INCANTATIONS

I was surprised to find that I had not yet reviewed this album as I distinctly remember having done so. Incantations took longer to make than Oldfield's previous albums and the result was a double album with only four long and almost entirely instrumental pieces. He wisely left out the silly and whimsical aspects of Tubular Bells and concentrated on more serious composition for this album. Mike's electric guitar sound had improved a lot since Tubular Bells and here it has a much cleaner and more powerful sound. On Incantations Part Three he sounds quite a bit like Steve Howe and this third part is probably my favourite of the four pieces.

One major problem with this album is that it is so repetitive. I often get the feeling that the compositions have been drawn out to fit the double album format. There are many wonderful passages (indeed, some of Oldfield's best ever!), and nothing that is bad at all, but the whole album could easily have been condensed into a single LP. That would have made it more interesting and easier to listen to in its entirety. Still, I think that Incantations competes with Ommadawn for being the best Mike Oldfield album up till that point in his career.

Recommended, but not as good as it probably could have been

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