QE2

Q.E.2 is one of Mike Oldfield's best albums. It is more consistent than most of his other albums. One reason for this is that it is wholly instrumental (apart from chanting and some choirs) and sticks to one direction throughout. Many Oldfield albums are schizophrenic in that one half of them contained something more progressive and the other half consisted of pure Pop songs. There are no straightforward Pop songs on Q.E.2 like Sally and I Got Rhythm from Platinum, Family Man from Five Miles Out or those horrible disco-like tunes on Crisis.

There are also no annoying and silly features here like the spoken introduction of the instruments played like on Tubular Bells, or those awful growling vocals also on Tubular Bells. Q.E.2 is also not overlong and too repetitive like some parts of Incantations and the whole of Hergest Ridge(!) Q.E.2 therefore shows a more mature Mike Oldfield.

It is also the case that the music on Q.E.2 is more loaded with great melodies, unexpected changes and many different instruments. The tempo is faster than usual with Oldfield and there are even some passages that rock quite hard in a special Oldfield way. Overal there is something of a rock feeling over this album. Mike's electric guitar sound is great here and the keyboards and various acoustic instruments are used to great effect. The folky feeling and influences present on many of his albums are still very much here. The melodies are good and since the tracks are shorter and never overlong I never get bored listening to this album.

My favourite Oldfield.