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allisternz Group: Members Posts: 7 Joined: June 2003 Posted: June 01 2003, 01:52 Hello all.I'm posting this message to see if anyone else has had a similar experience to me regarding the album Amarok.   I have been listening to Mike since I was a kid sitting on my dads knee with Tubular Bells reverberating around the room.He has always been a kind of hero to me ,and was the main reason that I started to play instruments myself.  I first heard the Amarok album at a friends place,and on the first listen I thought "mmm,a bit strange".I didnt listen to it again for 10 years.  In recent times I found myself going through Mikes back catalogue to see if there was any cool stuff of his that I had missed....queue the re-entrance of Amarok.I got it on cd from a music shop in Auckland,and on first listen I thought"mmm,still a bit strange".This time however I gave it the chance that this album requires.   With each new listen I become more and more amazed by just how good it is.The recurring melodies,each time the same but different,the sound effects,the production,Mikes faultless playing(never mind the guitar,some of that piano is plain beautiful)all amounts to a listening experience that I havent had the pleasure of coming across before.   It's now got to the stage that Amarok is all that I listen to,it's almost hypnotic.   If Mike never reaches these hights again then I am just thankful that he made this masterpiece .To think,I could have been listening to this 10 years ago...doh! Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: June 02 2003, 08:25 A similar thing happened to me with Tubular Bells, instead. After the first few listens, I was just amazed. Not just amazed, but just addicted, humming the TB themes and melodies almost all the time, listening to it again and again, well, just addicted. With Amarok, when I heard it the first time, I just loved it. It took some time until I felt it was better than Tubular Bells, but I still find myself playing TB in my head again and again, while Amarok is, for me, one of my favourite albums of all time. I just can't explain very well. -------------- 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

Ambient Fish Unregistered Posted: June 09 2004, 12:40 Hi all, had to comment here, Amarok is probably the only contemporary rock album that can be considered to be a Performance, no, let me reiterate PERFORMANCE. This album is in my humble opinion the finest piece of recorded music produced between 1970 and 2004 and that is really saying something if you'll pardon the pun. I agree that there are a lot of sonic tidbits in the mix but when you put them all to-gether, time stands still!, Can't wait to get home now to put it in the CD drawer, sit back and be as entertained as it is possible to be in your own living room. Back to top

Daddybird Group: Members Posts: 84 Joined: Dec. 2004 Posted: Dec. 21 2004, 10:39 I have exactly the same as the first poster. I'm addicted to it, and it's maybe the best piece of music ever. Back to top

hiawatha Group: Members Posts: 2391 Joined: Mar. 2004 Posted: Dec. 21 2004, 10:55 Quote (Sir Mustapha @ June 02 2003, 08:25) A similar thing happened to me with Tubular Bells, instead. After the first few listens, I was just amazed. Not just amazed, but just addicted, humming the TB themes and melodies almost all the time..... This happened to me, not only with TB (1) and Amarok, but with many of his albums. Especially the early ones. And FMO, Discovery, TSODE, etc. -------------- "In the land of the Dacotahs, Where the Falls of Minnehaha Flash and gleam among the oak-trees, Laugh and leap into the valley." - Song of Hiawatha Back to top

raven4x4x Group: Members Posts: 1535 Joined: Jan. 2002 Posted: Dec. 21 2004, 21:10 Strangely enough, there are very few of Mike's albums that grabbed me on first or even fifth listen. For most of them I needed time to become familiar with them and decide what a really felt about them. For TSODE and Hergest Ridge it took up to a year before I really started to love them. Strangely, the only album of Mike's I can remember loving at first listen is Discovery, which has remained one of my favourites.   With Amarok, it certainly took a while before I started to like it, and even longer before I started to love it. However, when I first got it I listened to it almost every day, not out of a like for it but an intense fascination, as if it was some great discovery I was itching to make and get to know. Now I definately know it, and can say that it is my favourite piece of music of all time. -------------- Thank-you for helping us help you help us all. Back to top

Mwan Unregistered Posted: Jan. 31 2005, 10:29 I'm glad I'm not the only one!!! my wife thinks I'm insane... I told her it has become my favourite peice of music! the If I could only have one lp on an island what would it be piece of music!!! heres to Amarok!! Miles Back to top

Daddybird Group: Members Posts: 84 Joined: Dec. 2004 Posted: Mar. 06 2005, 17:34 Quote (Guest @ Jan. 31 2005, 10:29) I'm glad I'm not the only one!!! my wife thinks I'm insane... I told her it has become my favourite peice of music! the If I could only have one lp on an island what would it be piece of music!!! heres to Amarok!! Miles Same here, If I'd to choose one CD, it would be Amarok. PS> My copy is gone!!!!!!!! Back to top

