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Olivier Group: Super Admins Posts: 1868 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: Dec. 07 2016, 11:11 Mike announced on Facebook the release of Return To Ommadawn for January 20 2017, and posted a 32 seconds excerpt of the new album. BBC Radio 2's Steve Wright played a snippet too (starting at 2 hours 12 minutes, thanks Harmono!). Hello everyone, I’m delighted to announce that my new album, Return To Ommadawn, will be released on January 20 2017 and is available to pre-order on my official store now: https://MikeOldfield.lnk.to/ReturnToOmmadawnFP I hope you will enjoy listening to the new album as much as I have enjoyed making it. Thanks for your patience, I know it has been a long wait. Meanwhile here is a short snippet with elements from the introduction to Part One. I also hear that Steve Wright will be playing the radio exclusive single version on his show this afternoon on BBC Radio 2. You can hear it just after 4.pm UK time at : http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2 Hope you will be able to tune in and enjoy. All the best for now ! Mike Oldfield Back to top

Harmono Group: Members Posts: 759 Joined: May 2005 Posted: Dec. 07 2016, 12:34 Recording of Steve Wright's show is now available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0848fc4 Haven't heard the "radio exclusive single" yet! Going to listen now! Edit: starts at about 2 hours 12 minutes. Back to top

Harmono Group: Members Posts: 759 Joined: May 2005 Posted: Dec. 07 2016, 14:22 Apparently the first snippet on the show is what Mike has described as a lovely tune similar to Telstar. Back to top

Yann Group: Members Posts: 46 Joined: Oct. 2015 Posted: Dec. 07 2016, 16:21 The starting from the excerpt was, well, let's say ok... but the last 30 seconds... wow, that was amazing, it sounded as the old Mike. The excerpt just ended when it was starting to sound like the 70s albums. Damn! I wanted more!!! Back to top

Lancelot Group: Members Posts: 19 Joined: April 2002 Posted: Dec. 07 2016, 19:33 I am not impressed at all to tell the truth. This sounds very sterile to me, in the vein of Oldfield's superficial new age output since Voyager. I hope I am wrong as I cannot judge the album from a 30 sec snippet... I also sincerely hope this horrible pseudo Lord-of-the-Ringish fantasy cover has nothing to do with the final album cover. Back to top

cAveMan Group: Members Posts: 54 Joined: Sep. 2005 Posted: Dec. 08 2016, 03:26 Quote (Lancelot @ Dec. 08 2016, 01:33) I also sincerely hope this horrible pseudo Lord-of-the-Ringish fantasy cover has nothing to do with the final album cover. I'm afraid that's the final cover . I don't like it at all, it's too generic, and the typography  is also superficial. I also really hope that the cover art has little to do with the actual music. Having said that, i really didn't like the first snippet tune from the BBC show, the second (the drum thing) sounded far better, but still I was kinda disappointed to hear that he actually just resampled original Ommadawn vocals  (sound like just playing backwards) instead of engaging someone to really sing something! I hope that the whole album will not sound just like recycled Ommadawn. Oh and also, it was all too damn loud, squished and overly compressed, I hope that's just the radio, not the final master! Back to top

qjamesfloyd Group: Members Posts: 1357 Joined: April 2001 Posted: Dec. 08 2016, 07:13 I really like the cover, I looks like a 70's prog cover to me, the brief snippets of the album I heard on BBC Radio 2 are good too, the guitar, sounds wonderful, if we have more of that I will be happy. Let's not be to negative, we have been wanting Mike to go back to side length instrumental music, and that is what we get next month, I for one am very excited. Back to top

falk Group: Members Posts: 55 Joined: Dec. 2012 Posted: Dec. 08 2016, 10:09 just heard the snippet. When the guitar comes in - great music, but until then a bit boring, but i guess you can´t judge on that little bit. the guitar makes me hopeful thoug Back to top

equinoxe Group: Members Posts: 175 Joined: Aug. 2011 Posted: Dec. 08 2016, 10:54 After first listen of the snippets, what i can say is that i can't hear the power in that guitar solo... it's not enough strong and haven't much of spirit of old Mike in it, when comparing with solos from Ommadawn or Amarok or even with Castaway (which is beutiful! ), and is rather bombastic, but... it's only the snippet, it's just some part of the solo so i wont to judge it and will wait with hope for the album I must say i like the theme from the first snippet, its really nice and it has very nice mood. Very good thing is back to the old analog instruments, because the composition sounds very natural and reach. Yes, this sounds very Oldfield'ish. Love it. The title of the album is...really? (thought it was only the working title) and the cover is...naah, nevermind Overall it doesn't sounds bad, and in fact i think it may be a really good album, maybe even his first really good instrumental album since 90's... Back to top

