CHILDREN OF THE SUN

Bearing in mind that Mike Oldfield was a mere shy kid of 16 when this album was made there is much to recommend this latest reissue on Esoteric. Yes, it would never be made today, and yes it is somewhat twee, but for students of the English folk explosion of the late 60's, it has a certain period charm. Mike and older sister Sally (the second half of the band name coming from Jansch's guitar classic `Angie') found themselves at the legendary Sound Techniques studio in the company of Pentangle's Terry Cox and flute veteran Ray Warleigh. The original album consists of sixteen short songs sung by both Mike and Sally (I personally had to check the credits to find out that the male voice was in fact Mike Oldfield) and the over-riding influence would appear to be the work of The Incredible String Band seen through younger eyes, without perhaps the acid influences. Cox and Warleigh add a certain authority to proceedings, and whilst the Oldfields appear to have disowned the album it is not without merit.

Of major interest is a 35 minute bonus disc which features a couple of non album singles and perhaps most importantly, a trio of acoustic guitar instrumentals from Mike Oldfield recorded at Sound Techniques during the sessions. These display astonishingly well developed guitar playing for a 16 year old, and a most unexpected surprise in the form of `A Sad Song For Rosie', which would later be re-worked as the `Northumbrian Pipes' section of Oldfield's masterwork `Ommadawn'.

The main album has not exactly dated well, but for Oldfield scholars this reissue should not be dismissed. In an interview around about the time of `Incantations', Oldfield spoke of the long guitar instrumentals he used to write, and now we finally have the chance to hear them for ourselves for the first time.