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Sweetpea Group: Members Posts: 1476 Joined: April 2007 Posted: Nov. 23 2008, 02:02 I'm sure that opinions on what qualifies as a 'song' will vary, but arbitrariness isn't a crime. My main criteria is vocals of some kind, but I don't want to go into 'How many words make a 'song'? And do they have to be real words??' at the moment. That can come later. So, here is my current list of top 20 MO songs. 01. On Horseback 02. Five Miles Out 03. Sheba 04. When The Night's On Fire 05. To France 06. Islands 07. Heaven's Open 08. Moonlight Shadow 09. In High Places 10. Pacha Mama 11. Blue Night 12. Gimme Back 13. Froggy Went A-Courting 14. Altered State 15. Tears of An Angel 16. On My Heart 17. Far Country 18. Man In The Rain 19. The Time Has Come 20. Innocent ....................................... MOST POPULAR CHOICES 9 Moonlight Shadow 8 Five Miles Out 8 Heaven's Open 8 In High Places 7 To France 6 Crystal Gazing 6 Foreign Affair 6 North Point 6 On Horseback 6 Pictures In The Dark 6 Shadow On The Wall 6 Trick Of The Light 5 Discovery 5 Poison Arrows 5 On My Heart 5 Talk About Your Life 4 Family Man 4 Flying Start 4 Gimme Back 4 Holy 4 Islands 4 Man In The Rain 4 No Dream 4 Tears of An Angel 3 Altered State 3 Blue Night 3 Caveman 3 Crime of Passion 3 Far Country 3 Innocent 3 Mistake 3 Sheba 3 The Time Has Come 2 Crises 2 Don Alfonso 2 Into Wonderland 2 Pacha Mama 2 Peace on Earth 2 Sally (original version) 2 Shine 2 Sondela 2 Surfing 2 When The Night's On Fire -------------- "I'm no physicist, but technically couldn't Mike both be with the horse and be flying through space at the same time? (On account of the earth's orbit around the Sun and all that). So it seems he never had to make the choice after all. I bet he's kicking himself now." - clotty Back to top

wiga Group: Members Posts: 2113 Joined: Sep. 2008 Posted: Nov. 23 2008, 04:30 1 Altered State 2 Sondela/ Hello Everyone 3 On Horseback 4 Hiawatha's Departure 5 Thou Art in Heaven 6 Five Miles Out 7 Crises 8 Only Time Will Tell 9 Caveman 10 Sunlight Shining Through Cloud 11 Let There Be Light 12 Sheba 13 Pacha Mama 14 Secrets 15 In High Places 16 Celt 17 Sally (original) 18 North Point 19 Resolution 20 Peace on Earth Edited to include - North Point and Caveman -------------- Barn's burnt down - now I can see the moon. Back to top

Dirk Star Group: Members Posts: 1331 Joined: Sep. 2007 Posted: Nov. 23 2008, 05:04 1 Five Miles Out 2 Moonlight Shadow 3 Heaven`s Open 4 To France 5 Talk About Your Life 6 Sally(original version) 7 Man In The Rain 8 On Horseback 9 Tears Of An Angel 10 Pictures In The Dark 11 In High Places 12 Family Man 13 Sheba 14 Trick Of The Light 15 Foreign Affair 16 Crystal Gazing 17 On My Heart 18 To Be Free 19 Poison Arrows 20 Discovery Back to top

nightspore Group: Members Posts: 4770 Joined: Mar. 2008 Posted: Nov. 23 2008, 05:09 I'm listing only my favourite songs here - things with verses and choruses (and possibly middle 8s, such as the one in "Flying Start") not basically instrumental pieces with vocal embellishments or chants (such as "Celt" or "Taurus 2".) Here they are: 1. Islands 2. Flying Start (although I don't like the mixed metaphor in the line "like a shining pearl they sang with one voice" - pearls don't sing!. 3. Peace on Earth 4. Santa Maria 5. Heaven's Open 6. Runaway Son 7. Holy 8. Moonlight Shadow 9. The Time has Come 10.When the Night's On Fire There are only ten - sorry! Back to top

nightspore Group: Members Posts: 4770 Joined: Mar. 2008 Posted: Nov. 23 2008, 05:10 Whoops - forgot "Into Wonderland". Back to top

