MIKE OLDFIELD

After a series of half prog-pop albums throughout most of the 1980s, in which the quality of the side long prog track declined with each release, MIKE OLDFIELD dispensed with the requisite magnum opus on "Earth Moving", the single worst album of his career. As if in reaction, he followed this with a CD consisting of one 60 minute track, "Amarok" which many saw as a return to form.

Mike even enlisted some old friends like PADDY MOLONEY of CHIEFTAINS fame, who had appeared on "Five Miles Out", and CLODAGH SIMMONDS ("Ommadawn"), to appease and convince long time fans that this was the real deal. Indeed, how could he miss the mark with so much going for him. But miss it he did, hugely. It's like his early classics were held together by ritalin and now we have the hyperactive adult re-imagining them the way they were meant to be. This is a slapdash goulash of deliberately undeveloped concepts that rarely impress even as much as the mediocre "Wind Chimes", its most recent predecessor at the time. It's intentionally schizophrenic, but rather than furnishing even virtual links it severs them. Even on the vividly disjointed "Taurus 2", there was rhyme and reason and yes, melody.

This isn't entirely lost, but even in the MP3 era, it's too hard to extract the 8 or so outstanding minutes - mostly those with tribal rhythms as a cross between "Five Miles out"and "Ommadawn" without improving upon them in the slightest, from their murky milieu. This is like the "on the rebound" album, where the second relationship is only better because it is so different, and it couldn't have been worse anyway. True, but not by much.

I am too old to have used the term "chill" during my formative years, and time will tell whether it will have the staying power of "cool" or the ephemerality of "groovy". But I'm not too old to recognize chill when I experience it. And "Light and Shade" is the very essence of chill.

This probably isn't as groundbreaking or overtly progressive as Oldfield's early works, but let's give the man a rest and enjoy his continued relevance in executing electronica freshly and curtly. Apart from the jaded new age ennui of "Blackbird", "Rocky" and "Sunset", all a bit too "light" for their own good, this is uniformly enjoyable relaxation music with enough edge to satisfy a more demanding commute, road trip, or workout. I know, I've tried it out in all scenarios.

I'll go against conventional prog wisdom by adding that "Shade" is the better half, although "First Steps" and "Our Father" from the light side are both favourites. The tempos are notched up, the melodies more forceful, and the synthesized vocals more authentic if you will. The best of these are the ones that blend all these elements with Oldfield's still searing guitar figures. The man knows how to incorporate his axe work into any style, and does so without overpowering or appearing to be parachuting it in to save old fans. "Resolution" has it all in this regard and is surprisingly energetic. "Surfing" is much more laid back and hypnotic, and its vocals involve more than just repeating a disyllabic mantra, and the tune is the hardest to shake on "Light and Shade". "Tears of an Angel" begins quasi- orchestrally before giving way to another "song" oriented piece, this one shifting pace far more than its predecessor, aided by guitar solo injections. "Ringscape" is the most new agey of the "Shade" pieces but is also majestic and dignified, affording welcome contrast to the 24 hour clubbing sounds of most of this half. Again, the man's guitars save it from being mistaken for PATRICK O'HEARN or YANNI.

While likely to displease many a fan of the man's prog phases, "Light and Shade" succeeds in delivering on its promises and, more importantly, on pledges it never made. Chill.

Being an absolute fan of Oldfield, I can say that I have heard all his work. In the 80's, he also edited works very appreciable. True, punctuated by the commerciality of the times, but with creative musical pearls that stand out. The genius of the artist is always unmistakable and unique.

The title track and principal of the album is fantastic. The perfect evolution after the nearly 10 years since Tubullar Bells, and through other classics of the past decade. An epic well developed and never tedious.

Orabidoo is a special piece, get an ethereal atmosphere and captivating. Sublime!

The short songs are acceptable, given the zeitgeist. Only that threaten the homogeneity of the work. Without them the album would be a masterpiece of 38 minutes.

As with my other review of Can's "Tago Mago" I consider this another masterpiece in the world of prog-rock music. I don't think that there is a more, well conceived album than this one. The scope of it is just breathtaking. And the cast of musicians that helped him flesh the work out is extrodinary. First off; it being a double album makes for a long listening time. It can take several playthroughs to really apperciate the work. Of all the thematic constucts he's developed over the years; as in "Tubular Bells", "Hergest Ridge", "Ommadawn" and so on. This one is the most compelling! I loved the fact that he used H.W. Longfellow's poem "Hyawatha" as part of the music; that was a masterstroke of brillance. It really made the album for me. The first time I heard "Incantations" was back when it first came out in 1978. I had an original copy of it with the poster. It's sad that someone stole from me, but now I have it on CD. Which is great, because I don't have to turn it over at the end of every side. I always hated that because you lost some of the continuity that way; as it moved from one movement to the next. The distraction of having to turn it over. All four sides are fantastic, but side four is the real capper to the whole affair. His guitar work here; is again in my opinion some of his best work. Granted his guitar work on "Taurus 2" is out-of-sight, as the old saying goes; but here there's a certain quality that is missing in his other compositions; that is present here! Of all the guest artist that helped him out with this project; the real stand-out is Pierre Moerlen on drums and percussion. It really pulled the whole thing together for me. So, if you've never heard any of Mike Oldfield's work this is a good place to start, as any, because all of his compositions are excellent. And, if you have heard it before, but not for a long time; give it another listen. You may rediscover just how magnificent this album really is.