Fingers Group: Members Posts: 43 Joined: April 2003 Posted: July 24 2005, 19:00 That's exactly my experience. Bought it. First time through didn't get it. Didn't play it again for several years. Then "found it" once more and I fell asleep to it every night for a year. (yes the phone does wake you up! Glad I'm not the only one. Back to top

amarokian Group: Members Posts: 150 Joined: Dec. 2004 Posted: July 25 2005, 00:56 Oh,there's an addiction to Amarok...and it is deep inside my heart... -------------- These posts are hazardous to the health of cloth-eared nincompoops.If you suffer from this condition after you read my posts,consult your doctor immediately. Back to top

TubularBelle Group: Members Posts: 1487 Joined: April 2004 Posted: July 25 2005, 03:49 When I list my top 10 fave Mike cds I still put TB before Amarok out of loyalty but there are two things about Amarok that make it really special for me. One is that I liked it from the first moment I heard it, might have gasped at the singing and tap dancing Maggie but I loved it instantly and like it more and more every time I hear it. And the second is that while I instantly recognise it when I hear it because I listen to it probably the most out of all my MO cds, I still can't hum it in my head like I can TB or others. It is so complicated and so unusual that I simply can't remember how it goes until I hear it again and that heightens the experience dramatically for me because every note feels like seeing your closest friend you haven't seen for a while and I still get to experience something new from it all the time. It seriously makes my heart jump. I just gave a copy of it to a friend who has a few of Mikes early albums even though most would advice against it as I did myself to the poster who asked what MO cds to buy. Obviously many people need several listens but if you have the album you can take as long as you need to fall in love with it. Love to see the passion here, and some less prominent posters, keep posting please! Just for me, Cheers, Tracy. -------------- I hate getting up early. I didn't even realise there were two 6 o'clocks in one day! Back to top

Sweetpea Group: Members Posts: 1476 Joined: April 2007 Posted: July 03 2007, 16:38 Quote (allisternz @ June 01 2003, 01:52) With each new listen I become more and more amazed by just how good it is. {edit} To think,I could have been listening to this 10 years ago...doh! It's "D'oh!" for me, too. I think I'm addicted, as well. Boy, just try and fetch a sodapop from the kitchen while playing Amarok. By the time you get back, a minute later, it's "Oh no! I've missed the 'Boat Reprise'", so you end up restarting at the beginning. Whenever I get to the big climax at 50:24 I get such an urge to shout "W00T!!" and start a 'wave' (yes, I'm a nerd) - unfortunately, that doesn't work very well with one person. -------------- "I'm no physicist, but technically couldn't Mike both be with the horse and be flying through space at the same time? (On account of the earth's orbit around the Sun and all that). So it seems he never had to make the choice after all. I bet he's kicking himself now." - clotty Back to top

AlexS Group: Members Posts: 194 Joined: Nov. 2005 Posted: July 13 2007, 05:06 Allisternz - I completely relate to what you said! Like you I was very young when I first heard Tubular Bells - which my Dad liked at the time. Of course it wasn't until later years that I investigated the rest of his work. Amarok was a more recent discovery for me, maybe 5 or 6 years ago. Amarok takes you back to the same "musical wilderness" that Tubular Bells and Ommadawn took you to. Despite the unusual list of 'instruments' played, it is a very musical album, and after a few plays (and it can take a while to get used to), it becomes very addictive. It's one of those albums where you discover something new with each play. I think it certainly contains some of Mike's most beautiful guitar parts. -------------- http://www.thelightdream.net http://thelightdreams.bandcamp.com/ Back to top

Sweetpea Group: Members Posts: 1476 Joined: April 2007 Posted: Nov. 06 2007, 01:23 I like that term - "musical wilderness". It connotes something unpredictable, adventurous, and scary. -------------- "I'm no physicist, but technically couldn't Mike both be with the horse and be flying through space at the same time? (On account of the earth's orbit around the Sun and all that). So it seems he never had to make the choice after all. I bet he's kicking himself now." - clotty Back to top

jonnyw Group: Members Posts: 522 Joined: Oct. 2005 Posted: Nov. 06 2007, 14:03 It only took me one listen to know that Amarok to me was Probably the best album I have ever heard*. I didnt have to listen more than once - I "Got it" immediately. *Sentimenatlly there are more important ones, But technically this is the best album I have ever heard. -------------- Grand piano. Reed and pipe organ. Glockenspeil. Bass guitar. Vocal chords. Two slightly sampled electric guitars. The venitian effect. Digital sound processor. And Tubular bells. Solo music - http://-terrapin-.bebo.com Band music - http://www.rsimusic.com Back to top

trcanberra Group: Members Posts: 349 Joined: Jan. 2008 Posted: Jan. 22 2008, 07:05 Hi all - my first post - and about Amarok - yikes. After a 20 year hiatus I have finally begun to replace the Mike Oldfield LPs I sold all those years ago with CDs.  I once had every Mike album up to Discovery (which was one of my first CDs).  So, I decided to start my CD (re) collection with a new one - and it was Amarok. I was blown away on my first listen, and again on my 2nd just now.  I have a new favourite   I have also just bought Voyager, Incantations and Five Miles Out, with Boxed on back-order.  Will post with my thoughts in the appropriate forums (fora?). Back to top

