AMAROK

This is what it happens when an artist is a hundred percent commited to create a good musical composition instead of paying attention to record companies' demands or commercial input (in this particular case the main reason was Mike's anger towards his record company).

This said, I don't know if this record is the best one from Mike Oldfield's catalogue, since he has released many albums and many of them where outstanding, but this is probably the most unique one.

I know few composers capable of putting such a varied, complex and well structured musical sequence in a one hour track. Each part of the track is unique and there is almost no repetition. It is also remarkable that almost no electronic element is used on the whole track, relying mostly on traditional instrumentation, something quite uncommon since the late seventies, and something the very Mike Oldfield had not done since those years (that's why many people consider this record as a sequel to 'Ommadawn')

Then again, this is not a record for a listener searching for conventional sound, but well, most prog records are this way.