AMAROK

Just when you thought Oldield was sliding irreversably down the slippery slope after the nightmarish ' Earth Moving' album he returns in 1990 with this masterpiece. It just proves what a genius he is and I guess he has nothing to prove so if like with the Earth Moving album he was catering very much to ' cloth eared ninkompoops' as in the sleeve of Amorok quite evidently this time he is not. This is a 60 minute jumbled masterpiece from beginning to end. It is hard to define it as it is one song throughout and only after repeated listens do you find the genius at play.The guitar solo's are beautiful, the sound effects apt and humorous as he takes the piss on Virgin record mogul Richard Branson, but more importantly the work of music put to disc is a stunning achievment. Definitely along with Ommadawn and Incantations one of his top three albums.