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larstangmark Group: Members Posts: 1767 Joined: Mar. 2005 Posted: Oct. 23 2012, 07:14 I was reading the "what's Mike's worst album" thread and read about somebody who had come to change his mind about some of Mike's albums over the years and that made me think. Sometimes I think that perhaps I would have loved some of the albums I don't care much for if I they would have come into my life at a different time. Time changes everything! I have decide to review all Mike's albums according to a new set of criteria, and I challenge you to do the same. I am not going to do it right away, but I'll get back to you in a day or two. I understand if you don't feel like it because it's a lot of work. But perhaps some of you have some time on your hands? Anyways, here we go: For each of Mike's albums, please let us know: -What you thought of it back then (when you first heard it, please specify year and your own age at the time). -What you think of it today, looking back. -What you would think of it if I heard it today for the first time. -------------- "There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste" Mark E Smith Back to top

olracUK Group: Members Posts: 1683 Joined: June 2003 Posted: Oct. 24 2012, 18:19 From Ommadawn heard at age 13) through to Discovery (and TB & HR out of sequence) I loved everything on first play. More than that -it was brilliant, goose bump inducing. BUT.. Incantations (heard at age 15) to my ears was a great single album stretched too far into a double. I play live versions and edits a fair bit, but never listen to the full version. EM, HO, Islands? ermm.. not sure on 1st play, repeated plays grew on me. And now both (except Islands) have earnt their place in my heart and playlist. Killing Fields - 2 killer tracks, rest seemed hard work out of context from the film. not bad but not loved. Amarok? A return to the high ground, and beyond. Voyager? OMG! Hated it on 1st listen (maybe Mont St Michel was OK partly 'cos I lived relatively near the Cornish version). And for many years it was un-played. Lately I've grown more closely to it. The sweeping strings make it great for TV background music, and maybe I've mellowed. TB3/TSODE/L&S - Loved on 1st listen, played the MVR games and had moved into that Ibiza chill-out scene quite nicely as i reached middle age. (exclude To Be Free - yuk! TB2 not fantastic on 1st listen - OK but a bit boring, not improved much with time. MoTS - nope, did nothing for me. By the numbers writing & production, still hardly played. Olympic mash-up? Wow! Just Wow!! -------------- The answer is 42 - but what is the question? Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Oct. 29 2012, 06:48 Albums that I straight away loved on first listen: Tubular Bells and Amarok. Those only got better with time, and I don't believe my feelings will ever get weaker towards them. Albums that did not impress me that much, but grew on me: Hergest Ridge, Incantations, Platinum, Crises, Heaven's Open. None of those ever gave me a hard time, but they took a while to really become big favourites of mine. I'm a huge fan of all of them. Albums that gave me a hard time at first, but eventually got me: Ommadawn and Discovery. I could never understand why people liked them so much, but I enjoy them now. They're not big favourites, though. Albums that were ok the first time around, and remained that way: QE2, Islands, Music of the Spheres. Pretty much self explanatory. Islands is slightly different, because I have always despised Magic Touch with all the strength of my being. Albums that were ok at first, but eventually became stinkers: Tubular Bells II and The Songs of Distant Earth. I believe that, at the time, I was still mystified by Mike Oldfield and could not conceive the idea of him making bad music. The latter album was frustrating, because it seemed to be good, and it took a while for me to understand that I simply disliked it. Tubular Bells II now is just horrible. Albums that were NOT ok, but got a bit better: Earth Moving, Guitars, Tr3s Lunas. I thought they were stinkers the first time around, but I grew to like some of the tracks. No classics to be found, but still great tunes there. Albums that were NOT ok and never grew: Five Miles Out. I hate Taurus II, plain and simple. Albums that were NOT ok and got worse: Tubular Bells III, Voyager, The Millennium Bell, Tubular Bells 2003. The less said about them, the better. Never gave a single damn about it: Light + Shade. I sometimes even forget it exists. -------------- Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds. Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com Back to top

