TUBULAR BELLS

I have only recently heard this work for the first time, so maybe that's why I like it. Honestly, I think it's a masterpiece. People who complain about it usually cite the fact that it's been done to death by this point as their reasoning behind their dislike. Frankly, I think that's unfaifr. I mean, I've heard it for the first time and fell in love with it (Yes, like everyone else, I heard the first few opening minutes of the song that was used for the Exorcist movie, but other than that I was completely in the dark).

The first part is the better work, and the second part feels a bit drawn-out and pointlessly long at times. But, filler aside the album as a whole is very solid and beautiful. I have yet to hear anything else from the man, so I must be in for a treat, because I keep hearing that he has done better work than this, and this is already pretty damn good. The fact that he composed it all himself is equally impressive, then again I'm always a sucker for multi-talented musicians and composers (Steve Wilson, Peter Gabriel, and others, now including Mr. Oldfield!).

This review is shorter than most that I have written, because honestly there isn't a very good way to describe part for part what this record does to me as I listen to it. I recommend to listen to it and decide for yourself if all the hype is well-deserved. I think it is. After all, just because something is commercially successfull doesn't automatically make it not good. It just means a prog artist in this case has managed to equally captivate prog-heads and lay people alike. That in itself is an impressive feat. To me, that's further proof that TUBULAR BELLS is an excellent addition to any collection. Is it essential? Probably not, but you sorely will be missing out if you never even give it a try.

Happy Listening.