Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

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trans-chigley express
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Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby trans-chigley express » 02 Jun 2015, 13:48

Oldfield is one of the most frustrating of artists - responsible for some of the most glorious music I’ve heard but also for some of the worst shit I own. Let’s not dwell too much on the latter and start with the good stuff.

His early years are well known but let’s briefly run through them: playing John Renbourne-inspired guitar in folk clubs at 13, 60’s folk duo at the age of 15 with sister Sally, briefly part of a rock band Barefoot with brother Terry, then member of Kevin Ayres’ band. A gifted but painfully shy multi-instrumentalist pushing his painstakingly put together demo of his “Opus One” to anyone that would listen.

Taking inspiration from various Classical composers (notably Bach), jazz rock ensembles and the avante-garde works of Terry Riley he began putting together his solo music using a simple tape recorder and, with a bit of ingenuity, he was crucially able to multi-track and build his musical ideas layer by layer. He loved repetition and wanted to open his music with a repetitive riff. After fiddling about for a while he came up with something that sounded right. “In the last 35 years I’ve been trying to find a better riff, but I can’t, so I’ve given up trying now.”

The BBC documentary “The Mike Oldfield Story” is worth a watch for the full story of TB but a shame it barely mentions his other albums. The Tubular Bells Story would have been a more appropriate title.


TB still sounds fantastic today and no amount of unnecessary sequels, re-recordings and variations can diminish the brilliance of the orginal. All those different themes and styles basically bolted together as they are really shouldn’t work but somehow he pulls it off immaculately.

Following up such an iconic debut was never going to be easy and Hergest Ridge divided opinions. Oldfield himself is not happy with it as he makes clear in the documentary above. But he’s wrong. It’s a far more pastoral affair with slowly developing themes rather than the short, constantly changing styles and mini crescendos of TB. It’s a beautiful album that has grown in stature with age but its lack of immediate appeal always meant it lived in the shadow of its predecessor, which, after one full year, finally hit the no.1 spot, replacing Hergest Ridge in the process.

Hergest Ridge has gone through many changes with a radical remix in 1976 which saw many instruments stripped away to make it more of an “experiment in texture I always wanted it to be”. Another radical remix was made in 2010. They all have their merits and I have no preference for one over the other. All three versions plus the demo version reside permanently on my mp3 player.
As with TB a nice little extract was used for single release, entitled “Spanish Tune”



The third album Ommadawn is, IMO, the best of all. The template is similar to TB: eerie intro, multiple changes of tempos and styles culminating in a thrilling finale, and the one Oldfield considers his most satisfying. From the first note to the last Part One is an incredible piece of music surpassing even the first half of TB. Built on a bed of trance-like African drums and wordless chanting the tempo builds and builds into a crescendo of screaming guitars that leaves you breathless.


In true 70s fashion for excess his next album was a double. From the Celtic and African influences on Ommadawn he opted for strings as a basis for the music this time with added flutes and lots of interlocking vibrophones played brilliantly by Gong percussionists Pierre and Benoit Moerlen. Maddy Prior provides the vocals on two sections including reciting Longfellow’s Hiawatha over a hypnotic rhythm in one long but memorable section. Spread over 70 minutes in 4 parts and, with even more emphasis on repetition than before, it seemed like commercial suicide to release it at the height of punk and that’s exactly what Virgin thought and didn’t give it anything like the exposure and marketing of previous releases and sales suffered. Regardless it’s another brilliant album that rewards time spent absorbing it in. He took a huge band out on tour to play shortened, rockier versions of Incantations plus Tubular Bells. It nearly bankrupted him despite the success of the tour. The resulting live album Exposed is a great document of the tour and one of the most glorious sounding live albums I've heard.


Four fantastic records in row, but then the rot set in and how quickly it did. Whether it was down to record company pressure, the onslaught of punk and new wave and being regarded as a dinosaur (at the grand old age of 27) and having his confidence rocked or a combination of all, he changed direction making shorter, rockier pieces and introducing regular songs among the instrumentals. The drop in quality from those first four to the next 2 Platinum and QE2 is staggering and although he rallied for a couple of good 80s albums that successfully combined lengthy instrumentals with some decent pop songs like Family Man, Moonlight Shadow and To France, and put together a good touring band he would never release anything as magical as Hergest Ridge, Ommadawn or Incantations again.

