LIGHT + SHADE

Better than Tres Lunas? I think so...by a shade. Light is disc one and is by far the better disc. All vocals are computer generated. The album is pretty good with the exception of the niggling ' Gate'. The vocals are just plain irritating and the four munites don't go fast enough. That aside there is some excellent material on ' Light' .' Blackbird' and ' Rocky' ( a reference to one of Oldfield's horses) highlight great piano work by the maestro, great tempo reminiscent of ' Broad Sunlit Uplands' on Millenium Bell. ' First steps', ' Our Father' and ' Sunset' are all good and typical ' new age' sounding Oldfield.

' Shade' has a couple of dubiuos club songs. Like the awful ' Romance' but again it is generally a solid effort. ' Resolution', ' Tears Of An Angel' and ' the hypnotic ' Surfing' probably the best. This is better than Tres Lunas and once again Mike Oldfield tells the world that he will risk take and create whatever he feels like as his musical journey continues to evolve. Will he return to 30 minute or sixty minute musical pieces again? Who knows, but while he experiments many people will enjoy most of the new and different directions he takes them on.