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Question: What is your least-favourite Mike Oldfield album? :: Total Votes:38 Poll choices Votes Statistics Tubular Bells 0  [0.00%] Hergest Ridge 0  [0.00%] The Orchestral Tubular Bells 5  [13.16%] Ommadawn 0  [0.00%] Incantations 0  [0.00%] Platinum 0  [0.00%] QE2 0  [0.00%] Five Miles Out 0  [0.00%] Crises 0  [0.00%] Discovery 0  [0.00%] The Killing Fields 3  [7.89%] Islands 0  [0.00%] Earth Moving 5  [13.16%] Amarok 0  [0.00%] Heaven's Open 5  [13.16%] The Songs of Distant Earth 1  [2.63%] Voyager 2  [5.26%] Tubular Bells II 0  [0.00%] Guitars 2  [5.26%] The Millennium Bell 5  [13.16%] Tr3s Lunas 2  [5.26%] Light + Shade 7  [18.42%] Music of the Spheres 1  [2.63%] Guests cannot vote

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Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Aug. 16 2012, 19:42 This is aimed at those board members who own Mike's entire studio output, in whatever form (CD, vinyls, mp3s...). You will notice that I didn't include compilations (although some of them include stuff that's not anywhere else), because I don't consider them to be proper albums, and I didn't include live albums because the stuff that's in Mike's live albums is, of course, on other releases. I just want this to focus on his studio discography, which is, in a strictly musical sense, his core output. Having said that, this poll is just as simple as it looks: what is the ONE Oldfieldian studio album (please just choose one) which you almost never play? Mine, as most members will already know by now, is The Killing Fields. 'Nuff said. P.S.: I forgot TB 2003 and TB III. If you wish to vote for any of these, just leave your vote blank and post it down here. -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Olivier Group: Super Admins Posts: 1868 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: Aug. 16 2012, 21:49 I voted for Light + Shade, because of Romance - I'll never forgive him. I'm not convinced it's really Mike who did Tr3s Lunas and Light + Shade though. I just relistened to my favorite track, Angelique. Ouch, it's actually really bad too - coming from him -, especially the part where the piano and the guitar play the same notes as one voice, it sounds like a kid learning multi tracking. So now ail I relisten to the rest to check if Angelique is still my favorite track, or clear my mind listening to The Killing Fields? Back to top

larstangmark Group: Members Posts: 1767 Joined: Mar. 2005 Posted: Aug. 17 2012, 02:19 I voted Songs of Distant Earth - the album where he Mike finally went New Age (after over 20 years of accusations). It's like the musical equivalent of an airbushed indian chief on a poster. Cringeworthy. Mike used to have taste, but where did it go? The signs were there in TBII (but there I could blame Trevor Horn). -------------- "There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste" Mark E Smith Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Aug. 17 2012, 05:20 @ lars: I always thought that Voyager was much more conventionally touristical than TSoDE... somebody in the high spheres at Warner must've said to Mike that going Celtic was the biggest, trendiest wave to ride at that particular moment in time, and he just did - but in an extremely stereotyped way, and he's not a man of stereotypes. I don't really care about TSoDE, as it always sounded very bland to me, with nothing at all of Mike's anger or rage or drama - which is in almost all of his albums. Although there are still a couple of nice tracks on it and the way it flows is not bad at all (IMHO), TSoDE sounds to me like watered-down Oldfield. I'm not blaming anyone for how TB II sounds. Indeed I still consider it his second-best album behind Amarok. -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Aug. 17 2012, 11:13 Quote (larstangmark @ Aug. 17 2012, 02:19) It's like the musical equivalent of an airbushed indian chief on a poster. That is the best analogy for The Songs of Distant Earth I've ever read. It's just the kind of thing I would have loved to coin. For me, this question is kind of a stalemate between The Millennium Bell and Tubular Bells III. The former is embarrassing to listen to, it's tragically sad, amateurish, to the point of actually being sort of funny. The latter, though, condenses the very worst excesses of self-importance and self-indulgence that Oldfield could possibly produce. I have always admired Oldfield's skill at making highly dynamic and expressive music, but in Tubular Bells III, everything goes wrong in the worst possible way. Both albums are terrible low points, but each in a different way. -------------- 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

Chicular Group: Members Posts: 240 Joined: Sep. 2004 Posted: Aug. 17 2012, 11:22 I voted for Earth Moving. If Mike Oldfield didn't create Tres Lunas or Light and Shade, who did? Although neither are in my top 5 there are still some decent tracks in both albums which are unmistakably Oldfield. Back to top

GusFogle Group: Members Posts: 199 Joined: July 2011 Posted: Aug. 17 2012, 14:13 To me "Tres Lunas" and "Light and shade" are his worst. I honestly hate them. I can't stand to hear them. "The Millennium Bell" is really bad too, also "Guitars". Basically everything he did in the last 15 years has been on a downward spiral. "Music of the spheres" isn't in my top 10, but it was somewhat an improvement over what had come before. Back to top

