Tubular.net :: Mike Oldfield Forums Discussion, news, reviews, fan music, and more.
	Search :: Members :: Help :: Guidelines

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

qjamesfloyd Group: Members Posts: 1357 Joined: April 2001 Posted: Oct. 01 2003, 10:55 I have over the last week,listened to everyone of Miks albums in year order,and a few things struck me. Firstly,by listening to Mikes work ths way,you can really hear him improving as a composer and guitarist,he was always a great guitarist but,you can hear a very distinct stlye coming through. Also it affirms to me that "The Killing Fields" is my least favourite album of his,i just don't get anything from it,there is only a little guitar,but it's very welcome,other than that guitar,i feel it could be anyones album really.It's not that Mike like,although i understand it is a soundtrack,so,it would'nt really be Mike like,but when he has done cover tracks,he has the ability to make them Mike like,as if he had written them. But the biggest thing got,was just what a great body of work Mike has built up over the years,it's easy for a non fan,or so called music critic to dismiss Mike as just Mr Tubular Bells,but if you take the time to listen to what Mike has done over a 30 year period,then you can only be impressed,i mean if Robbie Williams is still going after 30 years i might change my opinion of him,but i dount it 30 years is a long time,and an artist can make a lot of music in 30 years,there have been artists who have'nt made the same kind of wonderful music that Mike over 30 years,but they get all kinds of praise,weird.But if i was in Mikes shoes 30 years after it all began,i would be very proud indeed in what i have done. Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: Oct. 01 2003, 14:41 I don't think any fan would say that he's not an amazing composer and looking contructively and with the benefit of any doubt at his musical portfolio over the last 30 years say he's anything but an amazing, truely original musician. I think its when you start to look closely and with a more critical ear that you can start to pick holes in his work, especialy in the last decade. I agree that his guitar playing, both in style and technique has improved over the years, perhaps reaching its peak with Amarok, if his playing has got better since then he certainly hasn't shown it in his albums. His embrace of technology in the form of drum boxes, sequencers, etc certainly has grown over the years much to the neglect of his natural 'voice' as a traditional musician. I completely disagree that his skill as a composer has grown over his career. For me he peaked with his first 3 or 4 albums and then he somewhat erratically spread that skill over the last 30 years. The thing about Mike is do you applaud the fact that he's been incredibly diverse or do criticise him for being incredibly erratic? The best example would be the EarthMoving/Amarok phase, two albums that for many are at either end of the MO spectrum yet they came out less than a year apart, there is nobody else, to my mind, who could possibly produce two such comletely different albums in such a short space of time. Do you criticise him for selling out and writing such utterly compromised and insincere music with one or do you look positively and congratulate him on writing such an original gem of an album with the other. Thats part of the reason the public identify him so strongly with TB, because its simply so hard to identify him with anything else, commercial or not. I know you can identify him with Moonlight Shadow and Blue Peter and various other bits and pieces but I think its the fact that people don't really know what to associate with him in general terms , other TB, that actualy works against him rather than for him. I suppose people probably associate high quality musicianship with him, though thats just not in evidence on an album like TresLunas for example, It's this erratic nature I'm getting at. On the subject of the Killing Fields. Well its probably the least listened to of all my Mike CD's but somewhat strangely I consider it to be one the high points of his career. I think you have to appreciate it as a soundtrack and appreciate what he was trying to say with it. Its certainly thought of with very high regard by a lot of people in the film industry, Michael Jackson's a huge fan (not that that should be seen as a rousing endorsement) Arthur C Clarke's a huge fan and David Puttnam, the movie's producer, regards it as one of the greatest scores over writen, I don't think these people are wrong. Back to top

DanishDonJuan Group: Members Posts: 137 Joined: Sep. 2003 Posted: Oct. 02 2003, 03:37 I agree with you Toby. But I'm certainly one who applaud his diversity. He's music to me is more exiting with his many different style of music that he uses. To be around 30 years & to make such good music to me is a great accomblishment. The fact that he has the ability to make so many music styles sounds great to me shows his skills as a composer, sure it makes him hard to classify but it also gives him more freedom, to continue to experient & change styles. I agree to that his latest work shows less of his musical & composing skills, however it shows more versatility & freedom from what others think of him. Mike seems to do what he wish to with his music, & not what would make him popular, & I respect that. I think him a musical genious. I don't agree that his musical spectrum ended with Amarok. I loved his Tubular Bells 3 & Millenium Bell. & think no less of Voyager & Tres Lunas, than feks Earth Moving & Heavens Open. I think Mike has much more in him too, & to follow his opening success of Tubular Bells & still being associated with it have got to be difficult. I don't see him as a rocket falling, but rather as ship sailing.....There was some of his earlier works I liked a lot & some I liked less, & I feel the same way about his new work. Mike has my respect for shure not only for what he has accomblished, but as much for what he still does. -------------- If every road we traveled were the easy, we would be weak, and would eventually think every road difficult. If every road we traveled tough, we would be strong and eventually think no road to be difficult. Its the tough road that leads to happiness. A smooth sea never made a great sailor. Back to top

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

Forums | Links | Instruments | Discography | Tours | Articles | FAQ | Artwork | Wallpapers
Biography | Gallery | Videos | MIDI / Ringtones | Tabs | Lyrics | Books | Sitemap | Contact


Mike Oldfield Tubular.net