WAY OF THE SUN

Jade Warrior rounded out their Island Records incarnation and went into hiatus with this album, which added Mesoamerican themes to the blend of New Age, world music, and jazz fusion which was the hallmark of this era of the group. This time around things are just a touch more lively than the placid Waves or Kites, but not so much to make Way of the Sun feel like an outright outlier. As with all their Island albums, there's plenty of texture and layers to the music, so whilst it'd certainly fit in that "New Age" category, it's a far cry from the sort of simplistic territory that label sometimes brings to mind.

Again, comparisons to Mike Oldfield can be made, and given that Jon Field offered flute on Tubular Bells that speaks to a certain musical compatibility. Meanwhile, the title track manages to build a bridge between, on one hand, the sound of Santana's more fusion-oriented works and, on the other hand, the early Ozric Tentacles sound. Carnival, on the other hand - by far the liveliest moment on the album (clue's in the name!) relies on Santana much more directly, to a point where I feel I have to dock the album's mark just a little because it feels like Jade Warrior may have been running a bit low on ideas to resort to that sort of thing. Still, it ranks alongside Floating World as among the best of the Island era of the band, and the Island Records period might have been Jade Warrior's most fruitful time.