AMAROK

An album like this comes along but once in a lifetime and we should all feel privileged that it came along in ours. After ten years of compromising his music to satisfy record company A&R men, in 1990 Mike Oldfiled burst out of his chains and produced a work of true unshackled genius. Amarok is a tour de force in compositional ingenuity: one hour of continuous music in which a few themes are intertwined and woven together to form a rich sonic tapestry of considerable complexity and beauty. Stylistically the music crosses over continents: Celtic/Irish; African, Greek, Bluegrass, country, reggae ambient, 12-bar boogies, soaring orchestral peaks, simple pentatonic folk melodies, all blended together and "Oldfield-ised" to produce some of the most life-affirming music ever recorded. Apart from African drums and choirs and some penny whistle, Oldfield plays everything on this album. The guitar playing is particularly exceptional -- Oldfield really is one of the most unique but sadly underrated guitarist around. The album's also full of unusual instrumentation and sounds effects, none of which are samples as many people mistakenly believe. In my opinion Amarok is one of the greatest artistic achievements of the last century. If you haven't heard it, I urge, nay, COMMAND you to go and give it at least TEN listens then try and tell me I'm wrong. I give this one ***********************************x100.