January 2024: Amazon by Joe Ross
Since we spend a third of our lives engaged in some form of sleeping and resting, the all-inclusive idea of slumber deserves to be deemed an important part of human existence. Of course, the shops are filled with innumerable substances, herbs, and potions to enable people to help get a good night’s sleep. In quite a novel approach, New Age music pioneer Chuck Wild considered the subject on Liquid Mind VIII: Sleep, the 2006 musical release under his musical moniker Liquid Mind®.
The Liquid Mind series of albums, from the very first Ambience Minimus in 1994 through to the most recent, Liquid Mind XIV: Simplicity in 2022, each have something special to offer listeners seeking to detach from stress and tension in their lives.
If winding down with the intention of sleep is essential, then Liquid Mind VIII: Sleep may very well help you reach the arms of Morpheus easier and, perhaps equally as important, without relying on chemicals, herbs, or potions.
Liquid Mind VIII: Sleep begins with a heavenly sounding synth arrangement called “Night Light” that suggests a perfect invitation for you to turn off your mind and relax as you find your comfort zone. For some listeners this can be a challenge after the pressures and vigor’s of the day, but “Night Light” is a warm welcome to this Liquid Mind album classic.
November 2023: Amazon by Robert Silverstein
Relax: A Liquid Mind Experience
In 2007, Real Music released a dreamy collection of slow sedative music by Liquid Mind (aka Chuck Wild), selected from the previous eight albums by the venerable electronic music artist. Conceived from the start by composer and keyboard virtuoso Chuck Wild, Relax: A Liquid Mind Experience features a cross-section of album tracks representing 8 different Liquid Mind albums, in addition to a previously unreleased track called “I Am Willing”.
Musically, Relax is very much in the signature Liquid Mind style of slow-moving, meditative electronic music instrumentals that are perfect for a variety of relaxation and reflection. If you’re looking for beat-heavy, pulsating, electronic-based synth music, this isn’t it. Instead, the focus here is on unwinding the body and spirit and releasing the captive mind through the magic of still, linear sound waves of electronic synth music that works to undo tension and ameliorate blood pressure build-up.
One of the great compilations of healing electronic sounds, Relax: A Liquid Mind Experience takes Chuck Wild and Liquid Mind back to the true purpose and origins of Real Music, the label that pioneered the release of New Age music albums as a force for health-related improvements in your life through the power of healing sounds. Even with its remedial qualities, synth and electronic music fans will nevertheless appreciate the sonic attractions of Relax: A Liquid Mind Experience and the upside is, it will invariably assist them in removing the stress that so much millennial life can induce in our nervous systems.
The unreleased track here, “I Am Willing” is a veritable classic of the New Age style and is clearly a masterpiece from the vast back catalog of Liquid Mind titles. Deep in the spirit of more recent albums from Liquid Mind, including 2020’s Mindfulness and 2022’s Liquid Mind XIV: Simplicity, the 2007 CD release of Relax: A Liquid Mind Experience is certainly time well spent for long time fans of Liquid Mind and newcomers alike.
October 2023: Roots Music Report by Robert Silverstein
The Wisdom Of Kindness Flute Remix (featuring Bryan Baker)
In 2020, New Age composer Chuck Wild/Liquid Mind® released the highly successful album Liquid Mind XIII: Mindfulness. Released at the start of the global pandemic, the 6-song, 65-minute album release is very much worth hearing. Considered the second most popular album in the Liquid Mind discography, Mindfulness is regarded as a unique sounding masterpiece of instrumental New Age meditation music. Revisiting Mindfulness in 2023, Chuck has taken one of the album’s finest tracks, “The Wisdom Of Kindness” and has created and released a remix track entitled “The Wisdom Of Kindness Flute Remix (featuring Bryan Baker)”, released on August 25, 2023.
In its 18-album repertoire, this special track from Liquid Mind is quite unique as it’s the first time that another artist has appeared on a Liquid Mind release. Recording artist and flautist Bryan Baker adds a masterful touch to this 2023 Liquid Mind remix track. The original track was first featured on Liquid Mind XIII: Mindfulness - one of the most iconic albums in the Liquid Mind catalog. The addition of Bryan Baker performing on “The Wisdom Of Kindness” adds a new dynamic, and while the original track from the album clocks in at over ten minutes, this remix condenses the track to just over five minutes. The original intent and spirit of “The Wisdom Of Kindness” remains intact and is further enhanced by the addition of Bryan Baker’s Alto Flute playing.
March 2023: Auralscapes Radio by Candice Michelle
Simplicity seemingly evokes streams of white light pouring upon endless blue skies, billowy clouds, and placid waters, with each composition rolling along uninterrupted as if encapsulated by a translucent pearl of reflective and rounded edges.