wiga Group: Members Posts: 2113 Joined: Sep. 2008 Posted: Nov. 23 2008, 05:42 Quote (nightspore @ Nov. 23 2008, 05:09) I'm listing only my favourite songs here - things with verses and choruses (and possibly middle 8s, such as the one in "Flying Start") not basically instrumental pieces with vocal embellishments or chants (such as "Celt" or "Taurus 2".) Here they are: Yes I understand what you mean, but I feel that to conform to a rigid categorization of "song"  would be to miss out on the depth and breadth of "Mike Oldfield's songwriting". My list in that instance would be thin as opposed to rich, and non representative of Mike's diverse works. Vocal embellishments and chants cannot be discarded as less relevent - they are up there IMO - making a song  happen. TB III "Secrets" come to mind, with a series of  chanting that sounds brilliant even though I don't know for sure what they are saying. It sounds like - "oh, oh, all I think about all I think about, oh, oh, ooooh."  Love it !! -------------- Barn's burnt down - now I can see the moon. Back to top

nightspore Group: Members Posts: 4770 Joined: Mar. 2008 Posted: Nov. 23 2008, 07:34 Quote (wiga @ Nov. 23 2008, 05:42) Vocal emellishments and chants cannot be discarded as less relevent - they are up there IMO - making a song  happen. TB III, "Secrets" come to mind with a series of  chanting that sounds brilliant even though I don't know for sure what they are saying. It sounds like - "oh, oh, all I think about all I think about, oh, oh, ooooh."  Love it !! You misunderstand me, wiga - by restricting my choice to obvious songs I was sparing myself the agonizing situation of having to reject far more pieces I like! Back to top

wiga Group: Members Posts: 2113 Joined: Sep. 2008 Posted: Nov. 23 2008, 08:11 The decision making process is an agony and there are no short cuts. You could always make another list - nightspore, of the less obvious songs. I was going to chose the chanting section in Ommadawn - leading up to the climax. The only thing that stopped me, is the fact that it doesn't have a convenient name to put to a list like this. It is a superior piece of chanting though. -------------- Barn's burnt down - now I can see the moon. Back to top

raven4x4x Group: Members Posts: 1535 Joined: Jan. 2002 Posted: Nov. 23 2008, 08:40 To make it easy on myself I'll list my five favourites, in alphabetical order, so I don't have to rank them.   Far Country Five Miles Out Flying Start Heaven's Open No Dream For me, these songs stand out a fair way from the rest. -------------- Thank-you for helping us help you help us all. Back to top

Dirk Star Group: Members Posts: 1331 Joined: Sep. 2007 Posted: Nov. 23 2008, 08:43 Quote (nightspore @ Nov. 23 2008, 12:34) Quote You misunderstand me, wiga - by restricting my choice to obvious songs I was sparing myself the agonizing situation of having to reject far more pieces I like! That`s exactly what I did I must admit.Otherwise I would`ve been here all day mulling over everything from North Star to that section of Tubular Bells part two with the angelic/girly singing on it.Fair play to Wiga though,I admire your endeavour. Back to top

yanouch65 Group: Members Posts: 680 Joined: Feb. 2006 Posted: Nov. 23 2008, 09:18 so... I can see that nobody likes Shadow on the wall IT IS MY FAVOURITE SONG! -------------- Ray said : "it is a shame you don't play" manintherain said: "You´d better ask Mr. Y who was first" yanouch65 says: "I am in love with Scotland" Back to top

wiga Group: Members Posts: 2113 Joined: Sep. 2008 Posted: Nov. 23 2008, 11:18 Quote (Dirk Star @ Nov. 23 2008, 08:43) ... that section of Tubular Bells part two with the angelic/girly singing on it.. Yes, some of these nice vocals with no name can get overlooked ... like my Ommadawn chant. They need a name. -------------- Barn's burnt down - now I can see the moon. Back to top

