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Blue Dolphin Group: Members Posts: 1232 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: June 15 2000, 13:43 It annoys me much that a lot of people don't like "Islands". Well, I think it's one of his best albums! (well, in fact, I like all albums ^_^ ) I think "The Wind Chimes" is truly one of his best instrumental pieces! (Especially the parts at 10:50, 11:46, 14:06, 15:24 and 16:15!!! ^_^ ) And Islands, Flying Start (!!), Magic Touch, The Time has Come and When the Nights on Fire are very good too! Anyone else who likes Islands too? -------------- -The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it- Mike Oldfield - 1980 Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: June 15 2000, 14:34 You're not alone, Blue Dolphin!! I also like it a lot...although Wind Chimes is not at all easy to follow in its extremely varied structure, it's certainly VERY compelling music!! [I like it a lot wherever it goes keyboardly-based-heavy-melodic...I don't know if you understand this...I'm a keyboard player myself! ] Moreover, When The Night's On Fire, Islands and Flying Start are true melodic masterpieces in what is the great art of traditional songwriting.... -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Cipher Group: Members Posts: 67 Joined: Mar. 2000 Posted: June 16 2000, 04:33 Well, I also enjoy this album very often. And I've made several MO begginers through it... Back to top

MrShame Group: Members Posts: 10 Joined: June 2000 Posted: June 16 2000, 17:21 Hoi Dolphin, nice to see you again! Well I think Islands is not Mikes best album but it has a lot of good songs on it. But I think Mikes worst song off all time is Islands! I don't like the song and the way it is sung. The Wind Chimes is great. I realy like Flying start and Northpoint. I also like Earth Moving a lot and I know that most fans don't like that album. Bridge to Paradise and Blue Night are wonderful. Back to top

Blue Dolphin Group: Members Posts: 1232 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: June 22 2000, 19:01 Well, thanks for letting me know that I'm not the only one! Indeed MrShame, Bridge to Paradise and Blue Night are wonderful!! Islands is not so bad, it could be used for a ending credits song of a movie. I would do it! (suprisingly, I make movies! ^_^) Well, byebye! -------------- -The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it- Mike Oldfield - 1980 Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: July 15 2000, 18:44 I always thought that 'The Wind Chimes' worked much with the video it was written to go with, than it does on its own. It's almost like half of Mike's thoughts went into the music and the other half into the pictures, so they need each other to work properly... I'm not sure that I like the title track too much either (I used to like it more, but I think maybe it's aged badly or something...). I like Magic Touch and Flying Start a lot, though, and North Point as well. The whole thing is much more fun as a video, though Back to top

Delfín Group: Members Posts: 667 Joined: Nov. 2000 Posted: Mar. 08 2001, 11:03 Dear Delfín 1 , Blue Dolphin: Islands is G.R.E.A.T. and for me it´s a link between the excelence of Mike´s instrumental music and the charm of his songs. On a part with drums and dubbed electric, cheerful guitars (towards the middle) I use to imagine a group of dolphins jumping and swimming across the sea... Dear U.G.O.: So you play the keys, aren't ya...? I do as well, and I love this sequencers/based suite... can you imagine a Spanish/Italian duo playing Mike Gordon's covers...? Mr Shame: quoted: Hoi Dolphin, nice to see you again! Have you got laser ray's vision? Can you lend it to me this weekend, for the chicks Once more and repeatedly, I have to say apologies to us all... Delfín -------------- The most precious thing I possess, is knowing the answer's yes Back to top

Tr3s Lunas Group: Members Posts: 104 Joined: Feb. 2002 Posted: Feb. 25 2002, 14:17 I really love Islands! IMHO Magic Touch is the best song of all the time! Islands and When The Nights On Fire are pretty good too. North Point and The Time Has Come are quite boring, but they´re great. Flying Start is a great song too, but I think that it doesn´t fits very well on this album... The Wind Chimes is one of my favourite instrumental pieces of Mike Oldfield, and the video is GREAT!!! -------------- http://starmen.net/petition ...do it for the kids!!! Back to top