An award-winning and chart-topping musical artist and mainstay in the spa, healing, and holistic therapy industries, Liquid Mind has facilitated peaceful and positive sound environments for many clients and practitioners alike for decades, while Simplicity is sure to take the listener into the next phase of blissful transcendence and tranquility!
Click here to read the complete review
December 2022: Music Web Express 3000 by Robert Silverstein
New Age music legend Chuck Wild is back in 2022 with his 18th album under the artist name Liquid Mind. Liquid Mind XIV: Simplicity continues the Liquid Mind story following the 2021 release of Liquid Mind: Musical Healthcare®. A long time artist on the legendary Real Music Records label, both Chuck and Real Music joined forces with the London-based Myndstream label in 2018.
There are really two ways to experience the music of Liquid Mind; both as meditative musical therapy to calm and relax the body and mind and also as a scenic electronic, synth-based sound, and both are equally valid. It was the late, great album producer Bruce Swedien that first encouraged Chuck to further pursue his approach to therapeutic electronic music and in a sense, with its slow-moving, glacial-like string synths sounds, Chuck’s music can also be viewed as being a kind of modern era classical music and in that way, it is also cinematic and could easily work as symphonic soundtrack music. So, if you’re into diving deep into your personal meditative headspace, Liquid Mind XIV: Simplicity is the album to go to for relaxing, mindful meditation, as well as other slow-moving therapies such as yoga.
October 2022: The JW Vibe by Jonathan Widran
Of all of Wild’s thematic suggestions, Simplicity is perhaps the thing we least think about as we seek personal peace of mind in a chaotic unpredictable world. As we listen, from the lush, uplifting moods and ambiences of the nearly 11 minute “Transcendence” through the soft, gentle and moisture laden nuances of “A Gentle Rain in My Soul” (a callback to Liquid Mind’s 2014 “Relaxing Rain & Ocean Mixes” collection), we should allow ourselves to drift off while thinking about what “simplicity” means to us personally and universally.
Perhaps in the stillness of our souls, the calming of our spirits and yes, the slowing of our brainwaves, the Liquid Mind pieces will facilitate illumination and meaningful answers to questions we rarely have time to reflect on during our daily hustle and bustle: “How can I simplify? How can I reduce the clutter of stuff I don’t need and toxic relationships I no longer want? How much do I really need to make me happy?” Wild’s ultimate goal with his lush, crystalline Liquid Mind energies may be to get us off to slumber, but it’s just possible the journey to that can be filled with love, light and breakthroughs that can enhance, and maybe even save, our lives.
October 2022: New Age Music Reviews by Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck
How important is it for you to rest, relax, and recharge? Or find something you can ease into a meditative state? If you answered yes to these questions, then you are likely aware of the healing powers of music. The advances made over the years in science to find the many different uses have become more than an art form.
People like Chuck Wild, the creator of Liquid Mind, are the artisans who create this music. While he does not claim that this will be your cure or work for you and help you with your struggles, research suggests that this type of music can help you. The soft synths and textures in his most recent offering, “Simplicity”, will have you floating away in minutes.
October 2022: Cultuurmania by Patrick Van de Wiele (Belgium)
Liquid Mind is the name used by Chuck Wild, composer, producer and songwriter from Los Angeles. His best-selling downtempo, chill-out albums have consistently charted on the Billboard charts, reaching the top of the iTunes USA New Age chart several times. There are few composers with as much love for slowness in their music as Wild. Chuck draws from classical and pop influences as diverse as Beethoven and Brian Eno, Bartok and Rachmaninoff, Bach, Chopin and Fauré, Duruflé and Brahms.
This new album, which was released digitally on October 17, contains 7 tracks, which you can classify as New Age and ambient. A total of 64 minutes of the most calming and relaxing music on the planet. This is also Liquid Mind's 18th album, and is ideal for meditation, sleep disorders and other therapeutic forms. In Chuck's own words that is: “The ultimate compliment to me is that people fall asleep to my music. Liquid Mind is functional music, assisting us to be tranquil at those times when that may not be easy.” At the same time, this album was selected by Pandora on October 10th for the World Mental Health Day premiere.
October 2022: Mainly Piano by Kathy Parsons
Liquid Mind XIV: Simplicity is the eighteenth album from Liquid Mind (Chuck Wild) and continues his mission to create some of the most peaceful music you're going to find anywhere. Liquid Mind's music is music with a purpose and is intended for relaxation, meditation and sleep. The seven tracks on Simplicity range from a little more than seven minutes to a little more than twelve, allowing the listener to become fully immersed in the music so that it can work its magic. I found this quote on Chuck Wild's Wikipedia page fascinating:
"The Liquid Mind series was born from my struggle with panic attacks and anxiety while co-scoring the Emmy Award-winning American Broadcasting Company television series 'Max Headroom' with composer Michael Hoenig. During the same period more than 60 of my friends, associates, and family members died of HIV and cancer. To help heal from the panic, a counselor suggested that I write music representing the way I wanted to feel. This resulted in the first Liquid Mind album, 'Ambience Minimus,' completed in 1988.
