HEAVEN'S OPEN

This album was probably an adventure for Mike Oldfield into R&B music with some flavors of multi-instruments sounds through some effects. The opening track "Make Make" is definitely under this category as it shares the same beat as disco music. "No Dream" is a mellow pop song with vocal. It also happens to "Mr Shame" which has an R&B style of music. "Gimme Back" is a reggae and R&B outfit. "Heaven's Open" still has the same style but this time with unique guitar work of Mike Oldfield. "Music From The Balcony" was I thought would be an epic full of progressive sounds. In terms of music structure and compositions this final track represent what typical prog music would sound like. Despite many textures Mike tried to offer with his music here, this tracks sounds like a collection of songs with disjointed parts and practically no smooth transition between styles. It seems obvious as well that this concluding track is weak in melody and harmony. Yes, there are multitudes of sound effects but they all sound odds to my ears.

At album level I'm a bit confused with the fact that there is no single storyline from track one to the end that represents certain theme of the album. So, I conclude this album should be suitable only for Mike Oldfield die hard fans - two stars is an appropriate rating. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW