REFLECTIONS

This compilation of early Jade Warrior recordings was released on Butt Records in 1980. I bought it because it had a handful of tracks that didn't appear on any of their albums. I sold it quickly, since these tracks were nothing special. In addition, the sound quality of the LP was poor at best. A few years ago, Jade Warrior's "missing link" albums ("Eclipse" & "Fifth Element") were finally released, and they contain the aforementioned tracks. So, there is really no reason to shell out good money for this stinker. It's a fairly rare LP, so it would be an expensive folly. Note: the music on the album is great; it's just that this is the worst possible format (a bootleg-quality LP).

I bought this vinyl in my youth, when I had only the first studio album of this band in my record collection. During that time this compilation brought me some nice listening moments, but later as I hunted down the majority of the band's recordings, the relevance of this "Reflections" compilation suffered a huge inflation. To be frank, this record gives a very limited and wrong overview of the band's musical style. I have this opinion, as it focuses mostly to their early mellow acid folk ballads. If that's the only aspect of this group you want to hear, then this record serves it's purpose. Otherwise I would recommend to try to listen up some of their pre-1974 recordings and something from their late 1970's recordings for Island label, maybe "Waves" which seems to be quite popular choice and possibly most successful from the four albums. I think there would be a demand for a nice double CD covering the whole career of this fabulous group, from it's early days to their later releases, and also if there are anything obscure not yet released, my ears would burn to hear them. The tracks which were unreleased during the time this completion was drafted are now available in their intended form in the "Eclipse" album.