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Topic: Is Ommadawn The Greatest Album Of All Time?< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
Man In The Rain Offline




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Posted: June 19 2002, 13:07

OK, music taste is a subjective thing. People like different things, and yet one would agree that someone who listened to Bach would have better music taste than someone who listened to Slipknot. I hope. Anyway, despite music taste being mostly subjective, there are still often people wanting to find the greatest albums of all time, hence the proliferation of polls on the internet, in magazines, and hosted on radio around the world. Normally, the Beatles always are awarded the best albums of all time, with either Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, or Revolver. Famously in the past, Radiohead and also the Stone Roses have topped similar charts. However Mike is often noticeable due to his absence – rarely Tubular Bells appears, and even when it does, it is in the lower section of the chart. Nothing else seems popular enough to register with voters – including Ommadawn. Now, Ommadawn seems to be, overall, the favourite amongst fans. Its seen as Mike’s greatest achievement, his masterpiece (or rather, his most definitive masterpiece). In my opinion, it is not only Mike’s greatest achievement, but the greatest album ever recorded. It is a beautiful, unique and very moving record. With albums such as those made by the Beatles, they are in song format – songs are fairly restrictive and predictable. Verses, chorus, maybe a solo. I know the Beatles and other artists, notably Beach Boys, sought to expand the boundaries of the pop song, and nothing can compare to Gershwin. But I feel that the best of Mike’s work – Ommadawn – is so much more. It doesn’t lift your spirits and then drop you after five minutes, it’s a proper experience. The music is beautifully detailed and yet the melodies are so strong and timeless, a tune may have been developing for six minutes and then one notices a repetition in the background, which comes to the fore and leads the piece in a new, unpredictable direction. Ommadawn is just so incredibly uplifting, and yet conveys a vast range of emotion, ranging from happiness to seemingly despair and a sense of, as Mike put less-subtly put it, rebirth. In my mind it makes the Beatles sound merely like pretty little pop songs, attractive but disposable, incomparable in beauty and worth. Nothing that I have heard before or since compares, apart from obviously classical music and some other works by Mike himself. It was also highly innovative at the time - and still is 27 years later. So, that leads me to ask…is Ommadawn the greatest album of all time? Have you ever heard a record that you could honestly say you think is better than Ommadawn, and if so, and what basis do you form your opinion? I’m very curious, as Ommadawn seems to be such an amazing high-watermark to me in popular music.

Oliver

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Hergest Ridge 165 - Ommadawn 038 - Incantations 243
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tubularbills Offline




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Posted: June 19 2002, 17:27

in a word: no. lol. sorry, but i'm still a hardcore Bell fan!

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Ugo Offline




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Posted: June 19 2002, 17:47

Quote
Have you ever heard a record that you could honestly say you think is better than Ommadawn, and if so, and what basis do you form your opinion?


Yes, I have.

Mike's: Amarok.
Non-Mike's: APP's Eye In The Sky.

My opinion is based on nothing else but the fact that I like those two albums more than I like Ommadawn. wink

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Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian
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TimHighfield Offline




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Posted: June 20 2002, 06:26

Definitely my favourite MO album (just ahead of FMO). I can't agree with Ugo though (though I haven't heard the album 'Eye in the Sky', I have heard the title track, and even if the rest of the album is fantastic it has that track to let it down significantly), and Amarok is over-rated amongst fans.

I don't think Ommadawn is the greatest of all time, but it should feature in a few of the usual polls along those lines. TB gets in probably because of its good sales along with decent reviews- Ommadawn hasn't sold as much, so has made a lesser impact.

There's nothing wrong with getting into the lower reaches of these sorts of charts- getting there at all is an achievement when you think of the number of albums floating around the world (in usual circumstances, anyway).

