Isles_of_Wonder_(album)

<i>Isles of Wonder</i> (album)

Isles of Wonder (album)

2012 soundtrack album by various artists


Isles of Wonder is the official soundtrack album of the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.[1][2][3][4][5][6] It became available as a download at midnight on 28 July 2012 and as a two-disc CD on 2 August 2012.[7] The soundtrack is mostly pre-recorded and does not include live elements of the performance such as the drumming from Evelyn Glennie, but the two Arctic Monkeys songs are actually credited in the album sleeve as being recorded during the rehearsal at the stadium on 23 July.

Quick Facts Isles of Wonder, Soundtrack album by various artists ...

Although listed as "Tubular Bells" / "In Dulci Jubilo", Mike Oldfield's track starts with the introduction piece to Tubular Bells in its normal arrangement, followed by a rearranged version of the same theme that during interviews Oldfield called "swingular bells". The piece that was used when the children's literature villains appeared features two arrangements of "Far Above the Clouds" (from Tubular Bells III), and finally there is a rendition of "In Dulci Jubilo" followed by a short coda.

The cover of the CD is a graphic representation of the 'petals' of Thomas Heatherwick's 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics cauldron.

Reception and reviews

The London Evening Standard gave the album four stars, commenting "As both a souvenir of one of the great events of our era and a rip-roaring collection, it’s hard to fault."[8]

Within two days of release the download album had topped the iTunes album charts in Britain, France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Spain, and reached no. 5 in the United States, as well as reaching no. 2 in the overall British official compilation charts.[9][10][11]

More information Chart (2012), Position ...

Track listing

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See also


References

  1. "iTunes – Music – Isles of Wonder: Music For the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games by Various Artists". Apple iTunes. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  2. "Various Artists". Decca Records. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  3. "Isles of Wonder". Underworld. July 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  4. "Isles of Wonder". Amazon. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  5. "Olympics opening ceremony soundtrack album tops download charts". Washington Post. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  6. "Opening Ceremony album tops the download charts". London 2012. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  7. "Official Compilations Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 6 April 2023.



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