TUBULAR BELLS

I think one of the things I love about this album is because there's not time to get bored with a particular portion of a song, as the styles change up. It's really sort of a Frankenstein's monster of a piece, put together with bits and pieces that rise and fall and spin around.

The only thing I don't like is the musical instruments bit at the end of Part 1. It's basically Mike showing off all of his instrumental talents, and Viv Stanshall naming each as they come along. And as amazing it is that he can play all those instruments, audibly, it's a total waste of space which could've been filled with other bits and pieces of real music, which is why I can't give TB 5 stars :(

Don't get me wrong, especially after seeing an interview with Mike, I came to appreciate how difficult it was for him to do the bass line of that portion, as it was performed in a single take. It's that crazy guitar-playing finger style on a bass that Mike does that's truly impressive, it just gets old.

With that said, as much as I love the first segment of Part 1 (does't everyone with even a modicum of taste?), I always sit in giddy anticipation for Part 2, especially just before and during the caveman sequence. Super creepy fun, with the bagpipes sound, leading up to the abrupt presence of Piltdown Man. Beside that, it's a riot to sing the nonsense words and to howl like a wolf with Pilty.

And then once all the freakout music dies with blunt force, leading into what sounds like being translated out of a nightmare dreamscape to a placcid lake, one can almost see a boat approaching the shore to meet a couple of men sitting around a fire, suppin' ale in the moonlight.

The 2003 version, while clean and bright, actually loses something in the translation -- it's too perfect. I like the flaws in original TB. And Piltdown Man is certainly filled with more piss'n'vinegar in the original as well.

I know this album by heart, every note, every nuance. It's pretty much one of my top 10 albums.

Share this MIKE OLDFIELD review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to stegokitty
• Report this review (#379335)
• Buy MIKE OLDFIELD music online with PA partners
• Show all MIKE OLDFIELD MP3/Stream
• Go to MIKE OLDFIELD page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Tubular Bells page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for MIKE OLDFIELD related discussions