For Islands, Mike Oldfield gathered a host of musicians to further his run of more mainstream-sounding albums. The album includes vocals by Bonnie Tyler, Kevin Ayers, and Max Bacon, as well as saxophonist Raphael Ravenscroft (famous for his work on Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street"), along with the album's producer and former Yes member Geoffrey Downes. Even with such talent, Oldfield only garners sporadic instances of entertaining music, and the bulk of Islands comes off as quite pedestrian-sounding. Bonnie Tyler's passionate voice lifts the title track higher than any other cut, while "The Wind Chimes, Pt. 1 and 2" serves as the second-best song, instilling some of Oldfield's instrumental originality and adroitness in order to drum up its enchanting air. Unfortunately, tracks such as "When the Night's on Fire," "Flying Start," and "Magic Touch" lack any allurement or defined character, supporting accusations from critics that Oldfield has finally run out of ideas. ~ Mike DeGagne, All Music Guide
Kevin Ayers (Vocals), Raphael Ravenscroft (Musician), Simon Phillips (Drums), Jerry Uelsmann (Photography), Jeremy Parker (Assistant), Pierre Moerlen (Musician), Max Bacon (Musician), Andrew Catlin (Paintings), Geoffrey Downes (Producer), Rick Fenn (Musician), Andrew Catlin (Portraits), Max Bacon (Vocals), Bonnie Tyler (Vocals), Simon Heyworth (Remastering), Micky Moody (Musician), Björn J:son Lindh (?), Simon Draper (A&R), Anita Hegerland (Chant), Douglas Brian Martin (Design), Wind Chimes (?), Benoit Moerlen (Musician), Anita Hegerland (Vocals), Mickey Simmonds (Musician), Alan Shacklock (Producer), Richard Barrie (Assistant Engineer), Simon Phillips (Producer), Michael Crétu (Producer), Douglas Brian Martin (Desaccordee), Andy Mackay (Musician), Tony Beard (Musician), Mercyn Spence (?), Mike Oldfield (Producer), Richard Barrie (Technical Assistance), Phil Spalding (Musician), Greg Fulginiti (Mastering), John Wooler (A&R), Mervyn Spence (Musician), Tom Newman (Producer)
Islands was also released as a video album produced. For each track a video was made and released, often mixing state of the art (for the time) computer generated images with real life images.
The major single in Europe was the title track, "Islands", which was sung by Bonnie Tyler. In the United States, "Magic Touch" was a top 10 hit on the Billboard Album Rock charts in early 1988.
The UK front cover artwork was of a tropical island, and hidden in the surrounding sea is a large number of hand shapes. The American cover however is different; it displays two cube shapes. The photography on the back of the US version was by Jerry Uelsmann.