Tati The Sentinel Group: Members Posts: 3360 Joined: Feb. 2002 Posted: Aug. 17 2012, 15:51 The Millenium Bell. How to cash back on the millenium in an awful way.His trademark sound is completely lost on this album. -------------- "But it's always the outsider, the black sheep, that becomes the blockbuster." - Mike Oldfield, 2014 "I remember feeling that I'd been judged unfairly and that I was going to prove them wrong." - Peter Davison, 2011 Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Aug. 17 2012, 19:47 @ Tati: TMB is a typical example of jumping on the bandwagon, something that, unfortunately, Mike Oldfield learned to do from Voyager onwards. But I still think that the album (although, I agree, it is quite bad from a conceptual and executional point of view) holds up quite well on a strictly musical level. I'm fond of the Baroque back-and-forth twirling of "The Doge's Palace" (Mr. Gian Piero Reverberi should seriously consider suing M.O.! ) and "Lake Constance" wouldn't sound out of place on MotS - of course without all the compression on TMB, which makes the strings sound almost fake. -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Milamber Group: Musicians Posts: 2275 Joined: Feb. 2010 Posted: Aug. 17 2012, 20:27 Orchestral Tubular Bells for me....Seems a bit pointless Orchestrating an Instrumental album.. To echo another member recently I love 99% of what he's done and don't mind the other 1%.. And I simply couldn't nit pick the Sh*t out of everything like some people do..Like your all experts anyway..No offence   Comments like "I'll never forgive him", "Jumping on the bandwagon" and "A downward spiral" are surely in jest one would hope...Like you all could do better... And some wonder why he never visits here...I certainly don't Back to top

GusFogle Group: Members Posts: 199 Joined: July 2011 Posted: Aug. 17 2012, 22:47 Milamber, They are only opinions. Don't act so butt-hurt and defensive. The title of the topic after all is "least favorite Mike Oldfield albums". I love Mike's music. That's why I spent six months learning and arranging every instrumental part to Amarok for two people. However, I feel that, at least since Tubular Bells III, his output has become more and more uninspired, and I'd like to hope that some of us here could produce something with more passion and inspiration than, say "Tres Lunas". Mike's wonderful, but don't put him on a pedestal. Everyone should be capable of producing greatness given the right circumstances. Back to top

Milamber Group: Musicians Posts: 2275 Joined: Feb. 2010 Posted: Aug. 17 2012, 23:19 Gus I'm certainly not Butt hurt but maybe a little defensive and yes do tend to place him on a pedestal. Just like you did when you gushed out "I'd like to think that Mike decided on a rock album after hearing my cover version of Amarok" Sorry if I didn't quote you exactly there b.t.w...Yeah I fell out of my chair in hysterics at that One..Sorry. A long time ago here a few got together and did an excellent version of TB1 ..Mikes response was that he liked it but would rather hear something original from his fans..But anyway I'm moving off topic. I would imagine when Ugo started this thread he was hoping for an animated discussion not the usual response (heard this a thousand times) from the same bashers who enjoy any chance they get to yet again complain about the aspects of certain albums from his recent period... Look this is just my opinion which I'm entitled too just the same as you..I just don't buy into The "I Love Mike" as long as it's the musical version of the Emperors New Clothes...Something which only an Intellectual could fully appreciate Bahhh.. I would guess we are never going to agree on anything but I'm fine with that...I grew up on his Albums and also appreciate the way each and every one came about...There's no point comparing say L+S to Ommadawn...it's pointless I.M.O Look at the story behind both and you'll see why they are what they are...Any suggestion Mike has gotten lazy is purely speculative and at the Interpretation of the listener....How would we know. Lastly don't try to flame me again it won't work..I got T-shirts older than you Back to top

GusFogle Group: Members Posts: 199 Joined: July 2011 Posted: Aug. 17 2012, 23:29 Quote (Milamber @ Aug. 17 2012, 23:19) Just like you did when you gushed out "I'd like to think that Mike decided on a rock album after hearing my cover version of Amarok" That's totally jumping the gun on what I actually said. I'm no where near arrogant enough to claim to be responsible for Mike's new album. That's just stupid and ridiculous. The point was that our performance of Amarok was something that had never been done before by anyone, even Mike. And maybe if he had seen that 2 kids could do that, it might have given him at least 1% inspiration to do something with all real instruments and no computers again, like on Amarok. Maybe not, probably not. But its a nice thought. Back to top

Olivier Group: Super Admins Posts: 1868 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: Aug. 18 2012, 00:43 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc Back to top

