TUBULAR BELLS III

Another gem from the master. TB3 is totally modern, crisp, song oriented, and innovative (if such a thing can be said about any "Part III"). He is much looser in his association to TB & TB2, although fans of either album can hear certain "ancient" themes cropping up in places. Mr. O's guitar playing is top notch on this one. Jewel in the Crown is particularly loud, and pleasantly disturbing and his Spanish guitar playing on the next track is good, but repetative and underwhelming (especially when you know he could have done so much more). The final guitar solo on the breath taking final track (Far Above The Clouds) is so basic, it's brilliant! But it is also so piercing and it evokes memories of the ending of Amarok and Crisis. If you want to hear a middle aged man pull off thoughtful "club music" better than any 19 yr old punk (which is how old he was when he wrote the masterpiece Tubular Bells), buy this album!