FIVE MILES OUT

1. "Taurus II" (24:49) sounds like an expansion and reworking of the dynamic section in the middle of Side Two of "Hergest Ridge." Lacking any enjoyable melodies (unless you're British). The vocal section in the ninth minute with the lovely voice of Maggie Reilly is my favorite motif. The Uillean pipes, too. (43/50)

2. "Family Man" (3:45) yes, Mike has decided to record a reworking of the Hall & Oates hit. Don't know if this was an attempt to launch Maggie Reilly into the Top of the Pops, but Maggie does not have the power and presence of Daryl Hall. (8.5/10)

3. "Orabidoo" (13:03) after 2:20 of solo glockenspiel (or a computer-generated facsimile thereof), simple Phil Collins-like rhythm track guides along Mike's vocoder voice (oddly, with Maggie Reilly's "normal" human voice as backup) with some keys and guitars adding their two pence worth for the next three minutes. I actually like the woven palette from around 5:30 to 7:00 despite the plodding rhythm track. The competing multiple keyboards over the next couple of minutes (including a tempo increase) is interesting and fairly well pulled off, it's just that now, 40 years later, it sounds a bit dated. The drop into a sparse, slower section at the end of the ninth minute within which Mike plays his Mike Oldfield lead electric guitar in a very typical Mike Oldfield way using a Mike Oldfield melody that he's used many times before (including in "Hergest Ridge") is actually quite disappointing. The song then finishes with two pastoral minutes of Maggie singing a folk ditty over some very sparse instrumentation. This is nice--a nice finish. (21.75/25)

4. "Mount Teidi" (4:10) I actually like this one. The Carl Palmer touch really shines through! (8.875/10)

5. "Five Miles Out" (4:17) they're no BUGGLES or PHIL COLLINS--and I don't like Mike's "monster" vocals in the second half. (8.4/10)

Total Time: 50:03

B-/3.5 stars; there is some validating stuff that holds up over time, but mostly it feels like Mike using old sounds, structures, and motifs in order to experiment with his new electronic toys.

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