"When I discovered this music was effective in healing my own anxiety and panic attacks, and with the encouragement of fellow artist Suzanne Doucet, I decided to release it through major distribution. The ultimate compliment to me is that people fall asleep to my music. Liquid Mind is functional music, assisting us to be tranquil at those times when that may not be easy."
October 2022: Steve Sheppard Music Reviews by Steve Sheppard
The works of Chuck Wild, known for decades as Liquid Mind, were probably one of the few New Age artists I was originally introduced to when I first started showing interest in this genre of music, since then, and till now, I have been a fan of this all-time legend of the industry, it’s a given fact that when a Liquid Mind album is on offer, you just know it is going to be blissfully brilliant, and this latest release Liquid Mind XIV: Simplicity, follows that narrative of sublime calm perfectly.
From the very first track Transcendence, we are gifted an uplifting yet tranquil musical voyage, one so beautifully paced, played and produced; it would be very easy to just float off into an ocean of serenity to. The album itself is a colourful and pleasurable 7 tracks of new age genius, as drifting harmonious keyboards guide us by the hand, through sensitive pieces like Simplicity, one that raises the emotional energies so carefully.
Simply put there are seven places of musical sanctuary within this album, all of them equally comforting and tender in tone, tracks like In The Moment, a place I strive to stay within each passing day; it’s soothing vibrancy make that reality much more real for me.
August 2021: New Age Music Guide by BT Fasmer
Liquid Mind Musical Healthcare
It has been documented that music has healing qualities. It can vastly improve our mental wellbeing and give us a speedier physical recovery. This is also the reason why Liquid Mind’s new compilation is called “Musical Healthcare”. It features tracks from the last 15 years, plus a brand-new piece called “Healing Hands”. Much like “Relax: A Liquid Mind Experience” did back in 2007, the new compilation offers an introduction — and perhaps even a definition — of what Liquid Mind is all about. Make no mistake about it; In a world plagued by stress, the compilation offers the best musical healthcare available.
Click here to read the complete review
August 2021: New Age Notes by Dyan Garris
Liquid Mind Musical Healthcare
The quintessential relaxation experience by the quintessential master of relaxation. Period.
The Liquid Mind® series is a 17-album series by Emmy® nominated composer Chuck Wild. Chuck is well-known in the New Age arena, but he’s also worked with artists such as Michael Jackson and Frank Zappa to name a few. It’s always a pleasure to review any music by Chuck from this series, as it’s just SO good, so ultra-relaxing and peaceful. This particular album “Musical Healthcare” is a compilation of the best music from the Liquid Mind® series.
Here we have 8 tracks and just over 70 minutes of pure bliss that is perfect for meditation, massage, help in sleeping, quelling anxiety, and a host of therapeutic regimens. This is all soft, slow, sweet, subtle, and healing synth electronica, truly at its finest.
Click here to read the complete review
August 2021: Ambient Music Radio by John W. Patterson
Liquid Mind Musical Healthcare
Liquid Mind is Chuck Wild and all his 18 releases will bring, and serenely mean, peace, relaxation, healing and a special inner calm for the listener. He created his own brand of ambient music long ago to heal himself. It must have worked — because decades later — he is still releasing his music. Many organizations dealing with healing and relaxation use his music. When I first discovered Chuck's music I was suffering from anxiety and depression — and meds weren't helping. His music was so healing and calming to my soul so I then sang his praises online. I am now an ambient music composer myself. We have maintained contact over the years and it is wonderful to be able to do this review of his music yet again.
Chuck Wild has been doing music for decades and doing ambient music since 1994. He has 13 ambient releases out and now — with this 2021 release — also 4 compilation releases. This new release continues his fine discography. This release is a compilation with one brand new composition being offered. Highest recommendations!
August 2020: JourneyScapes Global Internet Radio by Candice Michelle
Mindfulness is positivity-minded, pure relaxation music that feels like receiving a mental massage or aromatherapy for the ears. Spanning just over an hour, the album features a total of six soothingly serene soundscapes comprised of slowly-shifting and oscillating major-key chord progressions, which mostly occupy the mid-to-high range.
Continually unfolding throughout in a gradually ascending motion, silken chords with softened edges smoothly transition from one to the next. Given that the compositional structure is all ‘release’ and no ‘tension’, there aren't any elements of surprise along the way, which allows for the listener to simply achieve an uninterruptedly passive state of mind. Overall, it’s a listening experience which could be figuratively compared to that of floating like a cloud in the lotus position without pause, nor a tangible destination in mind.
