From Graham H Freeman Sent Fri, Jun 25th 1999, 17:00
From Graham H Freeman Sent Fri, Jun 25th 1999, 17:00
> From: Richard Barnett <xxxxxxx_xxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx> > Subject: (idm) Re: Mike Oldfield > > (Incidentally, Oldfield's _Tubular Bells 3_ is really quite good, a lot > > better than the first two, once you get over the shock of the "Moonlight > > Shadow" clone. I know, I know, but at least he doesn't put great long > > post-modernist self-analysis rambles over his tunes. Well, perhaps > > except for Amarok, which had that lady going on about "endings being > > just beginnings". Maybe Mike Oldfield was taking the piss out of DJ > > Shadow five years in advance. Hmm. I should stop now.) > > I'm surprised to hear that about TB3, since TB2 was really scary. Well, it's still a Mike Oldfield record (completely IDM-free zone, cheesy in parts and all that), but it's a good one for a change, though it lacks zip. I think he just did TB2 just to piss off Virgin, since he got sucked into a ten album contract with them to start off with, and had to do another three to get a better deal. And I think only hippies liked the original _Tubular Bells_. I suspect that it was popular in the same way as Roni Size's _New Forms_ was. I.e., it was cool to namedrop and say you had it even though you could only actually bear listening to it twice. _Hergest Ridge_ and _Ommadawn_ are good though. > Amarok, though, is probably the best thing he's done for a long time, > despite the voice at the end of the second side being slightly > off-putting and a little bit too > cryptic for its own good. It's clearly meant to be Margaret Thatcher, but > I really can't work out why. > > Anyway, Middle of Nowhere is much much better than Oldfield's average > quality level. Yes, you're fairly correct there. He didn't put much out worth listening to between 1983 and 1994 aside from _Amarok_, but that was probably a result of having to put out half-baked pop albums to work off the said contract. _Songs of Distant Earth_ is alright, the "Let There Be Light" single off it with the Hardfloor and *ahem* TB remixes is pretty good if you can find it. -- Graham Hubert Freeman. Graham the Happy Scum. WWGD. Your computer has been Alstoned. http://www.mpx.com.au/~gths mailto:xxxx@xxxx-xxxxx.xxx ... Texas. What a hell of a place to die.