Natural Elements (Acoustic Alchemy album)

Natural Elements
Studio album by Acoustic Alchemy
Released	1988
Recorded	1988
Studio	Hansa Haus Studios, Bonn, Germany
Genre	Smooth jazz
Length	34:21
Label	MCA 42125 GRP 9834 (1996 re-release)
Producer	John Parsons
Acoustic Alchemy chronology
Red Dust and Spanish Lace (1987) Natural Elements (1988) Blue Chip (1989)

Natural Elements was the second major label release by Acoustic Alchemy from 1988. The shortest of all of the band's albums, only comprising eight tracks, Natural Elements set out to show what the title suggests: the organic side to Acoustic Alchemy's music.

Points to note from this album include the title track, Natural Elements, which became the theme tune to long-running BBC gardening show, Gardener's World, and the re-recording of an early track, "Casino", now re-arranged to include piano and full percussion parts. The track "Ballad For Kay" is dedicated to Nick Webb's wife, Kay.

Critical reception[]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

Stewart Mason of AllMusic begins his review with, "Not quite complex enough to be jazz, not quite mellow or ambient enough to be new age, and just a little too cerebral to just be pop music, Acoustic Alchemy's Natural Elements is its own little oddity."^[1]

While doing an article on Acoustic Alchemy, Dirk Sutro of The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Americans love the rich acoustic music of Acoustic Alchemy. The British band has sold more than 100,000 copies each of its albums "Red Dust & Spanish Lace" and "Natural Elements" in the United States."^[2]

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by Greg Carmichael and Nick Webb, unless otherwise noted.

Musicians[]

• Nick Webb – guitars (steel and nylon)
• Greg Carmichael – guitars (nylon)
• Mike Herting – keyboards, synthesizers
• Rainer Brüninghaus – acoustic piano, synthesizers
• Mario Argandoña – percussion
• Konrad Mathieu – bass
• Bert Smaak – drums
• Serge Maillard – programming
• John Parsons – programming
• Vera Elfert – recorder

Production[]

• John Parsons – Producer
• Milan Bogdan – Digital Editing
• Klaus Genuit – Engineer
• Günther Kasper – Engineer
• Ashley Jackson – Painting (Front Cover)
• Paul Cox – Photography (Back Cover)
• Simon Levy – Art Direction
• Benny Quinn – Mastering
• Linda Schwab – Artwork
• Virginia Team – Design
• Manfred Struck – Mixing

Track information and credits adapted from the album's liner notes.^[3]

References[]