Elf
Group: Members
Posts: 67
Joined: Jan. 2005 |
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Posted: Oct. 06 2005, 07:20 |
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So far I've only found one review of L&S in the norwegian media. This one was in Dagens Næringsliv (Norway's Fiancial Times) last Saturday. Every week end they review a new album and this time they dedicated that space to Mike. I've translated the entire article for you, and personally I think this review sums up
the album beautifully.
In fact, it portrays my excact feelings about this album Enjoy:
Shadow waxing
Mike Oldfield makes Secret Garden [Norwegian New Age group that won the Eurovision Song Contest ten years back] sound like a rock group breaking new ground.
In 1973 when Oldfield was only 20 years old, he composed and performed the album no record company wanted. His friend Richard Branson therefore chose to release "€œTubular Bells" himself, hence it became the very first release on Virgin
Records. En excerpt from the album was used in the horror film "the Exorcist," which didn'€™t diminish the record'™s success. So far the album has sold 16 million copies.
Horse ballad.
Today the 52 year old is a stinking rich new age hippie, who in this country [Norway] is probably most famous for the pop hit "€œMoonlight Shadow"€ and his relationship with Anita Hegerland. None of these are mitigating circumstances on this double album.
The first part, "€œLight,"€ consists of lightweight ambient which reeks more of a 80s sound than of a contemporary sound. The second part, "Shade," is supposed to be even darker and hipper, but unfortunately it has ended up as meaning "the future looks dark for Mike Oldfield." What you get are dark techno ballads that no DJ would have been caught dead playing even at an after ski in Austria.
There'€™s no law against dedicating songs to your motorbikes ("Blackbird"€), your horse ("€œRocky"), or a setting on your computer program ("Angelique"€ when you€™r'e having a mid life crisis. But you should expect a certain contact with reality.
Everybody who'€™s willing to admit that they'€™re still doing ambient music would feel compelled to buy Oldfield a round or two if they should meet him. He has been one of the pioneers on the epic instrumental pop music scene. His debut album was a state of the art overdub feast with thousands of layers of sounds.
With this record it'€™s clear that the balance doesn'™t tip in Oldfield's favour anymore.
Dolphin singing.
Mike Oldfield has said that he wanted to make a chill out album this time out.
It sounds like he has been sitting too long watching the sunset at the legendary after party club Café Del Mar on Ibiza, where he admittedly did spend more time than what was good for him. But it also sounds like he hasn't listened to what they'™ve
been playing there for the past decade.
Because "€œLight & Shade"€ is old fashioned, scratchy and very dull. The boring Fender-solos, the pathetic vocoder-voices, the endless clichés of melodies that burst when they appear from within the shadows. Both Vangelis and Jean-Michel Jarre would have spent at least one more round in the studio with this music
playing distantly in the background.
"€œShade"€ for instance starts with the dance tune "€œQuicksilver."€ In addition to it being very bad Eurotechno, it also includes sound of bubbling water and dolphins singing. That says it all!
There is some attempts to break new ground here, though. Mike Oldfield has included a software program (U-Myx), which enables you to play around with four of the songs and remix them. But I doubt you can do anything to save the songs from a complete crash landing.
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no not making fun of one persons perception,quite the opposite in fact-if only more bad reviews were like this one! 
naaaaaaa i dont know what to say beacuse all this borring music they love makes the orginal music go down and out! Thats what i hate!
idiotics! 
