TUBULAR BELLS

Let me play psychic with you for a moment. You've no doubt heard the haunting melody on the Exorcist soundtrack. You know it's from Tubular Bells, you know that a lot of people seem to have liked the album, but you've never really gotten around to listening to the whole piece. What you're wondering is: should I bother?

My advice is, no. It's not really an enjoyable or interesting work. It sounds exactly like whiat it is: a collection of recordings of someone with a little talent and one or two ideas fooling around in various studios from time to time, and eventually splicing all the (just barely) related elements together. There's little sense of structure or progression; what dynamics do exist rest simply on contrast beteen adjacent passages. You can expect to almost like some of the passages, probably dislike a few others, and generally come away ambivalent.

If you want pleasant background music, there's plenty of new age soundscapes that will work better (even JARRE would be a better choice). If you want an extended contemporary work, again, there are dozens of real composers who will impress, interest, and/or move you much more than Tubular Bells (try STEVE REICH, for one). Even if, for some reason, you want to hear somebody messing around in a studio, others have had more creative and interesting results (BRIAN ENO may be a good place to start).

...and that advice still stands if you're already a fan of Tubular Bells.