Mike Oldfield-like artists?

Hi guys,

I have been a huge fan of Mike Oldfield's music for ages, and never realized this was called "progressive rock" until I found your forum here.

I was hoping you could use your collective encyclocpedic knowledge to recommend some other artists whose music is similar (and therefore I might also enjoy, right?).

I'm particularly after stuff like Ommadawn, Incantations, Crises; instrumental stuff.

Thanks in advance!

Edited by TJTeru

Hi:

I collect Oldfield inspired artists. Although there are some good records in DallasBryan list, tese are the most similar (or 'clone') bands:

- Asturias: a very good japanese band, try their first or their second album

- Colin Masson: Isle of Eight. The best Oldield clone that has appeared. He can be either more agressive or more medieval sounding, but this album is better than some recent Oldfield stuff.

- Ken Baird: August and Orion. The first one is nice and the most Oldfield-ish. The other one is more proggy sounding, but it features a nod to Incantations.

- Engel: a spanish multi-instrumentalist. Not great, but nice. Lots of celtic touches, but also some arabic influences that tell this record appart.

There are more, but I like them less:

- Gandalf: Often cited as Oldfield influenced, but lacks the melodic quality of Mike O. I don't recommend it.

- Lanvall: Imagine Oldfield as a 'guitar hero'. Not very good, but 'Aurarmony' and 'The Pyromantic Symphony' have some nice moments. Avoid his first album

-  Jade Warrior: Often mentioned, but I don't hear the resemblance. Their music is a bit strange, mixing pastoral passages with subtle melodies with sudden electric outbursts.

- Jeremy: Also cited as an Oldfield-influenced artist, he is sometimes good, but most of his compositions are a lot alike.

I'm sure there are more, but it's 8:27 AM and I've spent the whole night awaken watching the Oscars. ...

It's strange that so many Mike Oldfield fans,who also know so much about other artists similar to him,always forget Harvey Summers. The two have often been compared and the similarities are definitely there,Summers is also a multiinstrumentalist who favours long instrumental pieces. He's not quite as good as Mike (that's a tall order for anyone!),but he's occasionally very close and well worth checking out. I only have 3 of his albums and don't really have the full knowledge of his collected works but check his website. To which I can obviously not provide a link since I'm an idiot.

Pixel Pirate wrote: It's strange that so many Mike Oldfield fans,who also know so much about other artists similar to him,always forget Harvey Summers.

Thanks for the recommendation. I've never heard this artist mentioned or read anything about him. It may be because I usually surf prog sites searching for this kind of information, and this guy looks like mainly a New Age artist.