Click here to read the complete review
June 2020: Artisan Music Reviews by RJ Lannan
Every time I listen to a Liquid Mind album that 1980’s social experiment where someone falls back and someone else is supposed to catch them comes to mind. Only in this instance, it’s the music that catches you. It not only catches you. It embraces you and it comforts you like nothing else. And I trust it. If ever there is music that defined the ambient genre, Liquid Mind’s latest offering, Mindfulness is proof positive that some music has a power way beyond words. Composer Chuck Wild’s legacy to date is more than fifteen albums of calming bliss.
Click here to read the complete review
June 2020: BestNewAgeCD.com by Dyan Garris
From the very first notes of “Liquid Mind XIII – Mindfulness” you know you’re listening to some of the most deeply relaxing, calming music available on this planet today.
“Mindfulness” is effortless, masterful, soothing, electronica that is perfect for calming the mind and body, total relaxation, deep meditation, massage, peaceful sleep, help in sleeping, and more.
June 2020: NewMusic Alert by Vivek Kumar
Very recently, I listened to the talks of a spiritual master, who was simplifying the eight-step process of meditation and reaching the stage of Samadhi, in a parlance that sounds very easy to grasp and relate to. Often, the simple truths are hidden in artistic verbiage, and we tend to overlook them in search of apparent higher truths.
May 2020: Mainly Piano by Kathy Parsons
In this time of stress, fear and anxiety, here comes Liquid Mind with a new album to calm, soothe and reassure us that life is still beautiful and all will be well. Titled Liquid Mind XIII: Mindfulness, this is actually the sixteenth album from Liquid Mind/Chuck Wild and is more than an hour of smooth, ambient sound that moves slowly and fluidly, inducing sleep and relieving stress.
Click here to read the complete review
May 2020: New Age Music Guide by BT Fasmer
Listening to Liquid Mind’s new album Mindfulness got me thinking about a famous quote by Osho: “Silence has a music of its own, it is not dead, it is very much alive, it is tremendously alive. In fact, nothing is more alive than silence.” In his music, Chuck Wild seems to capture silence and turn it into music, which in turn makes it easy to experience any kind of meditation – now including mindfulness. It is a fantastic addition to Liquid Mind’s one-of-a-kind discography.
Click here to read the complete review
May 2020: New Age Music Reviews by Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck
As one track effortlessly folds into the next, you realize that deep meditation can be realized in this 1 hour plus of synthesized perfection. With titles like “Life in the Slow Lane,” I think you get the idea and the mood Chuck is trying to capture with his music. His intent is crystal clear and if your goal is to find solace within the music, you need to look no further than Mindfulness.
Click here to read the complete review
May 2020: Amazon Product Review by Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck
Liquid Mind is a composer and musician named Chuck Wild. He creates music for those of us in the fast lane that need to slow down and pull over to smell the roses of life.
His Mindfulness release is meant for just that, relaxing, chilling out, whatever you want to label it. These are the kind of new age ambient sounds that will aid you in calming the inner storms and it will quickly soothe the mind, body, and spirit.
Click here to read the complete review
June 2016: Music Web Express 3000, mwe3.com by Robert Silverstein
Liquid Mind XI: Deep SleepThe musical entity known as Liquid Mind is the creation of keyboardist and composer Chuck Wild. After releasing ten albums, Liquid Mind arrives at yet another sonic destination with Liquid Mind XI: Deep Sleep.
As the stress of life keeps piling up, fans of New Age and electronica are constantly on the lookout for new and interesting ways to tone down the background noise. Created to enhance the art of sleeping, Deep Sleep is much more than that. In fact, it’s a kind of mini symphonic album of deep electronica that just happens to be of a very relaxing nature.
Being that Chuck was greatly influenced by progressive rock music in general, one can’t help but compare some of his soaring orchestrated keyboard imagery to that of Moody Blues founder and mellotron pioneer Mike Pinder, who was the main sonic innovator of progressive rock back in the mid 1960s. Some of Chuck’s keyboards do echo Pinder’s ‘tron like sonic web but there’s also a very unique musical slant on the slow moving sonic glaciers that make up Deep Sleep.
Click here to read the complete review
March 13, 2016: Music and Media Focus by Michael Diamond
I’m sure that anyone who has been following the new age music genre for any length of time will be familiar with the name Liquid Mind®, one of the premier producers of soothing sounds. Liquid Mind is actually the name that composer, keyboardist, and Emmy®-nominated songwriter Chuck Wild records as. Since 1994, Chuck has released 14 albums under the Liquid Mind moniker.
Writing about Liquid Mind music is a bit different than with other music. As Chuck himself says: “Like the Tao, I envision that nothing in Liquid Mind attracts unnecessary attention to itself, and that the music’s strength emanates from its softness.”
The music is designed to flow from one track to the next with continuity and equanimity. Liquid Mind music is created more as a sonic tapestry to be listened to in the background, rather than active listening as is normally the case.