Chrissy Group: Members Posts: 68 Joined: Sep. 2013 Posted: Dec. 08 2016, 13:00 Love the cover, very original. Impressed with the snippet that has been released. Be great to hear the whole thing. Why is it so many people just complain. Be glad that Mike has released a 40 minute piece of instrumental music. You try and do better! Back to top

captain cavern Group: Members Posts: 267 Joined: Oct. 2003 Posted: Dec. 08 2016, 13:17 Quote I was kinda disappointed to hear that he actually just resampled original Ommadawn vocals  (sound like just playing backwards) instead of engaging someone to really sing something! I hope that the whole album will not sound just like recycled Ommadawn. Completely agree with that. The rest sounds good. Back to top

Priabonia Group: Members Posts: 270 Joined: July 2011 Posted: Dec. 08 2016, 13:50 Another "dislike" from me (with the caveat, like others, that this is only a few minutes). Sounds like every other rubbish album post QE2... ...I bet the fanboys (and girls) on Farcebook are lapping it up though! -------------- https://www.youtube.com/user/PriaboniaMusic www.soundcloud.com/just-before-dawn Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: Dec. 08 2016, 14:18 Its an odd choice of cover image. Not sure what I was expecting really but probably not an 80's Dungeons and Dragons book illustration. I suppose it is reminiscent of 70's prog album covers but Mike's album covers were never like that so it sits slightly at odds with anything else thats come before. The short sections we've heard of the album sort of don't surprise me much. Pessimistically I knew it would be Ommadawn but with the notes in a different order and things do point in that direction so far. That being said though, just a rearranged Ommadawn is probably going to be fairly listenable, if not massively inventive. I am one of those people who thinks its slightly sad that all Mike can do these days is just rehash his back catalogue through either commercial necessity or creative bankruptcy, or a combination of both. Its a shame because understandably a lot of people do pour scorn over him because of it. I've always thought he's worth more than that but I've followed him long enough to know Mike does what Mike wants to do. He's started work on TB4 apparently. Back to top

qcfoetus Group: Members Posts: 111 Joined: April 2013 Posted: Dec. 08 2016, 23:30 I'm actually looking forward to this new recording. The snippets are too short to fuel my expectations, but any new project from Mike genuinely calls to me. The resampled original vocals do sound a little odd, but perhaps that's part of the whole RTO concept? As for the cover image, I can't help but smile at the apparent symbolism of this giant turtle, slowly but surely moving at us, safe from harm (critics?) under its shield of rock!   Back to top

cAveMan Group: Members Posts: 54 Joined: Sep. 2005 Posted: Dec. 09 2016, 04:12 Quote (TOBY @ Dec. 08 2016, 20:18) I am one of those people who thinks its slightly sad that all Mike can do these days is just rehash his back catalogue through either commercial necessity or creative bankruptcy, or a combination of both. I agree on that. Even Mike himself stated that he lost his creativity after that "personal healing" thing he did in the late seventies. But I wouldn't give him credit for that statement, since we have really good long instrumental music afterwards (think Crises, FMO...., and even stuff he did in the 90s). Back to top

qjamesfloyd Group: Members Posts: 1357 Joined: April 2001 Posted: Dec. 09 2016, 04:39 Quote (qcfoetus @ Dec. 09 2016, 04:30) The resampled original vocals do sound a little odd, but perhaps that's part of the whole RTO concept? Mike has stated he re-used the original voices as a nod to the original album, and the lack of an On Horseback song at the end. Back to top

tarquincat Group: Members Posts: 104 Joined: Aug. 2009 Posted: Dec. 09 2016, 04:47 I just don't get this site. Is it just full of miserable old sods who won't except anything but something of such originality that Mike would become the next Mozart (or the next Mike Oldfield)? (If you believe the Film Amadeus, some people didn't rate him much either). If you praise Mike Oldfield here, you are accused of being a "Facebook yes man", if you slag every movement off, you are proper & balanced and exercising your freedom of speech. TOBY sounds like he has been buying everything & moaning about it since Incantations - Listen to something else then ! "all Mike can do these days is just rehash his back catalogue " This has included a number of previously unavailable live recordings that many people wanted, probably no good to you as after all, a live recording is just a rehash of existing material. "creative bankruptcy" His last 2 albums have been a Classical Symphony & a Rock Album ( Rock rather than Rock/Pop, as each contained a marked guitar solo) with many collaborators. These are departures from usual Mike Oldfield output. Now, having gone back to "long form solo multi instrumental album", he is being criticised for going back to "long form solo multi instrumental album", or would you have forgiven him if he had called it something different ? In which case, listen to it with your eyes closed (& mind open ?) You don't have to buy it & you certainly don't have to whinge about it! Maybe you could do this amazing album yourself & show us how it is done ? Back to top