Sysiyo Group: Members Posts: 245 Joined: Feb. 2003 Posted: Feb. 04 2003, 07:37 I've only owned Islands for a few days, so it's still in the growing on -phase, but thus far I must say that I don't really like Bonnie Tyler's vocals on the title track, and generally I like Mike's instrumentals much more than his actual songs. Thus this album was a bit disappointing, as there is only one instrumental on it, and it differs quite greatly from the style of the other instrumentals that I so much dig. All in all, for a Mike Oldfield album Islands is rather poor. For an album in the grander scheme of things, it's above average. Back to top

greenback Group: Members Posts: 42 Joined: Mar. 2003 Posted: Mar. 30 2003, 23:58 Well, When the wind chimes is a very progressive song: some Jethro Tull influences are in it! It's a masterpiece like Amarok!! If you do not like prog, you will find Islands disappointing!! It's quite simple: the more prog Oldfield is , the more I like it!! Back to top

Music, the ancient language... Group: Musicians Posts: 407 Joined: Jan. 2003 Posted: Mar. 31 2003, 03:41 Don't like Islands at all.   The first time I heard the track 'Islands' on 'Elements', I shivered (in the bad meaning). And some mp3-research resulted in having the same opinion on the entire album. But I think it's really nice to see that there are fans for every aspect of Mike Oldfield's music. There are: - fans with a classical background (like myself) - fans who like the progressive aspect (I think greenback makes that clear   ) - fans who like the 'poppy' aspect (Blue Dolphin and Ugo?) and likely many more... Great, isn't it! -------------- Read everything I write at own risk. I cannot be held responsible  for depressions and/or suicide attempts of any kind, caused by reading my posts. Back to top

Holger Group: Members Posts: 1506 Joined: Feb. 2003 Posted: Mar. 31 2003, 04:43 The Wind Chimes is great, but I have to say I don't like any of the songs on Islands. Not that they're bad songs, just a matter of taste. Back to top

raven4x4x Group: Members Posts: 1535 Joined: Jan. 2002 Posted: Mar. 31 2003, 06:40 I love Flying Start, its sort of a laid back song, and certainly is the best song on Islands. One of his best songs of all. None of the other songs really grab me. That's not to say that they're bad, they just seem a bit too much 'pop song' for me. The Wind Chimes is a strange one. It could use a bit more guitar, but I love that funny, breathy pan pipe thingy. It just has an amazing sound, and a really rocking tune. I got the video out from the video library, but about nine tenths of it was static and the sound was awful! The video did seem very dated, but this was 1987, and none of the fancy technology existed back then.   Overall, the album is one of my least favourites of Mikes, but still isn't without its great songs. -------------- Thank-you for helping us help you help us all. Back to top

maria Group: Members Posts: 928 Joined: July 2002 Posted: Mar. 31 2003, 20:51 on islands i've always found really enjoyable 'the wind chimes', even having passed so long time or better more now that it has passed so long since he did it... i've been recently reviewing the video and i was amazed cause i found out that in that moment there was already a seed for what he is doing now around virtual reality... in 'the wind chimes' there are several avatars... his timeless red guitar, there are spike balls similar to that in the rings game, there are flying statues, planes and birds... i think 'the wind chimes' could be a kind of night flight, something like a dream in which we mixes his real journeys with those other virtual ones... and btw. knowing he is a fan of stanley kubrick films, imho there could also be a reference to the film '2001 a space odyssey', the bones flying at the very beginning reminds me that thrown by the ape in the first part of the film and there's also fetus flying through space... it's really delicious. for the rest of the album... there are some bits in some songs... but i'm not keen on it. -------------- ...morning and evening i'm flying, i'm dreaming... Back to top

