OMMADAWN

Ommadawn is one of Mike Oldfield's most accomplished works. This really is progressive music in the sense that it builds from the slow, quiet and minimalist, to the bombastic and complex. The electric guitars sound a million times better than they did on Tubular Bells (where they had a very thin sound).

There are many other instruments here that are wonderfully integrated and very well played.

The first part is the best one with the main theme coming and going but never sounding exactly the same as it did last time it occurred. Mixing Folk influences with electric instruments and symphonic structures is quite brilliant.

The second part is a bit less good and it takes too long for it to get off the ground. The first five minutes are quite boring. But it gets better and better until it suddenly turns into a folky song that has no real connection to the rest but somehow fits in anyway. This is the only part with proper vocals, the rest of the album is basically instrumental.

Overall, Ommadawn is a bit less rock oriented than Tubular Bells but still the strong presence of electric guitars ensures that this is one of Oldfield's rockier albums of the 70's. Just don't expect it to rock hard, because it certainly doesn't. This is progressive rock with a strong emphasis on the progressive but not so much on the rock.