FIVE MILES OUT

Five Miles Out is among my personal favourite Mike Oldfield albums. It's very progressive and contains a lot of vocoder and Maggie Reilly. What really caught my attention was it's very well performed percussion which adds to the quality of the album.

The incredibly interesting and progressive Taurus II is Mike's first epic to sound different to his 70s stuff. Along the rest of the album, it contains many new instruments and sounds a bit more 'rockier'. It begins very promisingly and doesn't disappoint throughout the whole 24 minutes, having many breathtaking moments. There's a lot of Maggie Reilly which sounds great and the vocoder doesn't bother me at all. One great part is about 13 minutes in and makes my brain melt due to its obscurity and amazing stereo effects. It's hard to explain and you must hear for yourself. One part that's not so great is the section led with some ethnic wood instrument, which is slightly off-putting. But after many listens it becomes forgivable. 8/10.

Family Man is the first real 'rock' song that Oldfield did. It has a simple structure and Maggie Reilly on lead vocals. It's catchy and enjoyable but nothing special. 7.5/10

Orabidoo is split into about 4 or 5 sections, each being completely different and sometimes out of place. It probably doesn't deserve a 10/10 but I'm reviewing this based on how it affects me personally. It took me a while to appreciate but now I absolutely love it. The first part is soft, pleasant and sounds like a music box with an acoustic guitar. The second has a great rhythm and sort of puts me into a trance every time I listen to it. It is lengthy but very forgivable. The next part is fast and dramatic to keep it interesting, and then turns into a majestic progression that builds for a while. The last part (called 'Ireland's Eye') is just an acoustic guitar, Maggie Reilly singing, and a bit of that music box sound at the end. This is incredibly beautiful and serves as a great ending to the musical journey of Orabidoo. 9.5/10

Mount Teidi is an uplifting, worldly instrumental that is pleasant and is also filled with great percussion. Good stuff. 8/10

And lastly there's the complex and wacky Five Miles Out; a song Mike wrote about a bad plane trip. It's definitely something different and grows on you after repeated listens, making a good addition to the album. 8/10

So overall, this isn't a perfect album and won't please everybody. But I think it's something special and very unique. 4.3 stars