As [Chuck] describes: “The ultimate compliment to me is that people fall asleep to my music. Liquid Mind is functional music, assisting us to be tranquil at those times when that may not be easy. That’s why my compositions are longer than normal, and very slow in tempo.”
The compositions are indeed longer, with the 6 tracks ranging from 8 to 14 minutes each for a total of over an hour’s worth of music. In our interview, Chuck described a bit of his creative process: “I use nearly 30 synthesizers and virtual instruments. It generally takes a week or ten days to arrange each piece, as I sometimes use nearly 20 tracks of various synths on a piece, blended and gently fading from sound to sound to create textural changes.”
To this end, the music totally achieves its goal as it drifts peacefully by like gentle clouds on a moonlit summer night.
January 30, 2016: Ambient Visions,by Michael Foster
Liquid Mind XI: Deep SleepAs a long time listener of Liquid Mind aka Chuck Wild I have to admit that there is something about the music that he composes that simply harmonizes with the body and mind’s natural vibrations and just allows you to relax and destress to a remarkable degree. That’s not to say that other artists’ music doesn’t accomplish the same thing at times but with Liquid Mind compositions it doesn’t appear to be happenstance that each album reaches that goal almost naturally. In fact, I have come to expect that kind of reaction to listening to the music that Chuck Wild composes as Liquid Mind.
October 7, 2015: Awesome Life by Adrian Eimerl
Do you have a hard time chilling out, relaxing, and finding peace? In our busy fast paced lives there are not a lot of things that can bring us serenity, calmness, and peace of mind. Liquid Mind’s music has been medically documented to do just that.
Over 500,000 people a week listen to Liquid Mind (generating over 2,000,000 plays weekly) on Pandora alone. I didn’t need any research to show me the value of Liquid Mind. All I had to do was play the music and notice how it made me feel.
That was all the research I needed. Since discovering Liquid Mind about 6 months ago, it has been playing every day in my home, and has had a tremendous positive impact on me and my family. In Episode 005 of the Awesome Life podcast we are treated to an interview with Chuck Wild of Liquid Mind.
August 2013: Liquid Mind X: Meditation, A Contemplative Faith by Carl McColman
Liquid Mind X: MeditationThis most recent offering from the ambient music maestro Chuck Wild (who records under the name “Liquid Mind”) is one of the loveliest recordings of deeply introspective, truly relaxing, and — most important of all — serenely beautiful music that I’ve come across in quite a while.
Comprising six tracks with a combined length of just over an hour, this musical suite can be the perfect soundtrack for massage, reading, quiet conversation, or mealtime. But I think what separates out truly creative ambient music from run-of-the-mill new age recordings is that it makes an authentic musical statement, far more than just functioning as a kind of soothing soundtrack for busy lives.
October 2012: Sonic Immersion, by Bert Strolenberg
Liquid Mind X: MeditationMeditation is the twelfth album release by Chuck Wild, aka Liquid Mind, and another fine addition to Liquid Mind’s ongoing series of ultimate stress-relief and relaxation music.
If you’re looking for free form and warm soundscape music in the slow lane, the healing and emotive Meditation will offer contemplation, balance, deep peace of mind and satisfaction for sure. The pristine mastering puts the icing on the cake.
May 2012: The New Gaea Foundation™ by Mia Mona Amore, founder
Those of us connected with the Healing Arts Center have used Liquid Mind for many years. We have found that the slow pace of the Liquid Mind creations is perfect for helping our students open to higher levels of consciousness, to receive attunements more easily, and to let go of any inhibitions that stand in the way of their learning.
February 2012: New Age Music World by John P. Olsen
Dream: A Liquid Mind Experience
The Liquid Mind Musical Healthcare® experience developed by Emmy® nominated songwriter and recording artist Chuck Wild, is one of today’s most advanced forms of music designed specifically for sound relaxation and sleep therapy.
May 2011: MainlyPiano.com Dream: A Liquid Mind Experience by Kathy Parsons
August 2009: Retailing Insight, Liquid Mind IX: Lullaby
Chuck Wild (a.k.a. Liquid Mind) has been soothing spirits and easing the pain of untold listeners since the 1994 release of his debut, Ambience Minimus.
Considered one of the leading practitioners of healing music, Wild continues to hone his style with each CD. By blending state-of-the-art synthesized chorals, exemplary orchestral keyboards, and a dose of subtle electronic textures (deep in the mix yet easily discernible on headphones), Wild has once again crafted the equivalent of a musical balm.
I can’t imagine any music carrying a more sublime message of health, peace, and balance. Lullaby is essential for chronic-pain sufferers, rehabilitation practitioners, or others involved with healing the mind, body, or spirit. It should also appeal to classical music lovers due to Wild’s proficiency with orchestral motifs.
