AMAROK

Since day one (the day I purchased it), 'Amarok' is my absolute Oldfield fav album of all- time... and let me tell you that I am lost in love with such classics as his first four studio recordings. But the way he said goodbye to the 80s in 'Amarok' is simply astonishing beyond imagination. All the Oldfield ingredients are here: varied compositions, peculiar sensibility towards diverse folk sources (Celtic, Flamenco. African, Asian), exquisite treatment of electric sources (rock, blues), interesting use of special effects and weird stuff, of course excellent performances on all sorts of guitars, keyboards and other gears... and yet, Olfield manages to take these things to the most bizarre level ever. The way each section is connected through abrupt contrasts and cuts over and over again is cleverly designed to drive your aesthetic perception to a state of overwrought disbelief. Well, sometimes the transitions are smooth and perfectly fluid. Two examples: the link between the Dixieland ukelele portion and the dissonant banjo sequence; and the link between the Flamenco tour-de-force and the Greek party section, which softly leads to a calm, eerie piano section. But generally speaking, the name of this album's game is deconstruction. Finally, it all ends with the emergence of the three final African sections, where the invitation is clear: "dance and enjoy, release yourself from all the previous emotional tension". Once I read in an Oldfield-devoted web site this brief review on 'Amarok': "Happy? Happy!" - well, this simple statement summarizes my diagnose very accurately.

P.S.: A special mention goes to those weird multilayered guitar effects shaped as abrupt brass counterpoints, that appear now and then as unexpected flashes of lightning. Some of them were aligned in order to create a (deservedly obscene) Morse Code message sent to Virgin "dictator" R.B.