EXPOSED

One of two ACTUAL concerts from the classic period (Still waiting on Knebworth 1980 here..) "Exposed" on DVD is a video version of the "Exposed" album, (different dates, though) with the same track listing, and virtually identical performance.

Subsequently, it suffers from the same faults of the original audio release, and some more brought on by the visual aspect.

You can tell Mike isn't used to performing infront of an audience, during slow parts he mulls around the stage with his hands locked gazing at the audience or staring at the floor. At least he doesn't do the old "Looking at your fellow band members gaily like everything is right in the world" routine like the rest of the band. His playing seems a little held back but very competent, though I was again painfully dissapointed at the Incantations Part Four finale where that magnificent solo present on the studio album is replaced with a terrible short lived riff that doesn't even graze the immense greatness of the original.

The band is WAY too large, and the orchestra is generally unheard, except for points where one or two violins would have sufficed. The team of percussionists however is a essential part of these performances, a highlight is witnessing the very talented Pierre Moerlen (Leading Gong at the time) displaying his expertise on various percussion instruments. He is also an incredible drummer, if only Knebworth 1980 was released, his solo on Ommadawn is incredible. The keyboardists include the future staple of Oldfield's live set for the next few years, the light fingered Tim Cross.

The music is well performed with not much room for individual creativity, improvisation or a intimate atmosphere, imposed by the large and unnecesary orchestra.

Picture quality is superb, clarity and resolution is much better than I expected, and the audio quality is excellent. Unfortunately the DVD contains some very un needed features like multi angle viewing, which expanded the release to two DVDs, which resulted in the very high price tag. ($30+)

Get the Montreux 1981 DVD, It's much better in terms of everything, but this is the next step on the ladder, a good look at the early music of this symphonic rock great.

What value it gives to a DVD to have the opportunity to view the concert from four different angles? The text in the front cover promises "over 7 hours of footage" which can help the consumer on the purchasing decision, but on the long run it's not a big deal. The fact remains, there's no more than under two hours of music. Against that fact the dividing of it on two separate discs is a bit frustrating. The first one, ie. the first half of the concert held in Wembley Conference Centre in 1979, includes the whole double album Incantations (though shorter in total running time than the album). The two-minute intro shows some of the musicians talk about the tour mainly on the bus, not giving their names which is bad (I don't recognize most of them by face), and the Intermission (2:30) shows how people are throwing paper planes between the stage and seats. Wow.

The second disc has Tubular Bells plus 'Guilty' in between the parts. Mike had decided to build the concert in the tradition of classical concerts, where chosen symphonies are naturally played completely. Therefore one does not hear anything from other albums. That's artistically a wise move but on the other hand somewhat stiff and pretentious, lacking the spirit of a rock concert. And as the previous review states, the orchestra is rather overblown in size. But this all does have good sides too. As the stores are full of more typical rock concert DVD's, it's nice to have something different for change. And as there are so many players, the multi-angle possibility fits well into this particular material.

Sound and picture quality are pretty good. The stage staff and sound editors have done excellent job: for example the flutes are heard clearly instead of being buried in the sound mass. Incantations sounds at least as great as it does on the studio album - and Maddy Prior does the vocal parts greatly - , but I'm not sure about Tubular Bells. As if it was less rehearsed, and the way some players are at times shifting towards rock manners is in contrast with the otherwise classical feel of the concert. I've seen a better live version of TB (in the 'Elements' DVD).

I really like the fact that you get the whole Incantations and Tubular Bell pieces here in their entirety. Two versions of Guilty are also thrown in. For those not familiar with Guilty, it's a sort of disco-ey song. Probably about as close to disco as I'd care to get.

The performances pretty much stick to the album versions, but it's really nice to these mostly Mike alone studio generated pieces come to life with live musicians. He's backed by two other guitarists, two keyboardists, various percussionists (including Gong's Pierre Moerlin), a female choir, and various orchestra musicians.

And, how often to you get to use your multi-angle viewing button on your DVD's remote? The only stuff I've seen that give you that are King Crimson's Deja Vroom and a Ginger Lynn porno movie I rented once. And none of those had four viewing options. I haven't watched all four of the angles - main edit, split screen (3), stage edit, and wide shot options all the way through. I did watch the wide shot a little noticed some rough zooming, so I suspect there's a bit of roughness in the rest of the optional shots. I did go back to the main edit for the remainder of my first viewing. I guess it's no wonder why you don't get a lot of multi-angle DVD releases, too much trouble.

I must say I've enjoyed this one more that the other two reviewers (to date) did, though it does fall just a little short of essential for the average prog fan. Still it's a good for an introduction to Mike's music and yes, essential to Oldfield fans like myself. It is a little pricey, but it is a two disc set. Over seven hours of footage if you count the multi-angle things.