The Caveman Group: Members Posts: 2178 Joined: Jan. 2008 Posted: Jan. 25 2008, 08:00 Amarok is (in my opinion)second only to Ommadawn.There's so much to hear that after getting it at the end of 1990 i see hear something new.Mike's trick of working in melodies in the bass or right in the higher registers is in full flow here.So trcanberra if after2 listens you're blown away enjoy the next 1000 listens-it just gets better with age.Enjoy! -------------- THE COMING OF THE GREAT WHITE HANDKERCHEIF IS NIGH. Back to top

TubularMike Group: Members Posts: 2 Joined: Feb. 2008 Posted: Feb. 08 2008, 18:47 Amarok Addiction... Amarok is ...is...is...ehhh EVERYTHING and MORE! I started of listening to Mike in early 80´s, and since "Five Miles Out" I´bought my copy of his albums on the day of the release (or sometimes, one or two days in advance). It´s always a magic moment...the world stops, nothing else exists. With Amarok everything stopped...  for a year! I didn´t listen to any other music during the first year after the release of Amarok. But I listened to Amarok at least once a day, sometimes as many as five... Why? Because it´s Amarok. Everthing else, from any other composer, seems pathetic and stupid afterwards. And still, after I´d listen to Amarok during a day, there are just two choices: 1. I either stop listening to music for the rest of the day or 2. I listen to Amarok once again. Back to top

Matt Group: Admins Posts: 1186 Joined: Nov. 2002 Posted: Feb. 09 2008, 06:08 OK TubularMike, that does sound like the most extreme form of Amarok addiction I've heard so far! I love listening to it in one go with eyes closed and making up imagery to go alongside it in my head. if the opportunity is there, i do often want to listen to it again immediatly afterword and, like TubularMike, nothing else quite seems good enough to listen to following on from Amarok... -------------- "I say I say I say I say, what's got three bottles and five eyes and no legs and two wheels" Back to top

Dirk Star Group: Members Posts: 1331 Joined: Sep. 2007 Posted: Feb. 09 2008, 12:35 1990 was the year when I finally gave in to the digital revolution and bought my first cd player.Mainly because vinyl releases of albums were starting to become more and more scarce really.And the fact that when you did manage to find a vinyl release of the record you were looking for.They`d be trying to cram that many tracks on each side of the disc.The sound quality was somewhere around those god awful ten songs a side compilation albums that people like K-Tel would bang out in the seventies.God only knows what a single vinyl release of Amarok would`ve sounded like?But I think it`s fair to say it would have made for some pretty frustating listening. As luck would have it whilst out on my very first compact disc shopping venture.I happened to stumble upon Amarok having no idea at the time of the album`s recent release.After the sheer personal horror of trying and miserably failing to listen to anything from his Earth Moving album.As soon as I read William Murray`s text inside,and the list of instruments Mike was playing whilst still in the record shop. I was convinced before I`d even heard it he`d recorded something special.Despite most of his recent recorded evidence to suggest otherwise I`ll add.Because to be perfectly honest at that moment in time. I`d almost resigned myself to never buying an Oldfield album ever again. Anyway as it turned out Amarok was the first cd that I ever listened to and imo is probably still the best album that I`ve listened to that wasn`t a re-issue of some kind.. "60:04...01" it blinked there at me.Even that moment caused a little shiver of excitement before I`d even pressed the play button.And then off he went on a quite unbelievable breathtaking musical journey that surely only Mike is capable of.One hour later and I was completely exhausted and lost for words as to how fantastic that album made me feel.For a number of months each subsequent play of that album just revealed more and more great things to me. As all it`s eclectic and brilliant parts fell perfectly into place somehow.It`s like one mans celebration of life through a whole history of music I feel.That album hardly came out of my cd drawer throughout the first year I owned it.I must`ve listened to it almost every day for a whole year at least.Until somehow or other that initial addiction eventually began to subside. Consequently Amarok is an album of Mike`s that I don`t listen to as often as some of his others these days.Despite my appreciation of it being no less diminshed I`ll add.Maybe I`m just scared that I`ll end up listening to it ad-infinitum again?Hopelessly unable to exorcise it`s hold upon me for the rest of eternity or something.Aaah well I`ll put it on my stereo and see what happens I guess?Lord have mercy I may never return.. Back to top

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