January 2009: Liquid Mind - Recommended For Soul-Bathing by A. S. (Canada)
It was in Second Life (yea, I’m one of those — more on that later) that I stumbled on an internet station named ‘Cryosleep’, part of the Bluemars set of stations (echoesofbluemars.org — check them out, even if they are currently offline). The station’s motto; ‘zero-beat guaranteed’. And I was hooked — it was music that would surround me and soothe me, and unwind the knots I’d tied myself into. Plus, even if some of the tracks seemed to fall into the realm of ‘new age’, it was without the smarmy, post-hippie new age-y simplicity of so much of that genre. And although you would call it an Ambient station, it also lacked the ultra-cool, sunglasses-at-night, too-busy-to-feel-anything style of many ambient mixes I’ve heard.
So, when Cryosleep went silent just before Christmas this year, I was suddenly without a fix, so I went to the Artists page hoping to find a hit or two of musical soothe. And after a few visits to Google, I fell into Chuck Wild’s Liquid Mind series — stopping there because of all the tracks on Cryosleep, his were the ones I’d stop dead for.
The thing for me when I first heard Liquid Mind (even before I knew who Chuck Wild was) was that I’d discovered a hand reaching out to hold mine. It was as if I’d turned a dark corner into a secret garden safe from the marauding 21st century. It was a voice in my ear that said softly and powerfully, ‘it’s ok — I know what you’re holding, and you can let go for now — let me carry it for a while’. The music to me is silence and tranquility in sound, and I can sit and feel the tangled strands of my thoughts slowly unwind into smoothed out rows of bundled thread. For me, it unlocks a sadness and a joy that has no other way out, giving both some air to breathe before being submerged again to face another day in the world.
It took me a while of listening, and a listen to the composer’s audio interview off the Liquid Mind website [note: see audio links in the section above], to understand what gives this plainly static music its power. Through the slow, drifting, gorgeous chords he puts out, anchored by really, really deep basses, and voiced in wide, expansive canvases, there is an almost subliminal pulsation — either in the sounds themselves, or through arpeggios and rythmic lines ever-so-carefully submerged in the ocean of sound each track holds. So, when the composer said his inspiration was from hours of standing by the Pacific Ocean, which had given him solace from his pain, I got it. Here was the feel of the ocean in music — no sound effects needed (thanks for that, dude) — he’d found a way to describe the hypnotic sound of waves and the potential of power a calm sea holds.
I could go on, but I won’t (if you’ve made it this far, thanks for sticking with me). Check out the Liquid Mind site; you can read about the work and the artist and download a free sample. You can hear samples of all the albums and purchase downloads or CDs (I’ve bought three so far; Unity, Reflection and Spirit at CDBaby.com or Amazon.com or through iTunes.
And finally, I have to thank Chuck Wild for this series — you’ve touched me with your work, and I’m forever thankful. I hope this post is a small way of returning the favour.
April 2006: Health Guide, by Florence Cardinal
I am an early riser - usually around five o'clock. I seldom sleep during the day. I call it the "so much to do, so little time" syndrome. This morning I tried an experiment. After breakfast, dressing, etc., I put the Liquid Mind VIII: Sleep CD on the stereo and stretched out on the bed. It was slightly past eight o'clock. I lie there and let the slow, gentle music wash over me. At first, as usual, my mind flitted around from task to task that needed to be done, but gradually I felt myself floating away. When next I opened my eyes, two hours had passed. I got up feeling rested, relaxed and re-energized. The CD works. If it got me to take a daytime nap, it should work for anyone.
April 2006: Amazon.com by Terry Wood
Music in the Liquid Mind series changes little from one recording to the next--good news for contented fans of the long-running bliss-out series created by keyboardist/composer Chuck Wild. The former Missing Persons keyboardist and studio colleague of famed producer Ken Scott (David Bowie, Supertramp) has evolved into a premier space-music specialist whose relaxing, gentle soundscapes artfully evoke the softer side of the cosmos. His eighth Liquid Mind installment, subtitled Sleep, is a lovely, slo-mo spacewalk through serene, gravity-free realms that consistently yields a sustained sense of well-being and calm.
Deserving of a spot at the head table with ambient music's most sophisticated sound designers, Wild creates slowly unfolding, universe-at-rest textures using few of the supplemental sonic dimensions (space winds, angelic voices) often employed by fellow stargazers Jonn Serrie and Jon Jenkins. And he sidesteps the small dramas and mysterious fractals that sometimes add a hint of uncertainty to the otherwise like-minded works of Brian Eno or Harold Budd. Happily, you'll hear no new-agey crystal bowls or plucked harps, either; just a warm, resonant, faintly classical glow skillfully designed for relaxation and peace. Pull up a cloud, lie back, and enjoy.
