PLATINUM

The start of Oldfield's second period, "Platinum" was more commercial than previous Oldfield albums and featured shorter songs than before. The only long song here is the "Platinum" suite that starts the album. It's a excellent piece of music, though not as "serious" that earlier. Still the best track on the album. "Woodhenge" is a dark but beautiful, ambient-like piece and is the 2nd best track, IMO.

The rest of the album is rather poor. "Sally" (named "Into Wonderland" on this site) is the worst track on the album. It's a naive and rubbish piece that i usually skip over. "Punkadiddle" is a nice celtic parody of punk music, though not as great as the two first tracks. "I Got Rhythm" is another weak track that I really don't like much.

Overall: Get it if you are a Mike Oldfield fan, but if you are not familiar with him yet, get "Ommadawn" or "Tubular Bells" first. 3 stars - "Good, but non-essential".