Mike Oldfield Cds

slightly aged
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
For one summer, in 1993, I listened to this album religiously. It’s an instrumental album, carrying the sonic motif familiar to anyone who’s seen the Exorcist.

So, I slipped it back into rotation, to see if it was as good as I remembered.

For me, this album didn’t ring true to my memories. I had remembered this album as inspiring, but now it seems entertaining, but also somewhat pretentious at times. Ah well…sometimes the memories matter more.

Perhaps The Most Complete album
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Celtic Music,West Music,Instrumental rock Music and others diferent styles in the pherphas most complete of Mike Olfield’s albums.Pherphas The strongest song of the mike olfield’s history is in this album(The Bell).

Return of the Bells
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
19 years after Mike Oldfield’s groundbreaking and complex debut album he returned to drink from the well which had launched his career onto an unsuspecting public. It is easy to criticise Oldfield and record label Warners for the opportunism of this album, but one has to remember the difficulties Oldfield had endured through the late 1980’s thanks to Virgin Records indifferent promotional attitude to his work. Pressured throughout the decade to follow “Tubular Bells” up Oldfield resisted Virgin’s entreaty. That he eventually chose to record a follow up album for a new record label shows a clear attempt on Oldfield’s part to stick two fingers up at Richard Branson et al, like “Tubular Bells” this album was an act of rebellious revenge.

Musically it is also very satisfying, polished and precise Oldfield has never struggled when it comes to producing memorable and often entrancing music. Warner’s cleverly marketed the album at the emergent audience for “New Age” music that Enigma had established. The lead track “Sentinel” is a perfect evocation of Oldfield’s multifarious thematic style. Certainly large swathes of the music use the “Tubular Bells” as a basis, but Oldfield often takes us on a journey heavenwards as the guitars soar and range. The major difference is the production. Trevor Horn brings a polished over produced sound that is at times clinical. The aggressive improvisation of “Tubular Bells” is not replicated and nor is the energy. Nevertheless on tracks such as “Weightless” and “Tattoo” Oldfield produces some of his most emotive and memorable music. This is an experiment that could have gone terribly wrong, but in fact it is an excellent nostalgic addition to Oldfield’s fascinating body of work.

Listen and enjoy!!! Wonders abound!! Don’t close your mind!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a fantastic musical sojourn that should not be viewed as a rehash of anything. Melodies abound. Listen and listen again.

I am a rocker and fingerstyle acoustic guitarist. Some new-age reviewers are sickeningly pompous as if their false elitism disallows recognition of good work. Again, listen to the music and enjoy. Mr. Oldfield takes us on journeys to places yet visited. Textures and virtuosity, interesting layers live here. Even the tinkling piano-based recurring theme from Bells 1 is different. If discerning reviewers cannot tell one from the other, I have some basement demos I will get to you. It must be lonely on that pedestal of vitriol.

This is my favorite of ALL the re-packagings of Tubular Bells
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Now, I know everybody who likes Mike Oldfield is criticizing him for re-recording and re-packaging Tubular Bells over and over, and over again these past 30 plus years. But, if it wasn’t for the 1992 release of Tubular Bells II, I would have probably just let myself forget all about him. I really didn’t follow Mike Oldfield’s music much after Crises (1983) and The Killing Fields (1984). I didn’t care for how Mike Oldfield was doing less long played projects and started to perform pop sounding ditties with other singers. Sometimes, you wouldn’t know if you were listening to Mike Oldfield or ABBA, or just simply someone else. Simple pop songs like “Family Man”, “To France”, “Moonlight Shadow”, etc. done with a female vocalist. And when I saw “Discovery” (1984) and seen that it had more short pop songs with vocals, I just sort of gave up on Mike Oldfield, altogether. So I think, TB II was a smart move for Mike Oldfield to re-introduce himself to the music world. “Tubular Bells” (1973) was considered a Progressive Rock achievement back then, and so TB II of 1992 had to compete with the modern day New Age music market. I don’t think TB III was a great disappointment, and I certainly I won’t give it a miss either. To see it performed live now (on his very hard to find PAL region only DVD release of “Tubular Bells II and III Live”) actually makes me appreciate this album and that album so much more.

And why shouldn’t Mike Oldfield try and keep Tubular Bells alive? When we go to see any singer or band in concert, we are usually not too concerned about hearing some of their new material. We want to see and hear the hits, or the pieces of music that are his claim to fame, of course. Especially from bands who’s past is much more glorified than where they are today.

However, Mike Oldfield’s recording of “Tubular Bells 2003″ was just ridiculous! On this album, he is trying to re-record, as closely as possible, to the original 1973 release. This might have been more enjoyable if he and his other performers filmed this tight performance live before an audience. A DVD of this performance would have been much more justified than this pointless CD only release.

So, if he tries to re-record this album just once more, he really should seek some therapy. I think by now, he’s beat this horse enough. Please Mike, give it a rest!

Starts out good, but sort of morphs into Hergest Ridge
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
How do you rate this? Do you rate it on its own merits, as a rehash, or one of many Oldfield outputs to milk every last penny out of the name Tubular Bells?

FIRST, LET’S LOOK AT THIS ON ITS OWN, AS IF THERE WERE NO OTHER VERSIONS OF TUBULAR BELLS:

I give it 3 stars. Released in 1992, this is a nice, mostly instrumental CD. It is 58 minutes long and has very good sound.