Milamber Group: Musicians Posts: 2275 Joined: Feb. 2010 Posted: Aug. 18 2012, 00:49 Very funny Big O.. I'm actually crying with laughter...Really.. But seriously If I thought that brutally about a portion of his work..I wouldn't post here..But that's just me. Very Funny indeed...Didn't know ya had it in ya...But then you Ivory tinklers stick together     Back to top

larstangmark Group: Members Posts: 1767 Joined: Mar. 2005 Posted: Aug. 18 2012, 03:21 Well, for me the disappointment was huge and that's why I openly badmouth a couple of the recent albums. What I did not mention (partly because it would have been off topic) is that I thought that albums after TSODE were better and that Music of the Spheres was even listenable. I found Incantations impossibly, astronomically good and that's why I am being judgemental on Mike's recent work. With Earth Moving it was obvious that he was making music specifically for the pop market, but after breaking up with Virgin he promised he would finally do the music he really wanted. But....we didn't get more of that delightful art-folk-prog-rock he did from 73-83. We got albums that obviously (yes - obviously!) tried to penetrate various other market segments. That pisses me off. The reason I still hang around here dicussing the music of an artist who last 25 years of output I don't care much for is that I keep coming back to his earlier work - listening to the records over and over, finding new layers and melodies and enjoying it more for every time. When asked I will say what I think is his worst album - and there are a few to choose from! Another artist that I think has gone down a similiar path is Tangerine Dream. I absolutely worship everything they did in the 70s (and early 80s) but by the early 90s their music was just dreadful, lazy and uninspired. How do I know? Well, I know a fair bit about composition, production and art in general. Still they keep selling me re-mixes, re-recordings and albums that are supposed to sound like their mid70s classics. And I find no reason to say "no thanks" and silently move on. If asked I say it's crap. Quality is indeed subjective, but it´s really not that simple. -------------- "There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste" Mark E Smith Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Aug. 18 2012, 08:53 Quote (Milamber @ Aug. 18 2012, 05:19) I would imagine when Ugo started this thread he was hoping for an animated discussion not the usual response (heard this a thousand times) from the same bashers who enjoy any chance they get to yet again complain about the aspects of certain albums from his recent period... When I started this thread, I wanted to know what are the albums which are less enjoyed by Mike Oldfield's fandom (of which I guess we are a small, but significant part) and why do fans not like those albums. I certainly wasn't expecting, for the jillionth time, as you say, people bitching about how Mike O. has gone bad from a certain album onwards. And, from my own point of view, I don't think that saying, as I do, that Mike O. never went really bad on any of the albums he did after a certain era is the same as wearing blinkers, or being musically blindfolded. Of course not all of his albums are great, and I'm certainly not denying the fact that, for instance. L+S is simpler and less developed than, say, HR. But the point is that I'm not making the comparisons at all, while that's what other people here are doing. In short, what I was hoping to get in this topic (i.e. "I don't like this album because I don't like this and this and that in the album") I didn't get (or maybe I got that from 1 or 2 people), and instead what I got is "I don't like this album because on this other album he was better". I can't honestly say that I'm disappointed by that, but I also can't say that I was expecting it. @ Gus: I don't think Mike O. actually cares about what his fans think about his music, or, for that matter, about what fans do with his music... his response to us fans' cover of Finale is a really good indicator of his attitude. If he really did care, he would've done an Amarok 2 (and 3, and 4) at least since a few years ago. I don't think what we do really influences him, or his music. As a P.S., I think I ought to say that I'm one of the very few board members here, if not the only one, who do play music and have never contributed to anything done by fans. So when I say "we fans" above here I'm actually including myself as a fan, not as an active musical contributor. I'd like to make another addition, and I hope admins forgive me for continuously editing this post. If someone asked me the same question in this topic 12 years ago, when I joined, I would have said Tubular Bells. After all the re-orchestrations, the re-recordings, the re-mixes and the re-releases, I still can't say that I really like the original TB. -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Olivier Group: Super Admins Posts: 1868 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: Aug. 18 2012, 13:50 Quote (Ugo @ Aug. 18 2012, 08:53) If he really did care, he would've done an Amarok 2 (and 3, and 4) at least since a few years ago. Questionable on at least 2 levels: - Music From The Balcony could be, it really sounds like a "sound like" thing, not inspired - Fans like sequels? I thought we were imploring him to find new things all the time and stop recycling Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Aug. 18 2012, 19:30 Quote (Olivier @ Aug. 18 2012, 19:50) - Fans like sequels? I thought we were imploring him to find new things all the time and stop recycling I think I shouldn't have said Amarok 2 and 3 and 4. I should have said "one or more albums similar in content and style to Amarok": Mike O. must surely know that Amarok is a fan favourite and thus he would've felt some stimulus to do something similar to that, had he really been influenced by what his fans like. This has not happened so far (MFtB is very far from being anything in the style of Amarok, IMHO) and I think it's unlikely to happen. So does Mike O. actually know or care about what his fans like?  I'm not sure... -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Delfín Group: Members Posts: 667 Joined: Nov. 2000 Posted: Aug. 18 2012, 19:39 Has to go for 'Heaven's Open', although I love 'Music From the Balcony' and 'Heaven's Open'. That's the thing of being a Mike's fan. You just have to put as a last runner a superb album. -------------- The most precious thing I possess, is knowing the answer's yes Back to top

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