Welcome Guest
[ Log In :: Register ]


Question: Changeling: your opinions :: Total Votes:33
Poll choices Votes Statistics
Exellent 10  [30.30%]
Good 15  [45.45%]
OK 1  [3.03%]
Bit disappointing 6  [18.18%]
Very disappointing 1  [3.03%]
Guests cannot vote
Pages: (2) < 1 [2] >

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

Topic: Changeling: your opinions, Poll to evaluate your feelings< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
Ebony Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 172
Joined: June 2007
Posted: July 12 2007, 11:59

Quote (AlexS @ July 11 2007, 09:53)
Overall I found it a very interesting and enjoyable read. I now feel like I know Mike a little, and certainly feel closer to his music. There were many things he described in the book that I can relate to or connect with, and some of it has made me think about a few things. It's fair to say I've gained 'something' personally from reading it, as well as being inspired.

I could happily go back to the beginning and start reading it over again.


Pretty much my thoughts exactly.  :)

Ok, yes, if I had the choice, I'dve liked more detail about the last 15 or so years, but if Mike didn't want to write about it then I'm more than ok with that.  It is his autobiography after all.  Somehow I don't think he wrote it with what he thought people wanted to read or potential sales figures in mind, so whatever he left out he left out for a reason.

Besides, if I was writing my life story (not that there'd be much in it, mind! ),  I know I'd find it all too easy to concentrate on writing about happier times and gloss over the harder times.  Which seems to be the complete opposite of what Mike has done.

I'm just grateful to have been given an insight into his world.
Back to top
Profile PM 
AlexS Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 194
Joined: Nov. 2005
Posted: July 12 2007, 12:06

That's true - he has been more at peace with his inner self in recent years. I guess with that (hopefully) more tranquil state of mind, he has been able to get on enjoying life and his relationship with Fanny.

it was the early years which made him who he is, anf got him where he is. So from that point of view, there's no surprise it takes up the majority of the book.


--------------
http://www.thelightdream.net
http://thelightdreams.bandcamp.com/
Back to top
Profile PM WEB 
Tayniee Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 132
Joined: April 2008
Posted: May 14 2008, 17:25

Almost a year ago now since I read this book, (and a Happy Birthday tomorrow Mike.)..

I was particularly impressed with the way Mike was able to be so honest and describe in detail how his anxieties and panic attacks manifested. There was no self consciousness about it, he normalised the obsessive compulsive condition and in so doing validated other people's experiences, making it all ok and acceptable. As a therapist myself l believe his book did the psychological health profession a great service.


--------------
As we all know, endings are just beginnings.
Back to top
Profile PM 
Tati The Sentinel Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 3360
Joined: Feb. 2002
Posted: May 14 2008, 22:16

Quote (Tayniee @ May 14 2008, 19:25)
Almost a year ago now since I read this book, (and a Happy Birthday tomorrow Mike.)..

I was particularly impressed with the way Mike was able to be so honest and describe in detail how his anxieties and panic attacks manifested. There was no self consciousness about it, he normalised the obsessive compulsive condition and in so doing validated other people's experiences, making it all ok and acceptable. As a therapist myself l believe his book did the psychological health profession a great service.



Mike has proved that psychotherapy does work - when you really really wanna change if things don't work the way you want, to help you to find your place in this world, to learn how to cope with your life,with all the pressions and anxiety.As for me, psychotherapy has made the whole difference: I was much of an outsider like Mike and now I feel more confortable on my own skin.


Changeling has become more than a book to me - thank you Mike for sharing your story to the world,it has helped me so much to face off my own problems, learn more about myself and give a message of hope for the ones who are also different like yourself to find our place in this world  :)


--------------
"But it's always the outsider, the black sheep, that becomes the blockbuster." - Mike Oldfield, 2014

"I remember feeling that I'd been judged unfairly and that I was going to prove them wrong." - Peter Davison, 2011
Back to top
Profile PM WEB 
Liquid Friend Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 17
Joined: Dec. 2016
Posted: Dec. 16 2019, 12:46

Preamble: I find myself taking a critical position in a lot of my comments on these forums, so I’m going to apologize in advance – here I go again. Just for the record, I am a lifelong MO fan, and if anybody within earshot criticizes him, I STRIKE!, without mercy; only I get to do that. But I read Changeling in one sitting yesterday, and I HAVE to unburden myself. Here goes.

