TUBULAR BELLS

It may seem paradoxical that one of the most prosperous business empires would evolve from a piece of music written by an English teenager which was rejected by several top record companies because of it`s poor marketing prospects. It had no words, no drums and was for the most part a discordant collection of minimilistic meanderings.

Back in the old days of 1972 during a lull in in recording sessions with producer Tom Newman when 18 year old Mike Oldfield was recording with his group, The Arthur Lewis Band, he had a chance to laydown a demo track of this rejected music at the now famous Manor studio. After much coaxing, Newman convinced the then " virgin " Virgin Records president Richard Branson to release the finished product on his blossoming record label. The working title, Opus 1, was changed to Tubular Bells and the rest as we know now became things that legends are born of, Tubular Bells becoming one of the top selling albums of all time and Branson, because of this instictive decision, expanded his business conglamorate to include communications, railways,airlines and more recently flights into space for those who are made of money.

Fortunately you don`t have to be made of money to embrace some of the wonderful musical ideas which weaved their way out of the spooky introductory passage which was popularized by the 1974 horror film "The Exorcist". Whilst countless words have been written on this work, which is up there on the prog-rock obligatory scale with Dark Side Of The Moon, Foxtrot and In The Court Of The Crimson King, it is worth it to make some brief reflections and observations.

Following the extended classical suite format with a folk-rock twist, Tubular Bells didn`t really contain any revelations or breakthroughs but was innovative in the sense that a teenage kid took advantage of his ingenuity combined with what came natural to him to piece together a series of musical concepts which were not necessarily related, to paint themselves into one another with fluid dynamics and harmonious layering. In addition, he played almost the all the musical instruments which centered on his soft touches on the guitar and various keyboards. The sections would feature furious electric guitars, thunderous orchestral effects and primordial grunting noises in lieu of conventional vocals amongst the 30 or so musical instruments and devices he would employ throughout the 50 minute piece which would reach a high point with the majestic chimes on a set of tubular bells which Oldfield had located hanging around gathering dust in the Abbey Road studios. Perhaps the most interesting device which demonstrated the prodigous teenager`s creative gifts was what he called a " tape motor drive amplified organ chord "which was essentialy a crude tape loop experiment which actually worked, much to the amazement of the engineers at the Manor recording studio. It was the fact that he accomplished so much on his own that would take a whole orchestra or an array of modern synths to accomplish made it all the more wonderous. The listener had the sense that he/she was listening to some sort of magical music wizard. One might also say that he was in the right place and right time as Oldfield himself has stated many times. Much in the same way as J.K. Rowling was when she penned the first Harry Potter adventure.

Being as ambitious as it was from both a musical point of view as well as a technical one it is hardly suprising that the album was re-issued in 1974 using the quadrophonic sound option. Quadrophonic sound was a novelty which was being applied in particular to classical music recordings in the early `70s. Basically, it formatted 4 channels to fit into the groove of a vinyl disc and then decoded it on the playback mode back into 4 channels played on 4 separate loud speakers to achieve a wider more expansive sound. It was effective but the equipment was expensive and it had all but disapeared by 1979.

From an audiophile and historical point of view there are a few considerations to bear in mind regarding the Tubular Bells quad re-issues. The first 40,000 UK quad re-issues were not really quad but electronic simulations and it was only after this first 40,000 that the problem was rectified and all subsequent pressings contained bona fide quadrophonic sound. However, this was not indicated on the album jackets or labels! So one would actually have to playback one of these discs on a quad system to distinquish the improved pressings from the "fakes"! Tubular Bells also appeared as a picture disc in 1978 and for those who actually wanted to play it they would get a stereo remix of the quadrophonic reproduction!

The Tubular Bells concept has been reworked by Oldfield several times over the years including a full orchestral version with The Royal Philharmonic Orcestra in 1975. But, love it or loathe it, it is the original work which remains one of the most important pieces of modern music ever recorded and a must have for any progressive rock completist. What else, 5 stars.

Share this MIKE OLDFIELD review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Vibrationbaby
• Report this review (#130830)
• Buy MIKE OLDFIELD music online with PA partners
• Show all MIKE OLDFIELD MP3/Stream
• Go to MIKE OLDFIELD page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Tubular Bells page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for MIKE OLDFIELD related discussions