Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This music represents self-strength to me..., August 1, 2001
(First of all, let me confess that I've been an Oldfield fan for years and years)... This album came out during a very tough period of my life, and I was able to draw inspiration from "Islands" - it really kept me going. For those of us with vivid imaginations, the music can become part of your personal biography. It's definitely worth exploring. I sometimes wonder where Mike O. pulls his sounds from. They sometimes seem other-worldly. Critics may over-analyze his music, but I just let my imagination run free with the sounds and enjoy what goes on inside...
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
His Best From The "Pop" Period, June 16, 2001
One of Mike Oldfield's best albums. The opening two part suite The Wind Chimes is a masterpiece on par with his early album-length pieces. Part One is a nice, synth-powered intro and Part Two is an epic, featuring the usual stellar guitar and keyboard playing from Mike, as well as some nice flutes, wind chimes (obviously), and the unmistakable touch of Simon Phillips. The rest of the album consists of vocal pieces. Normally, this would be a downer for Oldfield, but unlike subsequent albums (say, Earth Moving) the vocal pieces here are actually interesting. Magic Touch, especially, is really quite good, and deserved to be quite a hit (which, alas, it wasn't.) The rest of the pieces are quite good as well, though not quite on it's level, and the closing title track features vocals from the (then) red-hot (commercially, I mean) Bonnie Tyler. An absolute must-own album for Oldfield fans, one of his very best.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Oldfiled's best pop work- highpoint of his 80's song period, October 12, 2000
Mike Oldfield has gone through many transformations. When Islands was released in 1987 he was in the middle of a pop phase- often focusing on writing songs. Islands is the best mix of his older style of long compositions and short pop songs. The instrumental first track, Wind Chimes, is a really moving piece, which is somewhat unique because of the clear influence of Balinese music and stands as one of Oldfield's best instrumentals of the 80's. The songs are more mixed. The two best that I often return to are 'Islands' with Bonnie Tyler and 'When the Nights on Fire'. Although I want to warn you they are rather syrupy, emotional and definitely over the top, they have a great overall feel to them. The theme of love is clearly, perhaps even too clearly, expressed but these songs are saved by strong performances from the vocalists and from great melodies. One of my favorite things about this disk is the way that the melodies of these two songs- indeed most of the songs in the album are based upon themes presented in the opening 20 minute long form piece- The Wind Chimes. So this is probably not the best release for 70's fans of Oldfield who want just one continously developing, almost symphonic piece in the style of Tubular Bells. Although for those fans I would recommend 'Incantations' (1978). But this album will work well for those fans of Oldfield's more recent work. All in all a very listenable album, and Wind Chimes alone would have deserved 5 stars, but the inconsistency of the vocal tracks diminish the album slightly.
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~ Mike Oldfield
~ Mike Oldfield
~ Mike Oldfield
~ Mike Oldfield
~ Mike Oldfield
album Islands 
