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. Its musical direction was performed by Rick Smith from Underworld fame.
| Isles of Wonder | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Soundtrack album by various artists | ||||
| Released | 28 July 2012 | |||
| Genre | Pop, EDM | |||
| Length | 150:02 | |||
| Label | Decca Music Group | |||
| London 2012 Olympic Games chronology | ||||
| ||||
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
editThe 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]
| Chart (2012) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australia | 44 |
| France | 160 |
| New Zealand | 35 |
| United Kingdom | 2 |
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Still Believe" | Frank Turner | 3:50 |
| 2. | "Jerusalem / Flower of Scotland / Danny Boy / Bread of Heaven" | Four Nations Choirs | 3:40 |
| 3. | "Nimrod" | LSO on Track | 3:31 |
| 4. | "And I Will Kiss" | Underworld (ft. Dame Evelyn Glennie) | 17:15 |
| 5. | "Tubular Bells / In Dulci Jubilo" | Mike Oldfield | 11:26 |
| 6. | "Chariots of Fire" | London Symphony Orchestra | 4:27 |
| 7. | "Sundowner" | Blanck Mass & London Symphony Orchestra | 3:32 |
| 8. | "Bonkers" | Dizzee Rascal & Armand van Helden | 2:56 |
| 9. | "Nimma Nimma" | A.R. Rahman (ft. Jaspreet Jasz) | 4:00 |
| 10. | "Heaven" | Emeli Sandé | 4:13 |
| 11. | "Abide with Me" | Emeli Sandé | 4:33 |
| 12. | "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor (Live)" | Arctic Monkeys | 2:51 |
| 13. | "Come Together (Live)" | Arctic Monkeys | 3:08 |
| 14. | "Caliban's Dream" | Underworld (ft. Dockhead Choir, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Only Men Aloud!, Elizabeth Roberts, Alex Trimble) | 7:16 |
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Galvanize (Beginning)" | The Chemical Brothers | 2:24 |
| 2. | "Moon Watcher" | High Contrast | 3:18 |
| 3. | "Always Loved a Film (Instrumental)" | Underworld | 3:04 |
| 4. | "Dark & Long (Dark Train)" | Underworld | 3:46 |
| 5. | "West End Girls" | Pet Shop Boys | 2:26 |
| 6. | "Minneapolis (High Contrast Remix)" | Underworld | 6:12 |
| 7. | "Reach" | High Contrast | 4:16 |
| 8. | "Ghost Dance" | High Contrast | 2:40 |
| 9. | "Confusion the Waitress (Darren Price & High Contrast Remix)" | Underworld | 1:22 |
| 10. | "Traktor [radio edit]" | Wretch 32 (ft. L.) | 2:05 |
| 11. | "Olympians (High Contrast Remix)" | Fuck Buttons | 4:57 |
| 12. | "Can't Stop This Fire" | High Contrast | 4:08 |
| 13. | "Moon in Water (Instrumental)" | Underworld | 2:42 |
| 14. | "Crocodile (High Contrast Remix)" | Underworld | 2:40 |
| 15. | "Where the Streets Have No Name (High Contrast Remix)" | U2 | 4:16 |
| 16. | "For Years" | High Contrast | 3:24 |
| 17. | "Dirty Epic (Darren Price & High Contrast Remix)" | Underworld | 2:56 |
| 18. | "The Long Way Home" | High Contrast | 3:16 |
| 19. | "Dark and Long (Darren Price & High Contrast Remix)" | Underworld | 3:28 |
| 20. | "Rez (High Contrast Remix)" | Underworld | 6:24 |
| 21. | "'Heroes'" | David Bowie | 3:18 |
| 22. | "Galvanize (Ending)" | The Chemical Brothers | 0:38 |
See also
edit
- “Survival”: the official song for the London 2012 Olympics
- A Symphony of British Music: the official soundtrack album of the London 2012 Olympics closing ceremony.
References
edit- ^ "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.
- ^ "Isles of Wonder – Music of the Opening Ceremony | Umusic – The official home of Universal Music". Umusic. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ "'Isles of Wonder', Official Olympic Soundtrack now available". IndScene. Retrieved 29 July 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Various Artists". Decca Records. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ "Isles Of Wonder: Music For The Opening Ceremony Of The London 2012 Olympic Games: Various artists: MP3 Downloads". Amazon. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ "Isles of Wonder". Underworld. July 2012. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- ^ "Isles of Wonder". Amazon. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ Aizlewood, John (30 July 2012). "Isles of Wonder: Music for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games (Decca), Various Artists – review". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Opening Ceremony album tops the download charts". London 2012. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
- ^ "Official Compilations Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 6 April 2023.