TUBULAR BELLS

I have been quite hard on late Oldfield, so maybe it's time I wrote about the things I really like. Tubular Bells from 1973 is one on my favourites by Oldfield. It was released quite shortly after "Thick as a Brick" by Jethro Tull, and there are some obvious similarities between these two, as they both have long tracks in modern (by the time) "folk-ish" and more or less prog-rocky style (in Oldfield's case it's less rocky). Both had parts 1 & 2 in approx 20-25 minutes each. Both albums are today considered as masterpieces. For Oldfield this was only the first of several long-track albums. I have only one small problem with "Tubular Bells", and that is that it's too much of a medley in the way that the parts go into each other. I think that on for example "Ommadawn" the parts float together more naturally. The good thing about "Tubular Bells" is that no parts are there to fill out. Every moment is quality time. It's hard to say which of Mike Oldfields albums that is the best, but for me it's obvious that his "golden age" were 1973-78 with "Tubular Bells", "Hergest Ridge", "Ommadawn" and "Incantations". I love them all!!