[Faust2D]

I like some of his records. Ommadawn is very interesting, Tubular Bells is a classic, Heaven's Open is also surprisingly not bad. Islands I hated, it's such an awful album.

I really like his work with Kevin Ayers on "Whatevershebringswesing" and "Shooting at the Moon".

He was also really just spectacular on Downwind by Pierre Moerlen's Gong. I do not like Pierre Moerlen's Gong that much at all but Mike Oldfield made Downwind much more interesting then the rest of the cuts on the album.

 

[stevenkelby]

I first heard Tubular Bells a few months ago on a recommendation I read in a thread somewhere by some crazy Scotsman. I now have a few of his works, in short, I like it. Thanks Doug!

 

[NacMacFeegle]

No love for "Five Miles Out"?? I liked that the best of all his works.

 

[Lord Chaos]

I heard "Tubular Bells" on the radio in 1973 and bought a cassette. It has been with me ever since, and I've kept track of Oldfield through the years. Some hits, some misses.

It'd be hard to say which is my favorite. Of the long-form works, I think "Ommadawn" is still at the top of the heap. I haven't spent enough time with "Amarok" to figure it out. "Incantations" wasn't properly transferred to commercial CD so I recently bought the LP version but haven't transcribed it yet.

I like tracks from just about all the albums. I recently did a "Chill" playlist on Shoutcast for some friends and included a couple of Voyager tracks. "Five Miles Out" is one of my favorites, but still has a track or two I don't care for. "Platinum" has some wonderful things, and a stinker or two.

I like his experimental approach. Recent albums, such as "Earth Moving" and "Tres Lunas" have failed to grab me. Maybe I need to give "Tres" another try. "Islands" is OK.

I don't listen to his music all the time, but there'd be a huge hole in my music if I didn't have these.

 

[Duggeh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mister Crash /img/forum/go_quote.gif ... The last Oldfield album I bought was The Millennium Bell, and I did not like it at all. At that point, I was done with him.

The Millenium Bell is his weakest album as far as I'm concerned. Too big an idea, done badly. The live gig in Berlin was okay enough (AWFUL Shadow On The Wall, excellent Ode To Joy/Bell Finale).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faust2D /img/forum/go_quote.gif I like some of his records. Ommadawn is very interesting, Tubular Bells is a classic, Heaven's Open is also surprisingly not bad. Islands I hated, it's such an awful album. I really like his work with Kevin Ayers on "Whatevershebringswesing" and "Shooting at the Moon". He was also really just spectacular on Downwind by Pierre Moerlen's Gong. I do not like Pierre Moerlen's Gong that much at all but Mike Oldfield made Downwind much more interesting then the rest of the cuts on the album.

I don't know this Kevin Ayers stuff you mention. Oldfield has done a few collaborative works though. The upcoming album was him and Karl Jenkins.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevenkelby /img/forum/go_quote.gif I first heard Tubular Bells a few months ago on a recommendation I read in a thread somewhere by some crazy Scotsman. I now have a few of his works, in short, I like it. Thanks Doug!

You've got to watch out for those ginger haired, cabre tossing, haggis scoffing, kilt wearing, warmongering highland loonies!

Quote:

Originally Posted by NacMacFeegle /img/forum/go_quote.gif No love for "Five Miles Out"?? I liked that the best of all his works.

Five Miles Out and Crises are his two strongest works of the 80s. Crises is slightly better than Taurus II, but five miles out (the song) is better than moonlight shadow imo.


Just listening to The Art In Heaven Concert Finale now. Wunderbar.

 

[warpdriver]

I miss Maggie Reilley's vocals

 

[Faust2D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't know this Kevin Ayers stuff you mention. Oldfield has done a few collaborative works though. The upcoming album was him and Karl Jenkins.

Oldfield was not an important figure at that time, Ayers was sort of a fringe music trend setter. Link to Ayers

 

[Audio-Omega]

The Songs of Distant Earth. It's a musical interpretation of a science fiction novel.