I'd like to see Ommadawn in these charts, but I cannot see it being hailed as the greatest of all time- especially over 25years after its release when albums such as Sergeant Pepper, Revolver, Dark Side... etc. have had time to establish their reputations and more recent artists (Radiohead etc.) have made a greater impact that MO did (with the exception of TB of course).

As for what I think is the greatest album of all time...I'm not entirely sure, myself. Don't ask me for a while.
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theweightless Offline




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Posted: June 20 2002, 10:30

could be...but i like tb2 as much and tb3 too

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Rob Miles
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Posted: July 04 2002, 16:04

Quote (Man In The Rain @ June 19 2002, 13:07)
is Ommadawn the greatest album of all time

In a word, yes. Other pieces of music which are not albums would be higher (I'm an fan of opera, film and choral music as well), but as an album, nothing comes close.
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Brewer Offline




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Posted: July 07 2002, 04:03

On first listen Ommadawn is a great piece of music. All the emotions the Man in the Rain used are correct. In parts it makes you cry in others happiness. I think greatest albums are a personal choice. Mike's best album to me really depends on my humour but the one i listen to most and again i find very emotional is Hergest Ridge. As for the best album of all time for me is ("Dont Shoot Me") not a Mike album. It is the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, "When in Rome", Live at the Albert Hall. The emotion is in the crowd reaction.

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Hergest Ridge
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Posted: July 28 2002, 22:50

It's one of his best,undoubtedly.The wealth of themes in Part 1 verges on brilliance,and the generally friendly folky ambience makes it an uplifting listen. However,I've always felt underwhelmed by the rather uninspired and repetetive first 5 minutes of part 2.If this section had been sharper(and rather more concise)then Ommadawn would have been his best work.
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MOfan
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Posted: July 29 2002, 14:34

Hi,
Ommadawn is mikes best work.
I agree with Ugo, Alan parsons is nice, too.
I Quite like Eye in the sky and Tales of m. a. i.
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raven4x4x Offline




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Posted: Aug. 02 2002, 06:52

Asking the greatest album of all time is sort of hard. I can tell you the greatest movie of all time (The Matrix :cool: ), but I have heard so many albums. I'll think about it.

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^Chacron^ Offline




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Posted: Aug. 02 2002, 15:14

Hey all!

Ommadawn is a very special album for me, as it was one of my first records and i've been listening to it since I was 4 or 5 years old....I havent even bought it on CD yet, I still listen to it on Vinal as even the crakling over the music brings back memories. I used to find it quite a haunting record, but later found parts of it beautiful as well as black and creepy. As a guitarist I feel Mike is often criminally ignored. I've hardly ever seen him on a 'worlds greatest players' poll and his name doesnt often come up on guitar forums, but his music has always inspired me, especially Ommadawn.
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timshen Offline




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Posted: Aug. 08 2002, 08:05

In my own opinion it is the best album i've ever heard (of Mike and anyone else). Every time I listen to it it just amazes me how fantastic it is! There are others that touch me at particular times and are seemingly the 'best' for acseason, but Ommadawn has remained there for me from the first time I heard it (1980ish).

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raven4x4x Offline




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Posted: Sep. 07 2002, 01:59

I can tell you the greatest albums of all time, but putting them in any order is way too hard.

Of course, Mike would be in there with Tubular Bells II and III, Amarok and probably even Discovery (I'm a great fan of Discovery). With the other-than-Mike albums, the best would have to be from Yes: The Yes Album, Fragile and Close to the Edge. My other favourite albums come from Harry Chapin, an American artist who does the most beautiful songs. The best of his are Short Stories, Verites and Balderdash (!;) and Portrait Gallery.

The best albums by modern artists are from Moby: Play and 18 are really great. Asking me to put an order on this list would by too hard. I do agree that Ommadawn is one of the greatest albums of all time: maybe album of the seventies or something.


