KITES

Not content to stay in one place for more than one album, Jade Warrior once again came up with something different for Kites. If the previous, Waves, was a very jazzy album, Kites is much more symphonic in nature. It is also more eventful and varied with numerous moods, tempos and levels of intensity being explored. Again, like the previous two albums, Kites is an entirely instrumental affair (apart from some wordless vocals) and there is not much connecting this music to that of the group's early, more Rock-based, albums. It was always very hard to put Jade Warrior in a specific genre, but this is surely not Rock music anymore. New-Age and World-Music might tell some part of the story, but not the whole.

While Waves consisted of only two sidelong tracks, Kites is split up into many shorter pieces. Like on all their previous albums, this one also has a sleeve with a heavy Asian aesthetic. But this time, more so than ever before perhaps, the music itself too has an Asian sound. The flutes are very present, as often with Jade Warrior, but here strings play a dominant role for the first time, giving the music a more orchestral/symphonic style. While, in my opinion, Kites is about as interesting and pleasant as Waves, none of these albums are really my cup of tea and neither of them represents the best of what Jade Warrior has to offer. I cannot recommend this to Prog fans in general, but those with a special interest in the music of the group should not miss these quite unique albums.

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