THE COMPLETE MIKE OLDFIELD

A great overview of this gifted composer/musicians work up to 1985 which examines all sides of Oldfield' talents from brooding miminalist to master of the pop song. It is presented in categorized form rather than chronologically and examines individually, the different forms of Oldfield's wonderfully esoteric music. We have separate instrumental, complex, vocal and live sections and on the original vinyl release in 1985 each section occcupied it's respective side on the double LP. The real treat is the live side which comprises previously unavailable selections which also fit into the three previous categories giving the listener a taste of Oldfield playing and writing in all three of these modes in a live environment. As many of Oldfields complex pieces run into the 20 minute plus area timewise it is inevitable that they will have to be scaled down. Neverthless, good impressions can be gleaned from these tracks in the complex section wich features the first parts of his three masterworks, Tubular Bells, Ommadawn and Hergest Ridge . Great shorter selections display Oldfield's ability to write shorter vocal and instrumental pieces with equal skill. All his works up to 1985 are represented on this double disc and the listener even is given a taste of Oldfield as a movie soundtrack composer with an excerpt from the ominous "Evacuation" from the award winning film The Killing Fields. A glorious anthology of this brilliant and methodical musical mind is guaranteed to enlighten one to the magic of Mike Oldfield . Sit back,enjoy.