Mike Oldfield appreciation thread

I love anything that mister Oldfield did. The long symphonic pieces of the seventies, his disco/pop adventures. His celtic, dance, anything. He's so amazing in anything he puts his mind to.

Dean wrote: Kingsnake wrote:    I feel like a 14 year old fanboy right now Keep searching, I'm sure you'll find one.

I'll just ignore those comments. Moving on.

Mike Oldfield is among my favourite 5 artists, mostly because of his 70's stuff, though there's stuff I like from later on. I'm excited about this Ommadawn follow up indeed, the first one (specially side one) is my favourite piece from him, but I guess we shouldn't get our hopes too high... as far as I'm concerned, the follow up to Tubular Bells was rather a disappointment (it tried to hard to follow the same steps of the first one, but every equivalent part was inferior to the original). Still, I heard a teaser for this Ommadawn one, and it sounded promising, even if a bit too tame (hopefully the album will get some highs).

Dean wrote: Kingsnake wrote:    I feel like a 14 year old fanboy right now Keep searching, I'm sure you'll find one.

Edited by Dean - December 10 2016 at 05:11

Kingsnake wrote: Dellinger wrote: Mike Oldfield is among my favourite 5 artists, mostly because of his 70's stuff, though there's stuff I like from later on. I'm excited about this Ommadawn follow up indeed, the first one (specially side one) is my favourite piece from him, but I guess we shouldn't get our hopes too high... as far as I'm concerned, the follow up to Tubular Bells was rather a disappointment (it tried to hard to follow the same steps of the first one, but every equivalent part was inferior to the original). Still, I heard a teaser for this Ommadawn one, and it sounded promising, even if a bit too tame (hopefully the album will get some highs). Where did you hear the teaser? Also, when I look at the album info, (like old days) Mike plays all the instruments himself. So, no vocals, drums etc. Probably it will have that organic, pastoral sound we all love so much.

He did play almost all the instruments in those early albums, but I believe he knew his limitations and his vision for the music, and if he couldn't do it he would have people doing it for him... like the female vocals, even if they weren't really singing but rather vocalising, or the tribal drums and so on... and I would expect it to be the same case on this one.

I don't know what jiggy is.

I love Incantations for its instrumental splendour and also love Crises and Discovery for its neoprog meets pop beauty.

Amarok is amazeballs 🖒

Blacksword wrote: Tubular Bells is one of those 'classic albums' which is excellent when you consider when and how it was made and the back story, but I can take or leave much of the music to be honest. It's clever, but slightly boring to me. Ommadwan on the other hand is wonderful, especially part 1 which never fails to move me. I'm also rather partial to the cold sparseness of Hergest Ridge. An unfairly maligned album IMO, and dare I say it... 'underated' Beyond that I've only heard Five Miles Out. I do need to check out some more Oldfield albums. Can anyone recommend anything that isn't too 'jiggy' or 'Earth mother - save the whale' orientated?? Acoustic or electronic is fine.

OK, I do love Tubular Bells up to the Caveman part... but the one I know is the 2003 re-recording. Mostly I understan Oldfield fans prefer the original, but perhaps the new one might sound a bit better to you... though it's suposed to be the same music as faithfully as Oldfield could do it. In general, for me his most special work are his first 4 albums; besides Ommadawn side 1 and Hergest Ridge side 2, the other piece I really love is Incantations side 4 (that vocal ending is just about as magical as the first minutes of Ommadawn). And Amarok has been recommended, though the very part of it that I love the most is the Africa part one section... though this album is a tough nut to crack since it's actually suposed to be all one single song, and that's the way you find it on CD, only one track. What's the more, I understand Amarok was suposed to be some sort follow up to Ommadawn in spirit, so you might want to check it out while the new one arrives.