Harmono Group: Members Posts: 759 Joined: May 2005 Posted: Nov. 23 2008, 14:46 1. Crystal Gazing 2. Crises 3. Shadow on the wall 4. On My Heart 5. Caveman 6. Altered State 7. Sondela 8. In High Places 9. Blue Night 10. Tricks of the Light 11. Heaven's Open 12. Moonlight Shadow 13. Foreign Affair 14. Discovery 15. No Dream 16. Gimme Back 17. Poison Arrows Can't list more without getting a headache. Crystal Gazing is number one because the guitar on that track is so perfect. Vocals on songs like Blue Night and Discovery are not special to me but again the guitars are. Back to top

ex member 419 Group: Members Posts: 1177 Joined: April 2008 Posted: Nov. 23 2008, 19:48 Quote (nightspore @ Nov. 23 2008, 05:09) I'm listing only my favourite songs here - things with verses and choruses (and possibly middle 8s, such as the one in "Flying Start") not basically instrumental pieces with vocal embellishments or chants (such as "Celt" or "Taurus 2".) Here they are: 1. Islands 2. Flying Start (although I don't like the mixed metaphor in the line "like a shining pearl they sang with one voice" - pearls don't sing!. 3. Peace on Earth 4. Santa Maria 5. Heaven's Open 6. Runaway Son 7. Holy 8. Moonlight Shadow 9. The Time has Come 10.When the Night's On Fire There are only ten - sorry! [QUOTE] Songs to move the soul... holy song of the sun sentinel islands women of Ireland Cheers, Deb Back to top

Sweetpea Group: Members Posts: 1476 Joined: April 2007 Posted: Nov. 23 2008, 23:58 It's fascinating to see the choices so far. Perhaps I'll edit the original post to include a list of the most popular songs? I suspect most people would say MO is best at instrumentals and I wouldn't really argue with that. But since making my list and seeing others', here, I appreciate his song-work a little more. For example, for awhile now, I'd thought "Far Country" was very nice but - after listening several times the other night -  I can better understand why Alan D was an enthusiastic proponent of it. I probably took these pieces for granted, before, because I now realize there are quite a few MO songs that I consider excellent. -------------- "I'm no physicist, but technically couldn't Mike both be with the horse and be flying through space at the same time? (On account of the earth's orbit around the Sun and all that). So it seems he never had to make the choice after all. I bet he's kicking himself now." - clotty Back to top

nightspore Group: Members Posts: 4770 Joined: Mar. 2008 Posted: Nov. 24 2008, 00:51 Quote (Sweetpea @ Nov. 23 2008, 23:58) I'd thought "Far Country" was very nice but - after listening several times the other night -  I can better understand why Alan D was an enthusiastic proponent of it. I think the song needs a different singer and singing style. To me, all that wracked emotion sounds phony and forced, in a way that Bonnie Tyler's, on "Islands", doesn't. (I wonder what a Bonnie Tyler version of "Far Country" would sound like....) Back to top

wiga Group: Members Posts: 2113 Joined: Sep. 2008 Posted: Nov. 24 2008, 07:28 I have just watched the video - "Heaven's Open" on U Tube for the first time. I have never seen a video of Mike Oldfield eye balling the camera like that as he sings. He's a dude. -------------- Barn's burnt down - now I can see the moon. Back to top

Matt Group: Admins Posts: 1186 Joined: Nov. 2002 Posted: Nov. 24 2008, 07:52 My top 20: 1) Moonlight Shadow 2) Talk About Your Life 3) Northpoint 4) Pictures In The Dark 5) Man In The Rain 6) On My Heart 7) Blue Night 8) Shine 9) To France 10) Foreign Affair 11) Crystal Gazing 12) Far Country 13) Five Miles Out 14) In High Places 15) Tears of An Angel 16) On Horseback 17) Trick Of The Light 18) Discovery 19) The Time Has Come 20) Surfing Surprised that some of my top 10 haven't been listed yet by anybody else e.g. "Talk about your life" or "Pictures in the Dark". Oh, well, each to their own p.s. Sweatpea, nice idea to edit the summary into the first post. -------------- "I say I say I say I say, what's got three bottles and five eyes and no legs and two wheels" Back to top

Guest Unregistered Posted: Nov. 24 2008, 09:37 You guys and gals need to listen more to "Crime Of Passion" especially the extended version - it´s very nice and easily one of MO´s best popsongs. Good guitarplaying by MO in it too (of course).. Back to top

wiga Group: Members Posts: 2113 Joined: Sep. 2008 Posted: Nov. 24 2008, 10:09 Quote (Matt @ Nov. 24 2008, 07:52) Surprised that some of my top 10 haven't been listed yet by anybody else e.g. "Talk about your life" or "Pictures in the Dark". Anita looks good in "Pictures in the Dark". -------------- Barn's burnt down - now I can see the moon. Back to top

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