 

[Pipster]

I am also partial to a bit of the Oldfield. Started my journey with Amorok which sounded like nothing I had ever heard before. Sea shantys, beeps and bleeps, superb guitar work and a nicely pronounced "bottom" at 15 minutes.

Couple of questions please?

Hergest Ridge - which version? I have read that the remastered one doesn't do it justice.

Is the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner worth getting? (not just for the Mike bits of course)

 

[Duggeh]

Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner I find stupefyingly boring. Great Equatorial I like, but no Oldfield on that one. Almost everything David Bedford has ever done has been pish-posh mediocre at best.

Re: Hergest Ridge

I like all of the versions because it one of my favourite Oldfield albums. The first pressing mix is very very different in part 2 and a little different in part 1. The Normal post-quad mix (on every CD) rocks much harder in part 2, particularly the thunderstorm. The HDCD is one of the most notable improvements over the redbook of all of the virgin albums too.

Even if you get a copy of the first pressing on vinyl, the quality is not great. Hergest Ridge was pressed during the oil crises during the 70s and the plastic quality is very very poor comparatively speaking.

The Hergest Ridge in the boxed set is the Quad mastering and is in Quad too. Listening to it on stereo playback lends a slightly different tone to everything.

 

[Jodet]

It's odd, but Mike Oldfield always reminds me of Gene Rodenberry. Mike did 'tubular bells' and everything else was not particularly successful. Gene did the original Star Trek, and everything else ws particularly successful. Both guys can be remembered for their one big success.

But like I still was TOS sometimes, yeah, I still listen to tubular bells now and then. It stands up.

 

[tjohnusa]

Liked "Five Miles Out" alot. Anyone like Synergy? Loved the "Chords" album.

 

[subharmonic]

I personally think Oldfield has influenced so many contemporary artists.
What he was doing back in the day was pretty heavy duty. I think though, like so many other artists he has been guilty of being influenced too much by technology, and dare I say it, chasing the dosh.
If you listen to Tubular Bells from '73 (I think) there's a real purity and honesty about it. There may have been others out there who were doing concept albums but I don't anyone was really doing anything like Oldfield (tell me who there was so I can investigate). Problem is though this purity of sound I think evaporated more and more as the years went on.

His more modern stuff I know less about, though I can vouch for Songs of distant earth which without being earth shatteringly good is one of those backgroundy ambienty albums you just chuck on and leave, and you don't switch off. I'll need to get a hold of Amarok to check that out again. His Live concert for TB II I thought was excellent though. Wouldn't mind getting it on DVD. He's some guitar player btw, and one of only a few guys I know who play exclusively with a fingerpicking style on an electric... And he def has his "own" sound. Personally, I would say TB, for Pt1. anyway, is a def must have album. 2nd side isn't as good, but side 1 is worth the entry fee alone, by some way...

 

[Sphinx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tjohnusa /img/forum/go_quote.gif Liked "Five Miles Out" alot. Anyone like Synergy? Loved the "Chords" album.

Synergy is an amazing band, VERY hard to find there albums on CD(Although I just noticed that Amazon has a tone of them now ). I ended up getting them off of GEMM a coupld years ago. Sequencer has got to be my favorite, and also Electronic Realizations for Rock Orchestra was another awesome album.

On topic of Mike Oldfield I grew up listening to him thanks to my father. I now own all of his albums and a bunch of singles. The platinum collection is a great album for singles that are very hard to find.

Also anybody listen to Jarre's latest Teo Tea it's fantastic.

 

[OGTL]

are you still alive, duggeh? How's music of the spheres?

Hergest Ridge, Ommadawn and Incantations are amazing, and essential compositions. i don't know how he did it. incredible. The best solo artist ever in the history of the planet. bearing in mind i never overstate anything ever in the history of man kind.