The music on Liquid Mind VII is an oasis of calm. The latest in a series of recordings by Liquid Mind, aka Los Angeles composer Chuck Wild, the synthesized music is as slow and spacey as an interstellar hydrogen cloud. It's the perfect companion when having a massage, going to sleep, or reading Isaac Asimov.
March 2003: In Review magazine by Dan Cowan
If you have yet to embark on one of Chuck Wild's transcendent dream journeys via his breathtaking "Liquid Mind" series, you are truly missing out. Aided by therapeutically ethereal synthesizers that billow and flow like clouds on a breath of wind, LIQUID MIND VI: SPIRIT takes listeners deep into the farthest reaches of the imagination. The music is abstract and ambient, yet exhibits a certain grandeur derived from its subtly evolving melodies and faint, almost rhythmic healing energy. You can't help but want to close your eyes and let the world dissolve behind you, as you drift off to a land of eternal joy. Grab this album, find an empty room with somewhere comfortable to sit and spend an hour in the wondrous worlds of Liquid Mind. You'll feel so much better for having done so.
February 2002: In Review magazine by John W. Patterson
Some days are exhausting. Some weeks are exhausting. Some months are exhausting. And sadly, for most of us, some years have exhausted us. Mentally, physically, and even spiritually we find ourselves ready to collapse. Many of us do not find rest even in sleep for we carry care and stress with us right through the night and it remains a heavy fog upon us when we awake. We drag ourselves along for more of the same. Our fast-paced and high stress lives are eroding our joy. Some of us suffer depression, mental woes -- while others suffer physical illness and pain. The many medications, the therapies, the escapism, and the denial can miss the source of what I term, "whole person fatigue". Only troubling symptoms are lessened. The core issues remain unhealed. Healing takes time, renewal, refocusing and the rediscovery of faith, hope, and love.
I believe that valid healing is to be discovered in deep mind rest and emotional massage. Music holds undeniable power to manipulate our emotions, alter our physical being, and somehow echo even in our spirit.
In my own research, for decades, I searched for music that moved my soul to peace without "weirding me out" or boring me completely. It needs to simply and purely shift my psyche into very personal spaces of rest. I have vainly sampled thousands of hours of music. And yet sometimes you are fortunate enough to stumble upon perfection, simplicity, polish, vision and bliss. It is like opening a small box in a darkened and chilly room and then discovering light and warmth pouring over you.
The relaxation music of Chuck Wild has quickly become art that this music reviewer will never forget. All of his Liquid Mind releases, using symphonic keyboards and synth orchestrations, are easily in the top twenty-five of any ambient space minimalism or meditative synth releases I know.
I am reviewing all of these releases in one extended review because of their highly cohesive and effective nature. There is a consistent unity of vision and sound forging happening here. Chuck Wild has crafted one masterpiece after the other, year to year. If you enjoyed the best of Constance Demby, Suzanne Doucet, and Jonn Serrie then Chuck Wild’s music will satisfy you and go beyond your expectations.
The talented Chuck Wild of Liquid Mind gets two-thumbs up for his inspiring, healing, blissful, and meditative creations. This seasoned and critical reviewer highly recommends you obtain all of the Liquid Mind releases. Load up that multi-disc player, kick back, turn off the phone, dim the lights, and let the mind massage begin. Discover peace and serenity all over again. You deserve it and need it. Thank you, Chuck!
July 2001: Allmusic.com by Jim Brenholts
Liquid Mind V: Serenity is the crowning achievement, so far, of Chuck Wild's Liquid Mind series. This CD is so deep that it should carry a warning against listening alone. It is, truly, the deepest of the deep. Wild's altruism is holistic; even the cover design and artwork are serene. He dedicated the CD to his new godson, and presumably the photo of the infant on the sleeve is the same baby. The infant has a serene look of childlike innocence. The soundscapes match the look. They are the ultimate in relaxation and serenity.
June 2000: CSC from Slidell, LA
WOW......ULTIMATE STRESS RELIEF (Liquid Mind IV: Unity). This is the first CD by Liquid Mind that I've gotten. Based on how happy I am with it, I just ordered the other three. It is fantastic! Perfect for unwinding after a stressful day at work.
December 1999: S.R. from USA
Excellent meditation music, one of the best. This is some of the most soothing, harmonizing and balancing music I have listened to. You can feel your breathing open and deepen as you listen. The music heals something deep within you and lifts you to a higher vibration where you feel more in touch with the essence of your being. The music moves from one beautiful harmony to another, each one adding to an increasing sense of relaxation and deep inner peace. I find myself expanding into some incredible states of consciousness as I listen. Highly recommended! Sanaya Roman, author Living with Joy.
October 1999: A music fan from Sacramento CA
Slow... and serene. My tastes in music are generally all over the map. I like lots of different styles and moods. Liquid Mind is some of the slowest, most serene music I've ever heard. I've played this music in a crowded room - and watched people in the room slow down and assume a pace more in tune with natural human rhythm. In our frantic, edgy, out of balance world, this material is a soothing balm for tired ears (and souls). Very highly recommended.