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Tellur Offline




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Posted: Oct. 15 2002, 11:11

Ommadawn is the greatest. Amarok... well, it doesn't hit the spot for me...
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lazeeladuk Offline




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Posted: Oct. 16 2002, 20:39

Ommadawn and Hergest Ridge, both are very good early Mike albums but there again so is Platinum and then there's Incantations  and then ofcourse there's TBII and III again exellent albums,even Voyager is ok....but in the middle of all of these there is THE SONGS OF DISTANT EARTH. what more could you ask for powerful, atmospheric, thought and image prevoking (even if you have seen the cd-rom version). a truly excceptional album, it's got something on there for everyone.
all of Mike's albums, from TB to TL have faults or they're are not complete enough, TSODE really is complete :D  :D  ;)
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greenback Offline




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Posted: Mar. 18 2003, 23:00

The best
all-time album is Selling England by the pound, by Genesis

Ommadawn is, like Hergest ridge, a very dark album that never shines in my head. It's also so boring that it's good for getting asleep! It's like the first Tangerine dream albums!!

Have a good night, sleepers!

Amarok is the best!
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Man In The Rain Offline




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Posted: Mar. 19 2003, 01:35

Personally, I found Selling England By The Pound incredibly boring! I have all of the old Genesis albums up to and including Duke (apart from The Wind And The Wuthering) and I am the biggest Peter Gabriel fan on Earth. However that album, yuk. I couldn't listen to the whole thing, it sounds really dated and Prog, its not exciting or fresh sounding like Amarok and sorry I don't think it's the greatest album of all time, or even the best Genesis album (that would be The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway). Of course that's just my opinion!

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greenback Offline




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Posted: Mar. 19 2003, 15:18

Man in the rain,

Isn't MO Prog music? If you refer to different progressive polls on the net, you'll see that selling England is on the top.

I find the lamb lies down ordinary, because the "intrusion" of Brian Eno!!


I respect your preference and I must admit that it's hard to be unanimous on the best one: Trespass, Foxtrot, Selling, the Lamb or Trick of the tail! But certainly not Duke!!

Ommadawn is not the worst one: Hergest ridge is the worst one with Earth moving, despite Earth moving has a very good and fresh sound. Ommadawn has good moments, but not enough to be considered as the greatest MO album.

Thanks God, we like very much Amarok!!

Since I've read here that Alan Parson's project "Eye in the sky" is one of the best all-time album (LOLLLLL!;), I believe now that God created all those albums so that each has a chance to be on the top of each individual person!!!

Never try to understand!
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TOBY Offline




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Posted: Mar. 21 2003, 19:49

Technicaly Mike is not prog. He's never included in any articles or TV documentaries etc about prog rock even though most prog fans obviously like him. I'm a bit of a proggie myself and would have to agree completely with Man in the Rain here The Lamb Lies Down in Broadway is a much better album on a lot of levels than Selling England by the Pound, I also think Foxtrot is a better album, better tunes.

I do dabble in prog, at least the better stuff, but I draw the line at people like Rick Wakeman and bands like ELP. I find all that stuff just slightly to proggie for my tastes, I don't see much depth there it's not in the same artistic league as Mike's early stuff or what Peter Gabriel was doing in Genisis.

Back to the original topic. I think Ommadawn for me is unquestionably Mike's best album for a lot of reasons, it's certainaly one of the best albums of the 70's, a list which would also have to include Tubular Bells it has to be said.
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Music, the ancient language... Offline




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Posted: Mar. 21 2003, 21:12

For me Ommadawn is the best album, because of the simple reason that it always forces me to shiver and to become silent for a while, wether I'm happy or wether I'm sad.

At least, Ommadawn is the best album with a composer who's still alive.
IMO, the best piece of music ever written is Brahms' opus 83. I listened to it on a ordinary day - I was not in a special mood or so - but afterwards I cried like a baby, with rivers of tears flowing over my cheaks, and just because of it's beauty! Because of those wonderful sounds dancing around in my head! I hadn't cried like that in years.

Don't think anything can beat that.


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