TUBULAR BELLS

Interestingly enough, my CD version has only 1 track (not the 2 parts), so I'll keep it as one track. 1. Tubular Bells (Parts 1 and 2)- Oldfield is an amazing multi-instrumentalist and it shows here. Considering his inexperience, this really is a great release. The musicianship is great, the production is good for its time, and the ideas are interesting and fresh. Hearing the vast amount of instruments that Oldfield is proficient with and composes on the album is impressive. The songwriting, however, is good but not fantastic. This is where the piece does not warrant its place upon Oldfield's 5-star masterpieces. The parts really have an overall disjointed feel to them and some parts are not as interesting as others. The segment where Oldfield introduces each instrument and then plays the themes is actually pretty intriguing and enjoyable, but is representative of how the whole track feels. SO close to being a complete piece but tending to feel like a bunch of good songs put together that sometimes connect pretty well but other times not as well. Nonetheless, I can't be too critical of this song because it really is good. It's just not perfect. 8/10

For historical purposes, you should probably hear this album. Additionally, this is definitely an excellent addition to any progressive rock collection!

However, it is not a masterpiece. If you want Oldfield's most glorious masterpieces, check out Ommadawn and Amarok. Not too bad of a starting point though and the music is great.

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