Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography

XXV - THE ESSENTIAL MIKE OLDFIELD

Mike Oldfield

Crossover Prog


From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Mike Oldfield XXV - The Essential Mike Oldfield album cover
2.66 | 20 ratings | 3 reviews | 0% 5 stars

Write a review

Buy MIKE OLDFIELD Music
from Progarchives.com partners
Boxset/Compilation, released in 1997

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Tubular Bells excerpt (4:16)
2. Hergest Ridge excerpt (4:57)
3. Ommadawn excerpt (7:00)
4. Incantations excerpt (4:40)
5. Moonlight Shadow (3:38)
6. Portsmouth (2:00)
7. Good News (1:47)
8. Sentinel - single restructure (3:56)
9. The Bell - MC Viv Stanshall (3:09)
10. Let There Be Light - single version (4:21)
11. Only Time Will Tell (4:36)
12. The Voyager (4:26)
13. Women Of Ireland (6:30)
14. Tubular Bells III excerpt (3:41)

Total Time:58:57
The excerpts from longer tracks were taken directly from previous compilations:
1. Tubular Bells [from Elements: The Best Of Mike Oldfield]
3. Ommadawn [from The Complete Mike Oldfield]
4. Incantations [from The Complete Mike Oldfield]
Track 14 is a working version of what became The Source Of Secrets on Tubular Bells III, released the following year. This version does not include the wind sounds present on the finished version. Other differences include a male vocal and faded ending.

Line-up / Musicians

- Mike Oldfield / guitars, basses, pianos, organs, synths, drums, various percussions

Releases information

WEA #021218

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
and to frenchie for the last updates
Edit this entry

Buy MIKE OLDFIELD XXV - The Essential Mike Oldfield Music



MIKE OLDFIELD XXV - The Essential Mike Oldfield ratings distribution


2.66
(20 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(0%)
0%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(15%)
15%
Good, but non-essential (55%)
55%
Collectors/fans only (25%)
25%
Poor. Only for completionists (5%)
5%

MIKE OLDFIELD XXV - The Essential Mike Oldfield reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Easy Livin
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
3 stars Not essential, but a good starting point

Personally, I would have said that the "essential" Mike Oldfield would include "Tubular Bells", "Ommadawn", and "The songs of distant earth" in full. Let's however take the title with a pinch of salt, and see this as "An introduction to Mike Oldfield".

On that basis, it's pretty good. The selected excerpts from the early albums have appeared before on other compilations ("Elements" or "The Complete..") in exactly the same format. On the other hand, as this album was released before "Tubular Bells III", the last track is a working version of the section that became "The source of secrets".

The compilation concentrates on Oldfield's early album releases, his two re-workings under the "Tubular Bells" banner, his excellent "Songs of distant earth", and the more recent "Voyager" album. Many of his other albums are therefore absent altogether, and his singles output is largely ignored too (although space is found for "Portsmouth" and the superb "Moonlight shadow").

One perennial gripe I have with compilations such as this, is the fact that it runs to only 58 minutes. Given that a number of the tracks are extracts from long piece, why was the additional 20 minutes available on a CD not used to extend the length of those extracts?

Having said all that, the music which has been included is excellent. Heard for what it is, rather than what it is not, this collection is coherent, and strong.

Review by The Crow
PROG REVIEWER
2 stars A good Oldfield's compilation... But nothing really interesting.

If you are into the career of this great musician, you will hardly find anything special here. Only the The Bell remix with Viv Stanshall is really a good addition, along with the presence of Portsmouth, a classic Oldfield's instrumental... The rest is just a compilation of brilliant Oldfield's moments. This album maybe is interesting for someone new to Oldfield who wants a general view of his music.

But there are better Oldfield's compilation in the market anyway, with more rare tracks and more interesting for fans: The Complete, The Platinum Collection... These compilations are better, while The Essential is maybe the worst official Oldfield's compilation you'll find.

Conclusion: only for beginners... All the songs included here are great, but if you are an Oldfield's fan, forget it, while you will not find any reason to hear this general and superficial compilation. Only the single remixes make this album worthy, and the little song Portsmouth... Ok, maybe the excerpt of Tubular Bells III too, a sad curiosity. But the rest is not really special, depite the great quality of the music.

My rating: **

Latest members reviews

3 stars 2.5 Stars One of the better compilations, this serves as a satisfactory starting point. The first four tracks are what the prog fans will become most fond of, though tracks like Hergest Ridge and Ommadawn don't comply to chopping well. The other half of the CD focuses on the 80's and 90's, ... (read more)

Report this review (#101548) | Posted by OGTL | Monday, December 4, 2006 | Review Permanlink

Post a review of MIKE OLDFIELD "XXV - The Essential Mike Oldfield"

You must be a forum member to post a review, please register here if you are not.

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.