Wind Chimes

Elements is a beautifully packaged four-CD box set that essentially covers every aspect of Mike Oldfield's 20-year span as a multi-instrumentalist. The discs are housed in a sturdy, oversized slip case with an extensive booklet containing biographical information, as well as a breakdown of each of the instruments used throughout the 15 albums represented…

Sally Beamish's music has been underrepresented on CD for far too long. This superb release puts right that omission but it does much more than that: it provides first-rate performances of three of her most dramatic and personal compositions in excellent digital sound.
The Viola Concerto is one of the composer's most personal works. The viola was her own instrument and the theft of it caused her to take up full-time composition. At the same time, she …….

Paul Conway @ musicweb-international.com

For Islands, Mike Oldfield gathered a host of musicians to further his run of more mainstream-sounding albums. The album includes vocals by Bonnie Tyler, Kevin Ayers, and Max Bacon, as well as saxophonist Raphael Ravenscroft (famous for his work on Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street"), along with the album's producer and former Yes member Geoffrey Downes…

For Islands, Mike Oldfield gathered a host of musicians to further his run of more mainstream-sounding albums. The album includes vocals by Bonnie Tyler, Kevin Ayers, and Max Bacon, as well as saxophonist Raphael Ravenscroft (famous for his work on Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street"), along with the album's producer and former Yes member Geoffrey Downes. Even with such talent, Oldfield only garners sporadic instances of entertaining music, and the bulk of Islands comes off as quite pedestrian-sounding. Bonnie Tyler's passionate voice lifts the title track higher than any other cut, while "The Wind Chimes, Pt. 1 and 2" serves as the second-best song, instilling some of Oldfield's instrumental originality and adroitness in order to drum up its enchanting air…