TUBULAR BELLS

Here's an album that I'd put off buying for quite some time, threatened by the thought of a sheerly instrumental album by someone considered "pop" and "new age" by some. However, from the slow intro, to the Spanish guitar, to the ringing of the Tubular Bells, to the grumbly pre-death metal vocals in part 2 this album is quite a ride! Both Parts 1 & 2 have their moments of absolute brilliance, with the climax in part 1 (albeit with a few audible errors... maybe intentional?) being likely the peak of the album. Part 1 is a bit lower key and part 2 tends to experiment on the, well, experimental side ranging from pseudo-Canterbury sounding to full out evil achieved, usually, by the likes of the Crimson King or some form of VDGG that uses guitar.

Although at the time of writing this review I haven't heard any other Mike Oldfield albums I can say right now that this is a grand GRAND piece of work that demands listening. What's even nicer is that it goes from being listener-friendly to full out prog over the course of the album, so it's not one that take a hundred listens to get into (for me anyways).

4 Stars! Perhaps not essential, but I'd definitely recommend it to... well... anyone.

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