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Topic ClosedMike Oldfield appreciation thread

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kenethlevine View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 13 2016 at 21:11
has been one of my favorites since the 1970s
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 14 2016 at 01:44
Thanks all, I will definitely check out Amarok

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 14 2016 at 08:01
Originally posted by Dellinger Dellinger wrote:

Originally posted by O666 O666 wrote:

Mike Oldfield in one of Top 10 musicians (Prog or Not Prog!) in my book. I listened most of his albums and I follow him over 30 years! He always tried to be "Up to Date" in his career. He experienced some of different  musical genres in some of his albums . 
There are some musicians that try to "Copy" his 70's style. The latest of them is "Rob Reed". He released 2 "Oldfield 70's Style copy Albums" : "Sanctuary" and "Sanctuary 2". If you love "Ommadawn" and "Tubular Bells" , You must listen to Reed's "Sanctuary 1,2" albums.


Yeah, Oldfield has become one of my top artists too... though I would put him in my top 5. However, I still got to get some albums from him, and somehow I don't expect to find anything as special as the best I already found from him.

Hi. Sometimes I found him so Unexpected! For example "Amarok" album after 4-5 Semi-Pop albums or "The songs from Distant Earth" World Music genre album. 
Perhaps he have some "Bad" (I prefer to say "Not Good"!) albums  but he is a great musician (IMO). He is my hero! 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 14 2016 at 08:38
I have to admit I always get a bit squirmy when an artists says he's returning to something from his past. (aww, really? Must you?) Sometimes this works okay (Wakeman returning to the Centre of the Earth twice, once fair and once improved) or not bad (Anderson having a second bite of Thick As A Brick) while other times you have to wonder why they bothered (Tango's on several re-recorded albums including Phaedra 2005). 

Oldfield's not new to this plundering of the back-catalogue of course having "returned" to Tubby Bells on four separate occasions (one re-recording and three sequels) with mixed results, though it has to be said that Tubby Bells III and The Millennium Bell could have been released with completely different titles and no one would have been any the wiser. Time will tell I suppose but apart from trading on the name of a relatively well known album I don't see why a return to his acoustic era has to be "Return to Ommadawn" specifically.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 14 2016 at 08:57
Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

I have to admit I always get a bit squirmy when an artists says he's returning to something from his past. (aww, really? Must you?) Sometimes this works okay (Wakeman returning to the Centre of the Earth twice, once fair and once improved) or not bad (Anderson having a second bite of Thick As A Brick) while other times you have to wonder why they bothered (Tango's on several re-recorded albums including Phaedra 2005). 

Oldfield's not new to this plundering of the back-catalogue of course having "returned" to Tubby Bells on four separate occasions (one re-recording and three sequels) with mixed results, though it has to be said that Tubby Bells III and The Millennium Bell could have been released with completely different titles and no one would have been any the wiser. Time will tell I suppose but apart from trading on the name of a relatively well known album I don't see why a return to his acoustic era has to be "Return to Ommadawn" specifically.


I agree with this. I would like the new album to be something new, not merely a retread, as good as the original was. We shall find out shortly.

I actually prefer TBII to the original, whilst the third was an interesting take. Millenium Bell is not particularly inspired.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 14 2016 at 10:21
I think TB 3 was a major triumph, and I think titling it so was a disservice to the ingenuity within, which had precious little to do with TB.

Been listening to Tr3s Lunas a lot, not a great album but somewhat addictive.  Light and Shade is better

Amarok was just too out there for me while I thought Voyager and Songs of Distant Earth were on the weak side
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 14 2016 at 20:53
Originally posted by O666 O666 wrote:

Originally posted by Dellinger Dellinger wrote:

Originally posted by O666 O666 wrote:

Mike Oldfield in one of Top 10 musicians (Prog or Not Prog!) in my book. I listened most of his albums and I follow him over 30 years! He always tried to be "Up to Date" in his career. He experienced some of different  musical genres in some of his albums . 
There are some musicians that try to "Copy" his 70's style. The latest of them is "Rob Reed". He released 2 "Oldfield 70's Style copy Albums" : "Sanctuary" and "Sanctuary 2". If you love "Ommadawn" and "Tubular Bells" , You must listen to Reed's "Sanctuary 1,2" albums.


Yeah, Oldfield has become one of my top artists too... though I would put him in my top 5. However, I still got to get some albums from him, and somehow I don't expect to find anything as special as the best I already found from him.


