oldfield - light and shade

I would say shade, after pre-listing. Maybe a little early for a substanial
review, but I fear this output will not please the prog community.

cd 1 light - represents the more classical oldfield, however this time it's a
collection of week and cheesy songs, lightyears away from milestones like
tubular bells, ommadawn or amorok. a pale mix of pappy stuff and tres
lunas leftovers

cd 2 shade - mike goes trance/chillout... even if you like stuff like this, go
for cafe del mar, buddha-bar or relax by blank and jones. modern
keyboard sounds but no real ideas. best track imo is nightshade -
interesting enough a collaboration with german trance artist christopher
von deylen (schiller)

overall a double cd set with the musical substance of a cd single -
disapointing

Light and Shade is one of these Oldfield Albums you really cant figure out in the beginning. Well in his own words there are enough tendencies in the album to scare off "die-hard" prog-Oldfield fans. I believe he invested in soundscapes in the tachno-trance-chillout genre. The good deal about the recording is that the guitars played on the album are genuine Mike Oldfield and done with superb craftship. The guitars are flowing in the undertones where rythm in form of techno-trance-chillout beat are foreground to the compositions. Scary ?...not that much, the overall result is pretty interesting and the feeling you get from listening to the 2 CDs is that Mike Oldfield might have had some left-overs from Songs From a Distant Earth - Tubular Bells III and Tres Lunas. The album is full of modern technology (new studio, new softwares, new ideas) and please dont expect another Ommadawn or Tubular Bells from Oldfield.

The evolution in Oldfields music is extremely up-to-date and gets more distant from original Prog Rock. But nevertheless his music is innovative and exciting to listen to.

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Lunar