Originally released in 1998, Jon Jenkins' 'Flow' was considered a landmark album and a masterpiece at the time by many. It is a soundscape that straddles the genres of the ambient and cinematic with not only an abundance of atmosphere but also some rich melodic content. The remastering by Howard Givens gives 'Flow' new life, increasing its depth, dimension and intensity. If you had not heard it 25 years ago you could swear it had been released just yesterday. 'Flow' is an album of finely layered synth pads, melodic piano that ranges from powerful themes to sublime interludes and synthesizer tinklings and twinklings in all the right places. Primarily composed and played by Jenkins, also aboard are David Helpling, Jeff Pearce and Howard Givens providing ambient electric guitar on some tracks. The album plays out 11 tracks in 74 minutes seamlessly from start to finish.

The lush synth pads Jenkins employs are varied in both tone and temperament, sometimes drifting cloud-like, and others swelling dramatically to peak perfection. The sequencer is utilized sparingly but effectively, not dominating but enhancing passages that call for busy motion. Percussion (drums) ranges from distant tribal to powerfully punctuated passages. While the minimal title ('Flow') gives away little as to the album's theme, it does fit the description and it certainly does flow, an obvious aquatic metaphor. As many times as I have listened to it over the past couple of weeks (more than I usually do with albums I review here) it is still tough to pin down. Moods on the album are light, dark and gray in-between. There is no way you can lump 'Flow' into the New Age category, as it paints vistas much vaster than that. Perhaps the best electronic soundscape artist to compare this to would be Steve Roach, so if you're a Roach fan, you will undoubtedly enjoy this. A masterpiece then and a masterpiece now, 'Flow' remains at the top of the list in cinematic ambient soundscapes.