Mike Oldfield

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When you stop and think about the structure of his music it all becomes evident that his style is for a mood that one might encounter every now and then. I find myself waiting for the moment when I desire to hear his music. Some of his background would indicate traditional Irish folk influences which are sometimes actually played over an electronic ambient soundscape. The directions in music that Mike Oldfield personally prefers to explore are not written in any other artists book of rules or discoveries of new methods in composition.

This connection between the label of "Progressive Rock" and Mike Oldfield began back in 1973 or 74' when a majority of Yes, Genesis, and Jethro Tull fans on the east coast took notice of his distorted guitar on Tubular Bells. I put emphasis on this somewhat silly point due to the majority of people dismissing his electronic soundscapes as something unique and placing them into a personal relation with the Pink Floyd soundscapes of the 70's. So as a result ...Tubular Bells became the favorite album to play along with Close to the Edge and a host of others. While this part of Oldfield's reputation was developing...another huge following of Electronic music fans... globally were writing him up to be from that world. Just as Klaus Schulze,  Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, and Steve Jolliffe were. It could have been that on the west coast of the U.S.......he was thought of in this way. Mike Oldfield seemed to cross both borders of Electronic Music and Prog over many decades.

 His work with David Bedford was closer to the style of Electronic music than his own works. He did hail from the 70's European Electronic music scene yet decided to lean more towards the usage of real instruments. In the case of hiring Pierre Moerlin instead of using a drum machine.  On his 5th studio album he began hiring singers and writing more simplistic songs ...which! some of them could have charted to #1 on a "Top 40" list. Steve Hackett was traveling this road as well.  I was blown away when I watched the "Tubular Bells II" dvd concert and noticed for the first time that Mike Oldfield did not use a pick when playing lead guitar signature riffs or during his improvisation. I had to go back and listen to all the leads he recorded with Bedford and of the course his first 4 albums. He is very clean at fingerpicking and all those high pitched squeals in his leads are harmonics played with his fingernails. An observation with Jeff Beck for example.....how many snooty musicians will make claim to him being nothing more than a "Rock Player" and not realize that most of his leads are fingerpicking style.....which!....that is what gives him his distinctive sound. It was interesting to discover this realization with Oldfield because that places him into another world.