I find the first two Mike Oldfield albums comparable to the first two Soft Machine albums in terms of the first ones of both being very up-and-down or sinusoidal (yes, you can boo the cheap joke) in quality where the seconds are more even and constant. The problem in Oldfield's case is that the album's evenness is its undoing; HERGEST RIDGE really could have been a terrific masterpiece had Oldfield took a few risks.

So, if you have familiarity with the first Mike Oldfield album TUBULAR BELLS, there are some slight adjustments to make HERGEST RIDGE sound a little more rounded and even, even bringing in some Tangerine Dream-esque soundscapes. The theme that strikes my attention happens halfway into the second part that sounds like a Tangerine Dream setup. Still, it sounds like Oldfield played it safe and tried a bit too much into making the second album similar to the first, and that hurts HERGEST RIDGE in the long haul. Then again, there are no points on the album like the grunting (or is it snoring; hard to tell) from TUBULAR BELLS that would make me grimace, so I give Oldfield some credit.

Master of originality, freshness, innovation. Personal style, unconventional. The music of Oldfield is unique, unparalleled. And with this album this artist confirmed his capacity to make singular pieces of music, nothing more and nothin less than 60 minutes of magnificent sounds and melodies in one and only song. Don´t worry about the time, fluency is guaranteed when we talk about M.O. The music could be divided in three parts, combined in a perfect form. There is no way for me to be more specific, just is necessary listen to this fantastic piece of art. Everytime that I listen, I discover new pearls musically speaking. I tried to be impartial, no easy for me when I write about this kind of music.

'Shadow on the Wall' is probably the closest Mike Oldfield ever came to hard rock - and it works extremely well! The manic, masochistic vocals are by the one and only Roger Chapman (FAMILY) and I couldn't think of any better choice. The composition is built around the power riff of Oldfield's electric guitar and Simon Phillips adds his tasty, strong drumming. The production is excellent, and for once the extended version (12" single) benefits from the extension, even though I still prefer the tighter short version. Sort of funny that I enjoy this song the way I do, since I'm not generally into hard rock at all. In the album Crises it's a wonderful counterpart to the more ethereal approach of 'In High Places' (sung by Jon Anderson) or Maggie Reilly's 'Moonlight Shadow' and 'Foreign Affair'. The video of the song shows an interrogation scene, Chappo tied up in a straight jacket sitting in a chair.

Also 'Taurus III' is from the album. It's a fast instrumental piece dominated by virtuotic acoustic guitar. With a good non-album track on the flipside I could have rated this single better, now three stars is enough.

'Mistake' is a fast-tempo pop song sung by Maggie Reilly. It was not on albums except in the US pressing of Crises (1983). In Europe its album appearance was on the double compilation The Complete Mike Oldfield in 1985. The song is, in my opinion, among the less interesting pop hits by the Oldfield & Reilly partnership. It lacks the ethereal atmosphere of 'Moonlight Shadow' or 'To France', but it does have some personal rhythmical complexity comparable to 'Family Man' or 'Five Miles Out', and it is so straight-forward at the same time that it's quite nice. The sticky and heavily repeated chorus sounds close to girlie pop such as Cyndi Lauper or The Bangles, only with more unusual time signatures.

'Waldberg (The Peak)' is a light-hearted instrumental that sounds unmistakably Mike Oldfield. Think of tight plastic producion of his other short instrumentals like 'Guilty' or 'Blue Peter', slow down the tempo and add the Uillean pipes from Ommadawn's second side. The composition shifts between the folky Celtic part and the other part dominated by the naive synth phrase. Unfortunately it all feels very calculated and readily chewed easy-listening muzak. It lacks the humour of some other tunes or the lazy hazy romanticism of 'Jungle Gardenia'.

PS. Unlike most other singles I've reviewed here, this one actually is in my small and useless collection of vinyl singles that I happened to gather in my teens.

This album has no meaning, no concept and no purpose: it's just a bunch of random melodies played with random instuments and glued together. There are a few good ideas here and there, but that doesn't make it a good album: there is no cohesion at all. And he managed to record almost FIFTY minutes of it (don't ask me how).

This is possibly the most overrated prog album. I simply cannot understand all the hype. Personally, I find the >4 average rating of it offensive: it is offensive towards the real prog bands.

tl;dr Listen to this album. And after that, toss it out of the window.

Well, a guy that plays all the instruments of an album is sure interesting. Mike Olfield's first album is very well composed, well played, but has little flaws. The production is a little faulty, and sometimes, the piece is not precise. But it is so beautiful. It's the closest thing to classical music.

The first part is one of the most beautiful things ever. Only the introduction can make my day but after, here's Mike Oldfied showing his amazing talents on guitar. After, there are other beautiful parts until the grand finale comes in. Vivian Stanshall introduces the instruments with a repetitve theme in the background and the grand finale of the theme comes in.

. The second part is not as memorable. It is though the funny part. I laughed histeriatically at the Caveman part. And with the Sailor's Hornpipe dance at the end, it is the less serious part.

Tubular Bells is brilliant. I compare Mike Oldfield to "The Beethoven of Prog Music". He's very hard working. And this album proves it well.