AMAROK

This is the first review I have written on progarchives after many happy months of browsing and researching, and listening to the products of its great catalog of artists and albums. Amarok by Mike Oldfield was the sudden impetus of what I felt was a necessity: to herald the 1:00:02 of absolute bliss this record has recently condoned upon my now-shattered brain.

As dedicated proggers, it is our desire and responsibility to be constantly searching for the next best thing in progressive music. For those who have already explored the depths of Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, Van der Graaf, and the like, I implore you to listen to Mike Oldfield--particularly his albums Ommadawn and Amarok, the latter being the supposed quasi-sequel to Ommadawn, produced 15 years down the road.

This album encompasses thousands of layered parts, hundreds of melodies, tens of genres, and a colossal army of instruments and noise-making devices (almost all of them played by Oldfield himself). That alone should spur you to give this album a listen...if that's not enough, I will say that listening to this album is LITERALLY like taking a life journey, after which you come away a changed person.

It wouldn't be worthwhile to get into the specifics of the album as there is WAY too much going on. The only comparison I can draw is to say this album is like Ommadawn plus a lot of African choir and ambient/new age influences, but don't let these shy you away from what is the album's inherently progressive nature. The characteristic Mike Oldfield searing guitars, groovy riffs, ridiculous ethnic instruments, and top-notch composition--it's all there and more! Plus an epic ending to rival all epic endings...

Like any great prog masterpiece, you have to listen to it multiple times to even begin to appreciate its beauty and complexity. As a standalone hour-long track, this demands a lot of the listener. However, the rewards are great! Mike Oldfield is a true genius of progressive music (at least from the select albums I've heard), and it's a shame that it took me this long to find him!

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