Man In The Rain
Group: Members
Posts: 405
Joined: April 2002 |
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Posted: Aug. 28 2002, 15:10 |
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I think in the case of Tres Lunas, the delay in release - and the increased popularity of online sites such as amazon, play.com, and even ebay - has meant that sales figures have been distorted and the album has appeared to be less succesful than it really is. However, I wouldn't doubt that sales HAVE been affected - for a number or reasons. With mp3 technology, and so-called 'fans' more than eager to copy a whole albums contents and put it online rather than mere samples, the ability to obtain the record without purchase is not only an inexpensive option, but also an easy and therefore highly tempting one.
Mike is no longer the huge seller that he once was in the UK. Apart from Tubular Bells II and Elements (number 1 and number 5 in the charts respectively), his last consistent run of big sales success was from 1982 to 1984. Tubular Bells III was out of the top 40 within four weeks, and The Millennium Bell did not even register in the top 100. There are still fans out there in the UK - indeed you'll find many here or in the Mike Oldfield google newsgroup - and with Voyager achieving (moderate) success in the UK, it shows that Mike could sell well again. That album's popularity was probably due to celtic pop being in fashion at the time - sadly Guitars, The Millennium Bell, and Tres Lunas seem to have appealed to no-one but diehard fans. That's not down to the music - in an ideal world, compositions such as Summit Day and Lake Constance would be hugely well-known outside of core Oldfield fans. But Warner UK seem intent on forgetting about Mike in order to make sure everyone else does too.
I am also curious as to Warner Spain's involvement in Mike's promotion - indeed the artwork for Tres Lunas credits Warner Spain. Is it that they are responsible for Mike's promotion in foreign territories such as the UK? Maybe they just didn't feel like bothering after recouping their costs with huge sales in other European territories?
But Mike's recent commercial downturn is not equatable to the amount of apparent 'filler' on his recent albums. Indeed, I point TheLake to In High Places, to Saved By A Bell, to Blue Night, to *insert title of bad eighties track by Mike here*...In my opinion, these tracks are far worse than, say, The Inner Child, or Serpent Dream. Even the instrumental tracks on QE2 are comparitively inconsequential in comparison to, say, Mont St. Michel or Lake Constance. And, to those who feel Mike's recent music lacks passion, I point you to Tres Lunas 2 (the fan-created internet mix album) which contains music more passionate than anything that Mike has done since Tubular Bells II. It proves Mike hasn't lost his muse. Not by a long way.
Hmm, I'm going to think about this some more...great debate!
Oliver
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Hergest Ridge 165 - Ommadawn 038 - Incantations 243
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). It does seem, though, like Warner Spain really aren't interested in UK promotion (all the promotion I mentioned - TV, radio, newspaper interviews - is most likely the work of Mike's manager rather than the record company). It's their loss, really, but perhaps they've decided that the cost of heavy promotion isn't worth what they'll get back on it...