Music : Tubular Bells

Rating: - Very original and creative
You have to listen to Tubular Bells five to ten times before the music starts to sink in. Note the very subtle mood changes when listening to the piece.

Though I like the music, I fear it will not appeal to the average contemporary listener. If you like Yanni, but are willing to go the extra step than try Mike Oldfield.

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Rating: - Gorgeous
I'll get the bad stuff over with first. It all occurs in Part 2 as Part 1 is flawless. Part 2 does fine up to the point of the Scottish march which has the unsurprising ability to put people like myself to sleep. It's just so boring and dry. Then comes the infamous "Caveman" section. It's not bad but the grunting could have been left out and we would have been left with a fairly decent piece of rock music. The rest up until approx. 2mins before the end is simply some of the most beautiful and inspiring music you'll ever hear. It could have left it at that and had a wonderful finish to a remarkable piece of music. But no, Mike Oldfield decided to ruin it by playing Sailor's Hornpipe, a piece of music so out of place with Tubular Bells it may as well have come from Mars. It's a terrible ending which is why i always stop it before it comes on. So there are two really bad bits and one not so bad bit. The good bits are everything else. Part 1 is probably the greatest single piece of rock music ever composed. I know not many will agree with me, fair enough. Nobody I know (apart from my father) can sit through this 25min masterpiece. If I'm to single out the standout piece in Part 1 it's when the basses kick at approx. 17mins 20secs. Play it through a decent hi-fi and I swear you'll never hear bass like it. That continues until 19mins 47secs when we hear the MC, Viv Stanshall annonce Grand Piano. And so on until the music reaches the title instrument of the piece. Apparently, Mike Oldfield got the idea for the title of Tubular Bells when he heard the title being announced dramatically by Viv. It's a suitable climax to a brilliant piece of music. I usually put it on when I want to listen to something without having to concentrate on lyrics or when I just want to chill out. I was surprised by all the negative reviews but I know this is not for everyone. Can't say much about the album technically except the bass towards the end of part 1 tends to get distorted and fuzzy if played through a hi-fi with heavy bass. It's not half as bad as the bass in Tubular Bells 2003 which sounds like it was played by a robot. Avoid the 2003 version if you like the original as it is. Highly recommended

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Rating: - screw The Exorcist.
For us old farts in the mid 40's, this album brings back many great memories. This was Sir Richard's first international hit on his new Virgin label and helped him form an international airline. This is great stuff even though a bit corny. The last third of the album is a remake of Peter And The Wolf. Excellent

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Rating: - most overrated album ever?
Why this recording is so hyped by the critics is beyond me.
Any individual with a good musical training and a recording studio could write something like this. This is just a bunch of embellishments over two poor musical themes. Save your money.

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Rating: - The Soundtrack of My Life
I first heard this music, late one night in my room, when I was 17 years old, the same age as Mike Oldfield when he wrote this. This was in the days of 'Album rock', and when I first heard that haunting melody, and then the war and play of the Dark , almost demonic sound, and the Light bursting forth triumphant; in my mind a horse and a knight and a lady come suddenly into a clearing and see the castle glistening in the clear morning sunlight...the weirdness, ...like this was a musical message from another place, another era, another world...where did this glorious music come from that held so perfectly the dark and the light? I immediately knew, at that tender age, that there was a lot more to 'reality' that I andeveryone had thought...and young Mike O., had somehow channelled this music through the pain of his adolescence.... Ommadawn was even better, taking music to a building exotic spiritual climax...Tubular Bells II,...hopeful, happy, optimistic, with still a little daemonic energy thrown in...TB III, the most incredible orgiastic climax ever, building to that enormous metallic/resonating strike of the Bell, like the biggest bell on earth, on the top of the mountain...the soundtracks to my life...wherever Mike gets his stuff (I don't believe his personality writes his music, but rather, some greater part of reality comes through him, and his person is a fantastic instrument---guitar-player...)

What! wonderful music! There's none other out there like Mike Oldfield...