute a better value for money spent."

Better late than never.....

HOG( I WANT IT ALL) | HOUSTON,TEXAS | 05/07/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When I made this purchase I feel like some of the other reviewers and had mixed feelings about this recording.But after giving it a listen on a few road trips (with my wife) It grew on me.It's pretty well balanced ,and enjoyable.All of the Jade Warrior CD's are great stuff,from the first to the island years (which is all I have).It has a few heavy's (24 hour movie) and some lighter stuff .Great for a "Rainey Day".It falls I line with the 1st three orginal releases but not quite as heavy.It's just to bad this and "Eslipse" were not released on time in 1973 but better late than not at all.(Even the wife likes it)."