TUBULAR BELLS

Being a lover of long tracks, i purchased Tubular Bells purely on the fact that it ran for nearly 50 minutes. But, when I first played through the long track, I was blown away. The incredible musicianship, spectacular instrument array used, the technique, it was all surreal to me. I absolutely loved the whole song. Vivian Stanshall's voice at the end of part 1 makes a very ceremonial-like experience as he announces the various instruments. Part 1 is far better, in my view, than part 2, with more memorable melodies, such as the classic Exorcist theme. Part 2 does open with a great bass solo, though, which is nice. One odd part of part 2 is about halfway through there is a "vocal" part of weird deep growling-ish German-sounding voicings. This alienates you from the track a bit.