The first 25 minutes are a great flowing suite of progressive rock music. It kind of reminds of Focus in how well the music flows from one section to the next.

Things start to go downhill after the first 25 minutes. It first goes into The Bells, which has a nice rhythm and theme, but is silly and goes on too long at 8 minutes. There is a great bassline, while an announcer calls out the names of different instruments that play a riff.

From there, things just fall apart. The next 17 minutes are some New Age Scottish/Irish influenced folk music. It is a lot like Oldfield’s second album Hergest Ridge. It is just boring and goes on too long. This is followed by the really wierd Altered States, that consists of some wierd vocals that sound like someone is trying to clear his throat, plus a mommy singing and a girl asking questions.

Things get back on track with the nice accoustic guitar and vocals number, Maya Gold, and then finishes off with a little Blue Grass number.

NOW LET’S COMPARE THIS TO THE ORIGINAL TUBULAR BELLS:

I give this version to 2 stars when I compare it to the original.

Although the original Tubular Bells was a ground breaking album that helped increase the popularity of Progressive Rock, it was only a 4 star album.

There were some great passages in the original Tubular Bells, such as the theme that was used in the movie, The Excorcist (which in turn made Tubular Bells a smash hit). But, it does have some minor excesses and pretentiousness that mar many progressive/art rock works, such as the silly part where there is an announcer that calls out each instrument as it does a solo and the vocals that sound like someone trying to clear his throat.

Tubular Bells 2 is an extended, updated version of the original. The first 25 minutes are as good and might even be better than the original. There are some interesting vocals and instruments in this new version.

But, after The Bells, Tubular Bells 2 really falls apart. It no longer flows like the original. What is sounds like is one of those CD’s that had a bunch of crappy bonus material tacked on to the end. The type of bonus material that should have stayed on the cutting room floor.

I don’t think the first part of Tubular Bells 2 is different enough from the original to recommend buying it. And the second part is a disaster.

NOW LET’S LOOK AT IT COMPARED TO ALL THE VERSIONS OF TUBULAR BELLS.

I give it 1 star.

There are at least 7 versions of Tubular Bells:

The original

The original live version

The original with orchestra

Tubular Bells 2

Tubular Bells 2 live

Tubular Bells 3

Tubular Bells 2003

Just how many ways can you milk this beast? Especially when it was just merely a good piece of music. If Oldfield is going to keep remaking this, he shouldn’t be just doing slight variations on a theme. He should go for one really great version. And get rid of the master of ceremonies and clearing of the throat.

…and I love it more and more!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is no plain old follow up to a big hit as was TB I. It is a work on its own to be enjoyed over and over. Its one for the stranded island collection for sure. If you like Oldfield’s music you will not fail to like, love TB II.

Almost great
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is clearly a “Marmite” album (you either love or hate it with a passion). Personally, I love it; in fact I find that I listen to it far more than the original. That may be because I first heard it played live at the Edinburgh Festival (only on TV I’m afraid) and it was truly memorable (despite the puerile antics of John Gordon Sinclair, who mimed the announcer part).

Following the TB1 format so slavishly made it inevitable that listeners would compare the individual elements from the two versions. Most compare well with the original (particularly Tattoo, which I find quite moving even thought I normally can’t stand the sound of bagpipes). Others don’t, particularly Altered States, which IMHO is a bad joke.

As far as those reviewers, who really hate TB II, are concerned, I wonder what they made of TB 2003. Now that really was the pits without any redeeming features at all.

Embarrassing
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
OK – I started reading the reviews for this and I just had to step in and offer my two cents. First of all, I loved the original Tubular Bells – I listened to it compulsively, repeatedly for about a full year. One day I saw Tubular Bells II in the record store and I thought, “How bad can it be?” Seems like every time I say those words to myself, FATE smacks me down, as if to teach me the lesson: “It can worse than you can possibly imagine.”

If I were to describe my feelings listening to this CD in one word, it would be “embarrassment”. I was actually embarrassed for Mike Oldfield. The music is basically a remake of Tubular Bells – only “modernized” for MTV fed, low-attention-span simpletons deemed to have no capacity for musical depth or melodic progression. Then again, I can’t imagine WHAT audience they were targeting with this thing. All the mood, creativity, inspiration and FEELING of the original has been stripped away, leaving a hollow, pointless collection songs that add nothing to the music. And when it came to the “Piltdown Man” section, I could actually, literally, feel my face flushing with embarrassment. In all my years of listening to music, I have never quite had this experience.

If Tubular Bells were not such a masterpiece, this CD would be forgivable. Tubular Bells II, however, is not only an insult to the listener, it is an insult to the work of art that is the original (as well as a transparent attempt to capitalize on the original).

I’m sorry Mike – I had to say it. I’m a big fan, but I beg you, please leave Tubular Bells alone. A masterpiece, by it’s very definition, needs no improvement, or “re-envisioning” or whatever you want to call it.

Bring it on…
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is an excellent CD! It’s relaxing for when you have one of those days… or when you want to hear something nice and instrumental. By far, the best track is “The Bell” number 7, with the strolling player, aka Alan Rickman! His voice with Oldfield’s Tubular sound makes quite a fascinating listen.