Still, Five Miles Out, Crises and parts of Discovery are decent albums with fine drumming from Simon Phillips and some nice songs sung by Maggie Reilly. It was after the departure of both of these that quality dropped even further with a string of hopeless albums in the 80’s, then another brief purple patch with the good but flawed Amarok - a welcome return to the more organic sounds of the 70s albums - and the enjoyable update of his debut with TB2. Not too much of note after this though apart from the odd nice tune and a decent stab at an orchestrated album and, sadly, a whole lot of dross.
Last edited by trans-chigley express on 02 Jun 2015, 13:53, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby Rayge » 02 Jun 2015, 13:52

Cheers for this, Ray, but could I ask you to retitle it Beyond the 130, so that thay can be collated when Moddie finally gets around to it.
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Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby The Slider » 02 Jun 2015, 14:30

I am with you on every aspect here bar liking the trite pop rubbish he put out during the 80s and 90s.
I love the first four and agree Ommadawn is the best of them, but after that I have almost no interest at all.
The endless rejiggings of the TB template smacks of artistic moribundity (is that word? it is now) and everything else he has released bears that out.
I never want to hear TB again - it is over familiar - but the other three get a regular airing.
I do wish someone but Maddy Prior had sung on Incantations though - her voice gets on my wick after about the first 10 verses of Haiwatha
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Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby ConnyOlivetti » 02 Jun 2015, 16:30

trans-chigley express wrote:
The BBC documentary “The Mike Oldfield Story” is worth a watch for the full story of TB but a shame it barely mentions his other albums. The Tubular Bells Story would have been a more appropriate title.


.


Well, from BBC's webpage,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03cw8g0
the title is
Tubular Bells: The Mike Oldfield story
so :?

great write-up by the way! :)
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Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby Quaco » 02 Jun 2015, 16:46

Basically agree with Slider. I can't seem to stomach a single thing after Incantations. And even that is a bit hard going. But the first three were all immediate things for me. I like all three of them all equally. Side two of Hergest Ridge is completely amazing on the original mix, from the opening theme (probably my favorite melody of his) to that dense American Indian-sounding bit, which is absolutely $*^*$%W^ incredible. Ommadawn is a step forward in terms of artistry and is indeed probably his best / most mature in a good way.

Looking forward to checking out the other mixes of Hergest Ridge, even though I am sure I'll always opt for my fave, the original mix. I didn't dig the remix on Boxed. That album deserves a mention actually, from the great packaging to the mix variations ("Sailor's Hornpipe" with Vivian Stanshall) to the collaborations disc.
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Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby ConnyOlivetti » 02 Jun 2015, 16:56

Quacoan wrote: I didn't dig the remix on Boxed. That album deserves a mention actually, from the great packaging to the mix variations ("Sailor's Hornpipe" with Vivian Stanshall) to the collaborations disc.


Great box!
Still have it, both on vinyl and CD!
Agree with almost everything written so far,
love all his album up to Incantation, were he lost me
(and I sure dig my Philip Glass)
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Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby der nister » 02 Jun 2015, 17:03

very nice write up, Trans


I have tried and tried with Oldfield but I have always found him too slick. I find Oldfield resides in the same realm as Jarre, and maybe Vangelis. He's missing the sonic curiousness of the early kosmische and the compositional gravitas of Riley, Glass, etc.,
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Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby Quaco » 02 Jun 2015, 17:25

der nister wrote:very nice write up, Trans


I have tried and tried with Oldfield but I have always found him too slick. I find Oldfield resides in the same realm as Jarre, and maybe Vangelis. He's missing the sonic curiousness of the early kosmische and the compositional gravitas of Riley, Glass, etc.,

I think his aspirations were ultimately orchestral, and his stuff is often "too perfect" for that reason. He was not a band and had the luxury of doing it as many times as he wanted. That being said, there are a couple moments that are pretty nuts. Turn it up and listen just to 8:30 to 15:35 and feel your ears start to get hot -- and don't worry, you have a good solid chunk before he starts getting all clever again.

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Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby der nister » 02 Jun 2015, 17:56

thanks, Q
There is definitely a cinematic quality to his work. He jams in too much stuff at the expense of letting ideas develop. Has he done any soundtracks? Other than Larry Fast during the 70s, I can't think of any other US equivalents; other than less academic minded film composers. It's interesting that Oldfield, Vangelis, Jarre are all one hit wonders in the US.
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Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby copehead » 02 Jun 2015, 18:05

I'm a big fan of Crises and Five Miles Out.

The 70s stuff is nice enough background music, it was music your parents had though and played at dinner parties.

