TUBULAR BELLS

I am a level 1 going into this, as I have heard some excerpts, especially the intro part. This album seems to be an either you love it or hate it type of thing. The album is essentially one long piece divided into 2 parts to accommodate turning the record over due to the time restrictions of the format. But at 26 minutes, side 1 was certainly pushing those limits!

Track 1 - Tubular Bells, Pt. 1

The introductory section is probably the best-known part of the song. I believe the time signature is 15-8 (!). I like the little counter melody that joins at about 3 minutes, then harmony guitar parts join. We leave the intro section about 5 minutes in for a bit of lighter flute-based melody. Then Oldfield shows his electric guitar skills off at around 6 minutes in. Acoustic guitar joins at about 7:45. The intro piano figure returns at about 9 minutes in. We get a bit of blues shuffle at around 13 minutes, followed by honky-tonk piano and humming. At around 14:30 there is a new guitar riff. Some actual tubular bells are ringing at around 16 minutes, followed by fingerstyle acoustic guitar. Then we get a bit jazzy. I like the guitar riff at about 17:30. Master of Ceremonies Vivian Stanshall (formerly of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band) begins introducing the names of instruments that would join in and be featured one by one beginning around 20:15. The underlying riff is very proggy. The title instrument gets announced at 23:23. There are angelic female voices singing ahhs as the music fades out with the exception of a classical guitar being played.

Track - Tubular Bells, Pt. 2

We begin in 6-8 here with electric piano and other instruments joining-in in a mellow manner. There is a small amount of female vocals here, most likely Mike's sister Sally. Layered instruments including both electric (clean) and acoustic guitars, electric piano, and some string sounds take over playing nice countermelodies. At about 6 minutes the instrumentation thins out a bit but is still quite nice. At around 8 minutes, we get 'Guitar that sounds like a mandolin' with female harmonies, followed by 'guitar that sounds like a bagpipe.' The sounds are achieved through various recording techniques Oldfield experimented with. Timpani drums join in as the music begins building in intensity. At just under 12 minutes in there are bizarre vocals and a drum set played by Steve Broughton of the Edgar Broughton band. The crazy vocals were added as Richard Branson wanted Oldfield to add vocals to the track so part of it could be released as a single! (Careful what you ask for Richard!) But this section (known as the Caveman section) may actually be my favorite as it is rockin' harder than most of the rest of the piece. Things chill back out following that with a mellow guitar solo with a gently rolling background of bass & organ. The guitar parts keep getting added to with overlapping meandering solos. I love the organ sound at about 21:15. The tune closes with Oldfield's rendition of 'The Sailor's Hornpipe'.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

Wow, what a wild and rather enjoyable ride that was. There are many different styles and melodies all nicely woven together in an entertaining way. What makes it especially impressive is that Oldfield was only 19 years old as he was recording almost all of the parts himself! As long as the piece is, I never found myself wondering 'jeez, how much longer is this?' Not one of my all-time favorite albums, but still quite good. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.