WIND BORNE - THE ISLAND ALBUMS 1974-1978

For a good long while, Jade Warrior's Island Records-era albums were badly served on CD, with the Elements anthology cramming them all onto two CDs (with, reportedly, edits for running time). Then Eclectic/Esoteric gave them individual releases, and now they have put out Wind Borne - an all-in-one go collection which gives you all four of the Island albums from the group in cardboard sleeves in an attractive clamshell box, along with the customary booklet providing song details and outlining the history of the era.

As is customary for the Cherry Red family of labels, the presentation is decent; the cardboard sleeves, in particular, feel a bit more substantial and less flimsy than the ones used in those "Original Album Classics" sets (fun and convenient though those are), and therefore less like an afterthought.

Though they had significant releases prior to and subsequent to this, I'd argue for the Island Records era being the true peak of Jade Warrior's career, and therefore having it easily available again in one convenient package is a wonderful thing. Esoteric are no slouches about the execution of their boxed sets, and this one is no exception to that.