ELEMENTS - THE BEST OF (DVD)

I will tell you the truth, i was recommended by a friend to buy this DVD when i only knew the short version of Tubullar Bells and Moonlight Shadow, he told me about Mike Oldfield, and finally he convinced me because he expressed great of him, (who doesn`t?). In that time i didn`t really know anything about him, nor if he was a rock musician, well what i remember is that i have seen his albums always in the New Age section, so maybe i expected something like that.

Now that i know him, his career, some of his albums and highest and lowest moments, i can share my opinion of this DVD with you.

So i was happy in home and put this in my DVD player, the first video is a 1974 live performance of the superb Tubullar Bells Part. 1, i was amazed and pleased for the very first time, then i realized that actually Oldfield composed the whole song, in studio he played all the instruments, that fact made me immediately want more, well about this video is simply extraordinary, all perfectly performanced , with the help of great musicians such as Pierre Moerlen or Steve Hillage.

Thanks to this video in special, i got depper into Oldfield`s work, now i cant tell you that i love Ommadawn or Amarok for example,;returning to the Video review.

Definitely the best part of the DVD is this first video/song, about 25 minutes of shock and superb music, so what`s next? As the DVD title says, this contains all the Oldfield`s "Elements", his progressive rock music, his folkish roots, his electronic moments, and even his pop and lack of complexity songs,it`s something like a tour about all his efforts and releases, which could be great for a true Oldfield`s lover, but not good for a prog fan-

"Portshmouth" and "William Tell Overture" are for me the other wothr moments here, because he shows us his folk and classical influences, besides showing himself in the video playing ALL the instruments, maybe a bit egocentric with a big pride (with that quality and virtuosity, every egocentric person is very welcome), pleasing me with that kind of songs, but sadly no more songs or videos are worth to watch.

All the following parts of the songs are popish tunes and some electronic melodies, nothing to be proud of, some better than others, but in general i can`t watch all of them, for me it`s boring and sometimes horrible.

In the other hand, (if you are not tired of bored) this DVD features 3 extra chapters, the first one is a very good one, called "The Space Movie" which is actually something like a little movie with Incantations as a background, pretty good. "The Wind Chimes" is something that i always watched apart of the videos, maybe another day, because after watching the other things, this part is very large, over 40 minutes, but again is like a movie or documental i dont know, but good. Finishing with an interview which is always interesting to appreciate.

Nowadays when i put this on my DVD is to watch only the Tubullar Bells performance, if i had to grade only that, it would be an easy 5 star, but sadly and giving a personal grade it would be 3 stars, despite i don`t really enjoy the whole DVD, but i think it has good moments in the extra features and 2 or 3 good videos, nothing more.

2.8 actually!

Share this MIKE OLDFIELD review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to memowakeman
• Report this review (#84580)
• Buy MIKE OLDFIELD music online with PA partners
• Show all MIKE OLDFIELD MP3/Stream
• Go to MIKE OLDFIELD page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Elements - The Best Of (DVD) page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for MIKE OLDFIELD related discussions