This may sound repetitious but I must accredit yet another Jade Warrior album with a five star rating - for musical brilliance, diversity,& originality.
"Floating World" is the first of Jade Warrior's 'island era' albums & represents a transition to highly refined & highly inspired instrumental music.
By the time of this release, 1974, the band reduced to only the two founding members - Tony Duhig & Jon Field. Originally Tony played guitars, & Jon played flute & percussion, but for this & future albums they diversified hugely, with both artists playing several additional instruments, & there are also guest musicians providing extra instrumentation.
The brief [one minute] opening track "Clouds" creates a vivid impression of - clouds, & even makes use of a girls choir. Then "Mountain of Fruit & Flowers" has some fine jazzy bass, flute, & acoustic guitar creating more vivid imagery, but with jazz fusion overtones.
"Waterfall" is a beautiful, dreamy number with sweet electric guitar leads & an ingenious percussion solo at the end with a Japanese flute. The stunning contrast of the next track "Red Lotus" is typical of Jade Warrior. This number rocks, with electric guitar in a hard rocking [though oriental sounding] style, plus flute & oriental gongs.
Another segment of "Clouds" follows, then another beautiful guitar piece "Rain Flower". Next "Easty" features cool jazz flutes harmonizing with electric guitar.
Those familiar with the Balinese 'Ketjak' dance may find parallels with "Monkey Chant". But wait till you hear this tribal chant combined with a wild blast of electric guitar from Dave Duhig [Tony's brother]. It seems like an outrageous concept but it blends together well, & it sounds unreal.
The "Waterfall" track is beautiful indeed, but for me ,even more beautiful is "Memories of a Distant Sea", with harp, flute, & a synthesizer sounding halfway between a clarinet & an oboe. This brief but very visual piece is like a prelude to the next album, the 1975 masterpiece "Waves".
The music finally drifts into "Quba" which has a female voice speaking in an exotic African language, a fitting climax.
Whilst "Waves" & "Way of the Sun" might be instantly likeable with their continuous themes it may take a little time to settle into "Floating World", but it is an amazing recording, & very collectable. Another fine album by Jade Warrior.
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floating world LP
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Product details
- Manufacturer : ISLAND
- Date First Available : August 18, 2009
- Label : ISLAND
- ASIN : B0063VFZBO
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #669,728 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl)
- #3,964 in Ambient (CDs & Vinyl)
- #11,833 in Progressive Rock
- Customer Reviews:
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Customer reviews
4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
25 global ratings
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2010
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2021
Not my absolutely favorite Jade Warrior CD , but worth listening to.
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2015
Jade Warrior's _Floating World_ has long been a favorite of mine, coming into my life, first, on vinyl... somewhere along the way I lost it and looked for another copy for a long long time... found this on Amazon and ordered it immediately. The music is as good as I had remembered, perhaps better... buy this album you'll not be sorry.....
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2018
These two just do not seem to have the magical impact of the original LP's .
Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2018
Love these guys. AAA!!!
Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2016
great cd
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2015
He was over the moon
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2010
To the novice, this is the Jade Warrior album to start with. It is newly remastered by Esoteric and although it's almost obligatory to talk of greater clarity and depth in sound, this time the remastering really does leap out of the speakers.
Jade Warrior made a peerless run of four albums for Island between 1974 and 1978, of which this was the first. Formerly vocal orientated, the band became an instrumental duo at the behest of Island boss Chris Blackwell. It was the right decision, for this is music beyond words. This was also music quite outside of its own time, and could have been made for these days of perfect sound reproduction. It is all instrumental, features a stunning array of natural sound colours, eked out of real instruments rather than synthesizers and keyboards, there is a woody, organic feeling to everything here.
The Field/Duhig duo were masters of a number of instruments, more importantly perhaps, getting instruments to what they wanted them to do, Jade Warrior's was a uniquely identifiable sound and it carries through the entirety of their Island catalogue to make the four albums a unique and satisfying whole.
The 36 minutes of intense music presented here consists of 10 titles, but to pick any of them in isolation would be to miss the point. It needs to be heard in full so as to fully appreciate the range and juxtaposition of moods and textures. This is a richly rewarding listening experience, bursting with sumptuously recorded instruments.
There is a dynamic range on show here which must have made the mixing process a nightmare. There are sounds so soft your ears strain to hear them, interrupted by gong blasts and riffs loud enough to pin you to your seat. Background music this is not. The sheer scale and ambition of this work is all the more remarkable for the extent to which they achieved it, and the difficult circumstances in which they had to work.
Jade Warrior really defy categorisation, like all the best music should, but if you appreciate immaculately played and recorded instrumental work, this is one classic you should own. They should have been the next Mike Oldfield.
Jade Warrior made a peerless run of four albums for Island between 1974 and 1978, of which this was the first. Formerly vocal orientated, the band became an instrumental duo at the behest of Island boss Chris Blackwell. It was the right decision, for this is music beyond words. This was also music quite outside of its own time, and could have been made for these days of perfect sound reproduction. It is all instrumental, features a stunning array of natural sound colours, eked out of real instruments rather than synthesizers and keyboards, there is a woody, organic feeling to everything here.
The Field/Duhig duo were masters of a number of instruments, more importantly perhaps, getting instruments to what they wanted them to do, Jade Warrior's was a uniquely identifiable sound and it carries through the entirety of their Island catalogue to make the four albums a unique and satisfying whole.
The 36 minutes of intense music presented here consists of 10 titles, but to pick any of them in isolation would be to miss the point. It needs to be heard in full so as to fully appreciate the range and juxtaposition of moods and textures. This is a richly rewarding listening experience, bursting with sumptuously recorded instruments.
There is a dynamic range on show here which must have made the mixing process a nightmare. There are sounds so soft your ears strain to hear them, interrupted by gong blasts and riffs loud enough to pin you to your seat. Background music this is not. The sheer scale and ambition of this work is all the more remarkable for the extent to which they achieved it, and the difficult circumstances in which they had to work.
Jade Warrior really defy categorisation, like all the best music should, but if you appreciate immaculately played and recorded instrumental work, this is one classic you should own. They should have been the next Mike Oldfield.
Top reviews from other countries
The Mole from the Ministry
5.0 out of 5 stars
Floating World, heavenly music on Earth
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 26, 2010
Jade Warrior, Gryphon, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Talk Talk (later albums), Little Axe (Skip Macdonald), XTC...Q What do these all in common? A They are all musicians who show to varying degrees a stunning creative originality, who are not always easy to pigeonhole or categorise, and who have been (largely) criminally unrecognised.
This album is in my all-time 'top 10' alongside such works as "Close to the Edge" by Yes, "Infected" by The The, and "Colour of Spring" by Talk Talk. Everything about "Floating World" is perfect, from the 'Eckford & Stimpson' artwork which attracted me to buy the vinyl album in its original form, to the musicianship, the incorporation of far-eastern influences, the dynamic range of the music, and the way the music hangs together as a whole piece of work. Tony Duhig's double-tracked guitar and Jon Field's flutes give this music a character all of its own. I can listen to this album many times, and find something new on each occasion. Brian Eno was an admirer - no surprise that something sounding uncannily like Tony Duhig's guitar should turn up on "Another Green World" (the track used as the theme for "Arena" TV Arts show). Their first three Vertigo albums feature a larger line-up with vocals from Glyn Havard, and are enjoyable enough, with clear signposts as to the direction to be taken when Jade Warrior were reduced to a duo. The following three 'Island' albums to 'Floating World' are also worth investigation, although not in my view matching up to this album.
Beautifully and lovingly produced, this album repays investigation by the newcomer to the 70's prog genre, or those who wish to return to albums that they may have missed out on the first time around.
This album is in my all-time 'top 10' alongside such works as "Close to the Edge" by Yes, "Infected" by The The, and "Colour of Spring" by Talk Talk. Everything about "Floating World" is perfect, from the 'Eckford & Stimpson' artwork which attracted me to buy the vinyl album in its original form, to the musicianship, the incorporation of far-eastern influences, the dynamic range of the music, and the way the music hangs together as a whole piece of work. Tony Duhig's double-tracked guitar and Jon Field's flutes give this music a character all of its own. I can listen to this album many times, and find something new on each occasion. Brian Eno was an admirer - no surprise that something sounding uncannily like Tony Duhig's guitar should turn up on "Another Green World" (the track used as the theme for "Arena" TV Arts show). Their first three Vertigo albums feature a larger line-up with vocals from Glyn Havard, and are enjoyable enough, with clear signposts as to the direction to be taken when Jade Warrior were reduced to a duo. The following three 'Island' albums to 'Floating World' are also worth investigation, although not in my view matching up to this album.
Beautifully and lovingly produced, this album repays investigation by the newcomer to the 70's prog genre, or those who wish to return to albums that they may have missed out on the first time around.
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fallingforstars
5.0 out of 5 stars
A masterpiece
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 30, 2007
The first of the four Island albums that were to cement Jade Warrior's rightful place in music history. Having now moved comfortably into their Island phase their true stature can now be realised, fully unleashed from the bonds of a vocal framework. Beautifully overlaying textures of sound to mesmerise and take the mind on flights of fancy, painting broad strokes of colour onto a South American backdrop. A "Desert Island Disc" chosen by James Clavell. This release (as well as the other three Island albums) have since been remastered on the Eclectic label and the quality is the best ever now that they are free from the constraints of the LP groove. A group way ahead of their time and a tragic loss when Tony Duhig died in 1990.
fallingforstars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 30, 2007
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Alistair Murray
5.0 out of 5 stars
ALL TIME CLASSIC
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2005
AS A FAN OF JADE WARRIOR FROM THE 1970S I WAS PLEASED TO FIND THIS ALBUM ON C.D. I ORDERED IT AND FOUND IT JUST AS GOOD AS THE FIRST TIME I HEARD IT ALL THOSE YEARS AGO. ALTHOUGH IT IS INSTRUMENTAL ALL THE WAY THROUGH, THE MUSIC IS ATMOSPHERIC AND UPLIFTING. FROM THE HARD ROCK OF RED LOTUS AND MONKEY CHANT TO THE RELAXED SOUND OF CLOUDS AND MEMORIES OF A DISTANT SEA, THIS ALBUM IS VARIED AND REFLECTS THE VARIOUS INFLUENCES OF JON FIELD AND TONY DUHIG. A VERY INTERESTING AND IMPRESSIVE ALBUM OF INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC WITH ROCK ROOTS. BUY IT YOU WON'T REGRET IT. !!!
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J. D. Ruddick
5.0 out of 5 stars
CD
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 21, 2016
10/10 the first of the 4 Island albums, which are the best of the Jade Warrior output in my opinion.
Julian G.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 11, 2014
v good