May 1999: F. from Vermont
Stress relief for the Office. My wife is the new-age music fan. My tastes usually run to modern classical music. However, this unique album is as calming and relaxing as the reviews indicate. The album even has a warning label not to listen while operating heavy machinery!! I work in a high stress governmental job and find playing this music in my office greatly relieves the tension of my job and those who interact with me. The pace of Liquid Mind makes other music seem frantic by comparison. By combining music that doesn't "go anywhere" with great sound quality, this album is highly recommended.
April 1999: A music fan from Newtown Square PA
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh............beautiful. This is the 3rd in a series ("Ambience Minimus", "Slow World" were one and two) of sweet, soft sounds that create a gentle, relaxing atmosphere. What I like about them is that the music goes nowhere! That is, it's like sitting by the ocean and listening to wave after wave gently lap up on the beach. Because it goes nowhere, you stay where you are and transported to a state of peace and timelessness. Get everything Liquid Mind has produced.
1999: Wind and Wire by Bill Binkelman
Within minutes of first hearing Balance, the new release from Liquid Mind, a.k.a. Chuck Wild, I realized I was hearing a recording of incredible beauty and warmth. This, the third in the Liquid Mind series, is his best yet. From the all-enveloping comfort of the opener, Lullaby for Grownups to the stretched out inviting spaces of Laguna Indigo and the album-closer, the peaceful yet uplifting Balance I was flat-out blown away. This is easily one of the most serene and beautiful recordings I have ever heard. It's like falling into a feather bed of clouds surrounded by the violet glow from a setting sun. Put Balance on and feel the walls of your room disappear as you are bathed in true (as the sticker on the CD case aptly describes it) "Stress Relief Music." This will surely top many a "best of 1999" list by years end.
1998: Innerchange Magazine by Lee Stone
The albums Slow World and Ambience Minimus by Liquid Mind contain some of the most calming and peaceful music I have ever heard. They are the essence of what healing New Age has always hoped to be...This music wraps the listener in a warm, fuzzy cocoon that drifts across the gentle waves in an infinite sea of serenity. If you want some music that will tangibly thicken the air in a room, so that your every move will want to become a slow motion ballet of grace, order these albums, I highly recommend them.
1996: Whole Life Times by Ted Neff
Liquid Mind's (music is a) ... a soothing, guided journey into quiet meditation... great for those seeking a long, uninterrupted musical meditation. The entire CD works to create a state of peace, and an almost sacred tone emerges from the material. Its mellifluous quality makes it ideal music for ceremony, stress reduction, ritual or body work.
1996: Alternatives Magazine by Linda Atnip
Composer Chuck Wild creates a synthesized soundscape that immediately catapults the listener into a mindless, floating state... images of clouds, ocean waves and even the weightless state often perceived just before flying in the the dream state...
1996: New Age Retailer by P.J. Birosik
Tranquil harmonic progressions and a deeply relaxing overall tone make this ambient recording the equivalent of aural aspirin, the perfect antidote for a societal pressure headache! Layer upon luxurious layer of synthesized sound pool and eddy in a molasses wash without end...
1995: Heartsong Review by Scott Judd
This is a perfect ambient album.
1995: NAPRA Review by Carol Wright
A bright sticker on the outside of the CD hints at "stress relief," and Chuck Wild's album delivers on its promise. Wild began writing spiritual music to help relieve his own stress. Here, he shares his Rx. These pieces have the dignity of a Brahms chorale, yet are never tied to melodic or rhythmic structures. The sounds provide a broad vibrational bed that seem to pull out all the stress plugs and deflate the chattering mind. If you think you're in need of an hour of floating in the comfort of the spiritual Source, take a trip through Liquid Mind. This is what "ambient" music should be like.
1994: Lee Underwood
Serenity, beauty and inner peace are rare in contemporary music, which makes synthesist Chuck Wild's LIQUID MIND Ambience Minimus a gem indeed. With its sustained chords, soothing harmonic progressions, sensuous textures and non-rhythmic, non-repetitive structures, Wild's music is radiant with celestial tranquility and a deep sense of inner wholeness. His spacious, uplifting compositions reduce stress, open the heart-centers, and sparkle with wonder, love, peacefulness and quiet joy. Wild calls his music "survival music," a sincere and potent alternative to the hectic urban life so many of us live in the tension-riddled fast lane. "I am a shameless advocate of the slow lane," said Wild. "Slow down and live. Slow down and love your life." Ambience Minimus is an ideal aural tonic for those of us who would relax deeply and venture inward to the revitalizing source of serenity. Nourishment for the psyche and the soul. Ambient Music at it's best.