Hi. Sometimes I found him so Unexpected! For example "Amarok" album after 4-5 Semi-Pop albums or "The songs from Distant Earth" World Music genre album. 
Perhaps he have some "Bad" (I prefer to say "Not Good"!) albums  but he is a great musician (IMO). He is my hero! 


I have been getting into Oldfield mostly since he already had released all of his albums, except Man on the Rocks, so I have had a fair idea of what to expect from his albums... at least as far as the kind of sound or genre it will have goes, so there's been little surprise for me on that respect. Songs from Distant Earth is, I think, the first album I heard from him, and I do like it a lot... very good as a whole piece of music. And the last one was a nice collection of songs, specially the title song and Nuclear are great, and very different to anything else I have heard from him... even from his 80's song format releases.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 14 2016 at 21:35
My favorite by him has always been Hergest Ridge. Seriously awesome.

On a side note- I hope I'm not the only one wishing for some darker undertones on Return to Ommadawn. That cover is just begging for it. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 14 2016 at 23:42
I should really delve into his discography more, the only album I've heard deep enough is Tubular Bells.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 15 2016 at 01:45
Originally posted by Pastmaster Pastmaster wrote:

I should really delve into his discography more, the only album I've heard deep enough is Tubular Bells.
 
If you love the pastoral acoustic music then the first four albums will not disappoint.
In the years 1979-1981 Mike flirted with disco and from 1982 on, he went almost full pop, with the occasional symphonic epics.

In the nineties he flirted with worldmusic, electronica and celtic folk.
 
There's something for everyone :-D
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 15 2016 at 09:33
Mike oldfield have a great Box-Set that released in 1976 : "Boxed . In LP version that released in 1976 , there were 4 LPs : Tubular Bells , Hergest Ridge , Ommadawn and Collaborations . In CD version , there are 3 CDs : TB , HR , Ommadawn without Collaborations! I want to write from Boxed cover : 

" All tracks of "Collaborations" are included as follows : 
Disc 1 : songs 3,4,5
Disk 2 : Songs 3,4,5
Disk 3 : Songs 3,4  "
I really shocked when I read that. They cut "Collaborations" to little pieces !!! After all , These 8 sons are great and I recommended them to Mike's fans (if you didn't listen yet!) .
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 15 2016 at 09:47
Originally posted by Kingsnake Kingsnake wrote:

Originally posted by Pastmaster Pastmaster wrote:

I should really delve into his discography more, the only album I've heard deep enough is Tubular Bells.
 
If you love the pastoral acoustic music then the first four albums will not disappoint.
In the years 1979-1981 Mike flirted with disco and from 1982 on, he went almost full pop, with the occasional symphonic epics.

In the nineties he flirted with worldmusic, electronica and celtic folk.
 
There's something for everyone :-D

actually he flirted with world music in the early 1980, particularly Celtic.  QE2 and Five Miles Out are his most overtly Celtic albums, apart from the rather bland Voyager from the 1990s.  I don't hear a lot of disco in either.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 15 2016 at 09:55
Platinum rocks! Big smile

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 15 2016 at 09:59
Originally posted by Meltdowner Meltdowner wrote:

Platinum rocks! Big smile


agreed, a somewhat underrated epic.  and live versions are way better than the studio one.
I was lucky enough to see him live on the "Who's Next" tour in 1982, and he opened with Platinum.  One of my friends have never heard it and, after the show, he asked what piece it was because he thought it was awesome
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 15 2016 at 10:07
^ I'm glad you agree. I don't know, the studio version has its own charm and the passages obviously work better.
That's lucky, indeed! Even if he returned to the stages, I'm sure he wouldn't play this.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 15 2016 at 10:12
Platinum is very funky/disco.
I love it though 🖒
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 15 2016 at 10:38
I still have one of these from the 1979 tour of Europe ....

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 15 2016 at 11:04
Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

I still have one of these from the 1979 tour of Europe ....


cool!  was that from the same tour that produced "Exposed"?

The Who's Next Tour was in spring 1982 in support of Five Miles Out.  I was living in Ottawa at the time and he was surprisingly popular there.  His albums were selling well but even his singles were near the top of the local charts, even though the rest of North America largely ignored him.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 16 2016 at 00:00
Originally posted by kenethlevine kenethlevine wrote:



cool!  was that from the same tour that produced "Exposed"?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 17 2016 at 10:20
I love "Platinum" so much. As Kingsnake said its Funky and you can find another styles like Disco and Punk Rock ... in this album. Honestly , Platinum isn't one of Oldfield's great albums but its so enjoyable in my ears. 
Exposed is one the 10 BEST live performance that I ever listened IMO.
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