Blue Dolphin Group: Members Posts: 1232 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: April 13 2003, 08:26 To my suprise I see this topic is still hot. I started this 3 years ago (which you can see the way I wrote, like a 15 year old child)   I'm not really from a "poppy" background. I like Mike's "poppy" music but I rarely listen to any other pop music. I do however have some various mp3's with some pop songs (mostly 70's or 80's). Mainly I listen to Mike, Jarre, etc. But I also listen to classical music. But I haven't heard Islands for a while. Maybe a good time to play the album again. Other than what I said 3 years ago (I must have been in a Islands atmosphere, I have this sometimes. For a week I play the same album over and over again) Islands is certainly most enjoyable but not his best. Wind Chimes however is a wonderful lovely instrumental piece and Flying Start is a lovely song for in the summer. That is certainly a funny trivia you have there maria, about the flying bone. I'm also a really big fan of Stanley Kubrick. I never thought about that when watching the Wind Chimes video. -------------- -The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it- Mike Oldfield - 1980 Back to top

Blue Dolphin Group: Members Posts: 1232 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: April 13 2003, 08:30 Comment about the proggy background: my brother plays in a proggy band, so I pick some of that with me too. You can say that I'm a bit of a mix, but mostly I'm a bit synth oriented. My brother listens to King Crimson, Jethro Tull etc. I think the ones who are from a "proggy" background appreciate the TB, HR and OM more. -------------- -The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it- Mike Oldfield - 1980 Back to top

qjamesfloyd Group: Members Posts: 1350 Joined: April 2001 Posted: April 14 2003, 08:27 Islands is the album that really got me into Mike in the first place,i had always heard Tubular Bells and loved it,then on the way home from work one day,my friend Marc played Tubular Bells 2,i was amazed,i borrowed in from him,and played it over and over again,then one day,in a record shop i went to the Mike Oldfield section,and saw all these amazing album's,so,i decided to pick one at random,and give it a try,i chose "Islands",i really liked the cover,oh my god!!,when the "Wind Chimes" began,i was in awe,and Mike had me,lol,i bought all the albums one bye one after that,so,"Islands" is very special to me for that,i still love it now,i  still think "The Wind Chimes"is amazing,that begining is like the start of a huge orchestral piece,when played loud it great!!!!.I would love to hear that begining played by an orchestra,it would be great,the music to the piece is played in some very weird Balinese exotic scales,which is is great,and shows Mike's need to try different things,and not as he puts it"playing up and down the pentatonic scale!!!". I like the songs too,they are harmless,probably better than most crap in the charts,"The Magic Touch"has an amazingly fast guitar solo!!,watch the video to see what i mean. Back to top

Satyagraha Group: Musicians Posts: 103 Joined: June 2003 Posted: Sep. 03 2003, 14:50 I was incredibly disappointed when Islands was released back in 87, having waited a long time for it. And I was really hoping for an experimental, avantgarde album, because of the bold non-commercial stuff of TKF. Boy, I think I cried. In fact, Islands made me loose my interest in Mike Oldfield's music. I regained it just this summer -- and I can now see that I was too harsh in my judgement. TWC definitely has its moments, though the synth sounds are as awful now as they were then (or even awfuller). And Northpoint is a good song. But the rest of it? No, thanks. -------------- Byrði betri berrat maðr brautu at en sé mannvit mikit Back to top

qjamesfloyd Group: Members Posts: 1350 Joined: April 2001 Posted: Sep. 04 2003, 08:19 Well i am still loving this album,i always will,but i have been listening to "When The Nights On Fire" a bit lately,it's a great little song,and Mike plays a wicked guitar solo in it Back to top

SCprogfan Unregistered Posted: Sep. 04 2003, 11:37 Quote (Satyagraha @ Sep. 03 2003, 14:50) ...though the synth sounds are as awful now as they were then (or even awfuller). I always wonder why people say things like this.  I can barely recall a synth sound from the past that I don't hear somewhere these days, especially with all the "retro" trends in keyboards now.  Also maybe because I'm guilty of using a lot of old synth sounds, but beefing them up so you can't tell what it is anymore.   Anyway, Islands has always been a special album to me, because it was one of my first of Mike's.  I especially like TWC, and it is a very well engineered album. Back to top

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