GusFogle Group: Members Posts: 199 Joined: July 2011 Posted: Oct. 29 2012, 08:34 At #1, Amarok is and always will be my favorite Oldfield album, I have listened to it literally hundreds of times. I liked it instantly, but couldn't listen to it all the way through. Not because of the length, but because I liked what I heard so much that I kept rewinding and rewinding to hear it again. Incantations is probably #2 for me. It was a particularly special album to me because it was the first Mike Oldfield album I bought. I don't recall exactly how I felt about it at first listen, I just remember thinking that it was very dense and above my comprehension at the time. Now that I'm about to perform it live, I've listened to it so many times that I've picked up on details throughout the album that took dozens upon dozens of times to hear. At #3 Ommadawn also used to hold a very special place for me, as it was the album that introduced me to Mike Oldfield. I still feel it is a great album but I've overplayed it, which is no one's fault but my own. #4 is Five Miles Out, I enjoy every track with the exception of "Family Man". I think "Mistake" should have taken its place on the album. #5 is QE2. I actually think that it is a fairly underated album, lots of tracks that I really enjoy. #6 is Platinum, strictly for the Platinum Suite. #7 is Tubular Bells II. I actually listen to it quite frequently still and enjoy it much more than the original. #8 would probably be Islands. I listen to "The Wind Chimes" a lot and even enjoy several of the pop songs. At #9 would be Crises. The title track meanders a bit in places, and I don't care at all for "Shadow on the wall", but still a decent album for me. #10 is Earth Moving. In all honesty I really enjoy "Holy" and "Far Country", but not much else from this album. #11 Tubular Bells 2003. I still enjoy it more than the original album. #12 Discovery. I like "To france", "Talk about your life", "Saved by a bell", and not much else. #13 Tubular Bells. The album simply never did that much for me, and I never could see why it was held on such a pedestal when his other works were totally ignored. I do like some of the themes, especially "A minor tune" but overall I prefer the way the themes were re-developed in Tubular Bells II. #14 Hergest Ridge. I like some of the themes from "Part 1" but honestly "Part 2" bores me to tears. I don't particularly dislike this album, I just feel very indifferent to it, thus the low number. #15 Songs of distant earth. Again, some nice themes but too much filler on this album. It feels like "Oldfield-lite". #16 Tubular Bells III. I like roughly the 2nd half of the album, don't care for the first half at all. #17 Voyager. I really like Mont St. Michel but everything else sounds like generic celtic music. #18 Heaven's Open. I admit it, I like "Music from the balcony" but loathe everything else on the album. #19 Music from the spheres. A few nice themes throughout, but I don't really feel the passion from Mike on this one. I wish that he had played more guitar on the album. After that I really can't place his albums in any particular order. I never listen to Guitars, Millennium Bell, Light/Shade, or Tres Lunas. Back to top

Holger Group: Members Posts: 1506 Joined: Feb. 2003 Posted: Nov. 04 2012, 22:42 Just listen to the albums. Listen to him playing the guitar. This guy is still passionate about music. Obviously, his tastes have changed over time. They may not have changed according to ours, but he still gives it everything he's got. "Everything he's got" may or may not be enough for us at various points, but it's still a lifetime's worth of musical achievement. You can hear that in every note he plays, on the guitar if nothing else. I just feel it's pointless to criticise him for doing what he wants to do. Isn't that what we'd all like - to do what we want to do? Criticising that feels awkward to me at this point. Rather, I congratulate him. Back to top

GusFogle Group: Members Posts: 199 Joined: July 2011 Posted: Nov. 04 2012, 23:21 Quote (Holger @ Nov. 04 2012, 22:42) Listen to him playing the guitar. For me, that's exactly the problem with his albums over the past 10-15 years. There isn't ENOUGH of his guitar playing. Any time Mike picks up a guitar, I can feel that he's putting his soul and heart into the music, even on the recent albums. I would really enjoy his newer music if he featured his guitar playing more. Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Nov. 05 2012, 10:47 I think passion isn't enough. If passion was sole ingredient of good music, we'd have a lot more of it than we have. In fact, I think the desperate need to show off "passion" is one of the biggest sins an artist can commit. You cannot show off passion; you have to channel it, you have to inject it into your art. It's not the musician that has to sound passionate: it's his music that has to inspire passion. You're not supposed to hear the poet's sobs when you read poetry; that's not what makes a poem good. You're not supposed to see the actor going all over the stage chewing the scenery; it's the character he's playing that's supposed to affect you somehow. When you're making music, before opening your heart and spilling your emotions, open your mind and spill your ideas. Passion without wit is not music, it's soap opera. -------------- Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds. Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com Back to top

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