Man on the rocks

"The sound recreated here is the 1970s rock of Toto and the Steve Miller Band: all amiable, mid-tempo guitar amblings underscored by wistful thoughts about escape and freedom. Oldfield plays guitar - often quite crunchily, as on the Tom Pettyish opener, Sailing - and young English vocalist Luke Spiller sings, broodingly. Dreamy throwbacks such as Castaway and Dreaming in the Wind shut out 2014 entirely, as does Meat Loafish doomsday rocker Nuclear. Overall, a curious but likable diversion from his multilayered new-age work".

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"It is undoubtedly the guitaring that represents this album's main strength, often elevating average tracks into something better, but when telling guitar contributions are absent there's little else to get excited about. The quality of that guitaring though is impressive enough to keep listeners coming back; the old master may not be as abundantly creative as he once was but there's life in the old fart yet".

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