Nige Group: Members Posts: 26 Joined: Sep. 2007 Posted: Dec. 09 2016, 05:09 Well said, tarquincat. On first listen, I too am a little underwhelmed.  However, let's remember the following: 1.  It's an extract and, quite possibly, three parts of the album that do not follow eachother in the full piece 2.  On that basis, the parts are out of their musical context and also probably shorter than their respective sections on the completed album.  Oldfield is a master of building up a musical phrase and these extracts are just too short to enable that to come through. 3. An earlier post listed the 55 sections of the new album - we've heard 3 which is hardly enough to judge the whole thing! 4. What we've heard is, as another poster has highlighted, a compressed radio version, further compressed for streaming so it's perhaps a little premature to judge the sound quality of the finished article. I, for one, can't wait for January 20th! Merry Christmas, Nige Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: Dec. 09 2016, 06:27 Quote (tarquincat @ Dec. 09 2016, 04:47) TOBY sounds like he has been buying everything & moaning about it since Incantations - Listen to something else then ! "all Mike can do these days is just rehash his back catalogue " This has included a number of previously unavailable live recordings that many people wanted, probably no good to you as after all, a live recording is just a rehash of existing material. "creative bankruptcy" His last 2 albums have been a Classical Symphony & a Rock Album ( Rock rather than Rock/Pop, as each contained a marked guitar solo) with many collaborators. These are departures from usual Mike Oldfield output. Now, having gone back to "long form solo multi instrumental album", he is being criticised for going back to "long form solo multi instrumental album", or would you have forgiven him if he had called it something different ? In which case, listen to it with your eyes closed (& mind open ?) When I spoke about rehashing his back catalogue I was talking specifically about his album sequels, over the years, not his much sought after recent re-releases. I'm aware he's done other things too in-between these albums that have been unrelated to Tubular Bells. Admittedly I didn't word myself particularly well earlier. I don't think anyone is criticising him for going back to doing a long form instrumental album, at least I haven't read any criticism of him doing so anyway. As I said before even a re-written Ommadawn is probably fairly enjoyable, just not hugely imaginative. I'm sure I'm not the only Oldfield fan out there who thinks Mike is worth more than the deep cynicism he's met with in the wider music industry for re-wrting and/or recycling his older albums. You don't have to go very far outside the reality bubble of Mike Oldfield fandom to discover he's not thought of in very high regard with all his album sequels. Something which I think is rather sad. Which is really my point. ps. I've been buying everything and moaning about it since around the release of Voyager. Although there have been good moments since. In particular the first Music VR project which was massively ahead of its time and deserves a lot of praise looking back on it now. Music of the Sphere's is a quite lovely album too. Back to top

qjamesfloyd Group: Members Posts: 1357 Joined: April 2001 Posted: Dec. 09 2016, 07:14 Quote (tarquincat @ Dec. 09 2016, 09:47) I just don't get this site. Is it just full of miserable old sods who won't except anything but something of such originality that Mike would become the next Mozart (or the next Mike Oldfield)? (If you believe the Film Amadeus, some people didn't rate him much either). If you praise Mike Oldfield here, you are accused of being a "Facebook yes man", if you slag every movement off, you are proper & balanced and exercising your freedom of speech. TOBY sounds like he has been buying everything & moaning about it since Incantations - Listen to something else then ! "all Mike can do these days is just rehash his back catalogue " This has included a number of previously unavailable live recordings that many people wanted, probably no good to you as after all, a live recording is just a rehash of existing material. "creative bankruptcy" His last 2 albums have been a Classical Symphony & a Rock Album ( Rock rather than Rock/Pop, as each contained a marked guitar solo) with many collaborators. These are departures from usual Mike Oldfield output. Now, having gone back to "long form solo multi instrumental album", he is being criticised for going back to "long form solo multi instrumental album", or would you have forgiven him if he had called it something different ? In which case, listen to it with your eyes closed (& mind open ?) You don't have to buy it & you certainly don't have to whinge about it! Maybe you could do this amazing album yourself & show us how it is done ? Exactly, very well put. I agree If you listened to such short snippets of say Amarok, would you think it is that exciting? maybe not, but it really is good!!! Meat Loaf has released Bat Out of Hell 1, 2 ,3. does he get the same backlash? Back to top

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