You have enthused me to give Ommadawn another go though after about 30 years.
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Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby Quaco » 02 Jun 2015, 18:19

der nister wrote:thanks, Q
There is definitely a cinematic quality to his work. He jams in too much stuff at the expense of letting ideas develop. Has he done any soundtracks? Other than Larry Fast during the 70s, I can't think of any other US equivalents; other than less academic minded film composers. It's interesting that Oldfield, Vangelis, Jarre are all one hit wonders in the US.

He did The Killing Fields (which I confess I never listen to)
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Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby trans-chigley express » 02 Jun 2015, 23:23

Quacoan wrote:Side two of Hergest Ridge is completely amazing on the original mix, from the opening theme (probably my favorite melody of his) to that dense American Indian-sounding bit, which is absolutely $*^*$%W^ incredible.


The 2010 mix of this section sounds great too.


I'm surprised both you an Conny struggle with Incantations,especially Conny who typically likes things at the stanger end of the scale. I suggest focusing on Part 4 which is my favourite section and the easiest to get into.

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Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby trans-chigley express » 02 Jun 2015, 23:38

I do think Amarok was a missed opportunity to return to something like his previous greatness. It's stuffed full of great little ideas but he deliberately never allows anything to develop naturally. This small extract is very typical

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Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby Quaco » 03 Jun 2015, 01:01

trans-chigley express wrote:I'm surprised both you an Conny struggle with Incantations,especially Conny who typically likes things at the stanger end of the scale. I suggest focusing on Part 4 which is my favourite section and the easiest to get into.

Maybe it has to do with the sequencing. I always get stuck on sides one and two.

**

What is going on here? ...

Last edited by Quaco on 03 Jun 2015, 01:09, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby Quaco » 03 Jun 2015, 01:08

trans-chigley express wrote:
Quacoan wrote:Side two of Hergest Ridge is completely amazing on the original mix, from the opening theme (probably my favorite melody of his) to that dense American Indian-sounding bit, which is absolutely $*^*$%W^ incredible.


The 2010 mix of this section sounds great too.

Yeah, that's wicked too! Slightly less monolithic but you can hear the parts more clearly. Wonderful.
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Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby trans-chigley express » 03 Jun 2015, 01:10

Quacoan wrote:
What is going on here? ...


Something we'd rather not dwell on. Actually that Montreux show is pretty good (as are some of the live shows from Five Miles Out to Discovery era) but his attempt at a punk track is embarrassing. He should have stuck to disco.

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Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby Quaco » 03 Jun 2015, 01:23

trans-chigley express wrote:
Quacoan wrote:
What is going on here? ...


Something we'd rather not dwell on. Actually that Montreux show is pretty good (as are some of the live shows from Five Miles Out to Discovery era) but his attempt at a punk track is embarrassing. He should have stuck to disco.

The "star" attitude where he plays a lick and waits for the crowd to erupt is also embarrassing/hilariously awful.

This is a guy who became known as a modern-day Mozart and chart-topper as well by the age of 22. It must fuck up your mind royally.
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Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby ConnyOlivetti » 03 Jun 2015, 06:17

trans-chigley express wrote:
I'm surprised both you an Conny struggle with Incantations,especially Conny who typically likes things at the stanger end of the scale. I suggest focusing on Part 4 which is my favourite section and the easiest to get into.


Well, I don't know why.
I don't find it strange, just boring,
there is nothing that catch my interest.
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Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby never/ever » 03 Jun 2015, 10:14

Quacoan wrote:
This is a guy who became known as a modern-day Mozart and chart-topper as well by the age of 22. It must fuck up your mind royally.


He spent a large part of the mid-seventies going through all sorts of psychological problems which he tried to cure with a horrible treatment called Exegesis. Seeing that clip makes me think he was going through one of the stages of that treatment again.

I agree- Oldfield frustrates the hell out of me. I like all up to Discovery and parts of The Killing Fields with Incantations a favourite but anything later on (with perhaps Amarok and the second TB) remains firmly unplayed.
The re-issues are another bit of frustration for me- the addition of certain instruments amongst the material just angers the hell out of me.
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Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - Mike Oldfield

Postby trans-chigley express » 03 Jun 2015, 10:41

never/ever wrote:
Quacoan wrote:
This is a guy who became known as a modern-day Mozart and chart-topper as well by the age of 22. It must fuck up your mind royally.


He spent a large part of the mid-seventies going through all sorts of psychological problems which he tried to cure with a horrible treatment called Exegesis.


It's interesting to hear in the BBC documentary Tom Newman pinpointing the Exegesis therapy as the moment when Oldfield lost his muse. The treatment helped him get rid of his demons but unfortunately something vital in his music went with them.


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