TUBULAR BELLS

Standing ovations, this album deserves them!!

I think I was eight or nine years old the first time that I saw "The exorcist" and I clearly remember that as scary as it was I really liked it and one of the things that captured my attention of this film was that beautiful piano melody that only appears in one short non-scary scene and at the end with the credits, I had no idea of who had composed that song until I started listening to Prog Rock music and discovered Tubular bells (back then I was sixteen years old).

"Tubular bells, part one" starts with the well-known tune of the movie, but this is only for the first four minutes, then the song changes and changes, and changes more or less every 4 or 5 minutes, and every part of the song is more enchanting than the last one. Every single movement of this song is beautiful and it feels like a whole journey through the sweetest emotions that oscillates among joy, excitement, and a total sensation of peace (which makes it ironic that somebody picked this song to be played in the most terrifying movie ever filmed). This song sounds as if there was some sort of angelical ritual going on in the studio and if you were right there, just beside the musicians and connecting with something really magical.

"Tubular bells, part two" sounds more like a song that someone would play on a picnic or a barbecue in the backyard, like a perfect soundtrack for a beautiful sunny day talking and laughing with family and friends; the atmosphere here is different but equally enjoyable. The second part is a few minutes shorter than the first one and ends the album with a sensation of wanting more music like that.

Mike OLDFIELD plays almost every instrument, besides a few more musicians who helped him to create this masterpiece (yes, I do think this is a true masterpiece). When talking about Mike OLDFIELD people usually share the idea that "Ommadawn" is the masterpiece, I completely disagree, since I found that album kind of boring and much less interesting than "Tubular bells". If Mike OLDFIELD ever recorded an album that deserves to be called a masterpiece it should be his debut.

SONGS RATING: Pt. 1, 5 stars Pt. 2, 4 stars

AVERAGE: 4.5

PERCENTAGE: 90

ALBUM RATING: 5 stars

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