GUITARS

Some of the songs on this generally tedious album work well, but the others tend to repeat themselves. Well, I suppose that is to be expected on an album of exclusively guitars. But guess what - it's not just an album of guitars. In fact, it has bass, keyboards, and all sorts of percussion. Mike managed to create the sounds of all these other instruments using only guitars and MIDI effects. And indeed he did a great job at that! Unfortunately, it repeats itself and grows boring over time, but when it works well, it works very well. The melodies click, everything makes sense. I wouldn't recommend this as a start to Oldfield, as this album is radically different than his classics, "Tubular Bells", "Hergest Ridge", "Ommadawn". Once you've discovered and understood his roots and early works, I suggest getting this album if you'd like to see a different side of this fantastic prog guitarist.