It wasn’t “a musical autobiography”, so I won’t fault him for not focusing more on the writing and recording of the albums, even though that was what I was hoping for. But just to paint a picture: when he started writing about TB I put on the record, and I was particularly pleased to play side two twice as I was reading about it. That was the last time that particular reading-listening tactic worked though. Most of the time after that I only got half-way through the first track before he moved on to the next album. But fair is fair, he never made any promises to any other effect.
    Further, I much appreciated his candidness about his father and, of course, his mother. The scene with the two of them sitting at home, getting drunk together was heart-wrenching.

I think it’s fair to say the theme of the book is something like ‘psychological insight/growth’, ‘dealing with your childhood demons’ or something like that. And it’s the apparent lack of insight that riled me up the most when I read the book.

A trifle to begin with. Everyone knows punks hate dinosaurs. In the late 70’s media turned on progressive rock in favour of punk. So far, so good. But here’s Mike’s final analysis: “When these aggressive, spitting, swearing punks came along, I think the ‘powers that be’ [the media] thought they’d found something they could control, some people who would co-operate.” Really? The ‘spitting, swearing punks’ are more likely to co-operate with the media than the progressive rock artists? Granted, for a long time MO didn’t like to do interviews (after Exegesis in ’78 he did though), but that is a cross-eyed, blinded-by-bitterness theory of why punk kicked progressive rock off the charts.
    My point being that you can love your own work, but you can’t call people idiots for not loving it, not without looking pretty immature. Either take pride in sticking to your guns (which Mike often does), or join the winning team (which Mike does with Platinum and others).

Something more serious now. He is open about his regrets about not being a great father all the time, which is honorable. But he does present himself as someone who has learned about parenting – if only negatively – from his own parents, and from psychoanalysis. Then this:

“One day I sat down and worked out exactly how much it had cost to bring me up – all my education, my food, the first guitar, the Transit van and everything. I think it worked out at about £28,000, so I got £28,000 in cash, and put it in a little briefcase. Then I got it dropped off at my father’s surgery. I think he was quite impressed. I hope my children do the same for me one day!”

WTF? That is the equivalent of saying to your parent “Screw your unconditional love; I put a price on it: here, take it back!” He is not doing it because he is now rich and can spread the wealth; it’s a father-son economy, converted into cash. Honestly, what parent wouldn’t be offended by that? Mike wouldn’t know, because he just ‘dropped it off’, not even delivering it personally, with an explanation. And my God, his children are now expected to pay him back for the expenses they “owe” him? Not cool, Mike. You did NOT understand this whole “come to terms with your parents” concept. First complaining about being paranoid about who are your real friends and who are your paid employees, and then paying off you father. There’s a blind spot.

Then there’s the caning of the lion (now my euphemism for masturbation), mentioned previously in this forum. Yuk.

I posted a previous comment about how he deals with Maggie Reilly, but here I go again, because it has bugged me all day: “One day, I just decided I would book a singer for the next day. Maggie Reilly used to be a girlfriend of a keyboard roadie in my band. I knew she had a good voice, as she had done some backing vocals on some of the tours.” This is MO talking about the birth of his greatest commercial hit “Moonlight Shadow”, on Crises 1983.
    Now, Maggie Reilly had already put out an album (in Cado Belle 1976, unknown band to me), but it is shameful to introduce her in his autobiography as a ‘girlfriend of a keyboard roadie’. She sang the shit out of QE2 and Five Miles Out previous to Crises, he could not possibly have forgotten that. Remember those albums? She ruled. Now he is reducing her to a low grade groupie that he “discovered”. He goes out of his way to stress how he had to teach her “Moonlight Shadow” “syllable by syllable”. Hm, I’ve seen live shows, and MO the perfectionist makes lots more mistakes than Maggie. Just saying, maybe not work so hard to defame the person who was integral to giving your career a second life.

Sorry, my Liquid Friend is calling, gotto go.


--------------
Watch out for snakes!
Back to top
Profile PM 
nightspore Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 4759
Joined: Mar. 2008
Posted: Dec. 16 2019, 17:58

Quote (Liquid Friend @ Dec. 16 2019, 12:46)
, I am a lifelong MO fan,

Odd that you didn't show up here until 2016. But then there's more fakery on this forum than in a Singapore bazaar  :cool: (I remember going to one such bazaar to buy music, and was told that a tape by "Pink J-loyd" (a typo clearly transferred from some wheeler-dealer's scrawled notes to the fake cover designer) was told that that was what the band called themselves before taking the name Pink Floyd.)
Back to top
Profile PM 
Liquid Friend Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 17
Joined: Dec. 2016
Posted: Dec. 16 2019, 18:20

Oddly specific Singapore story.

--------------
Watch out for snakes!
Back to top
Profile PM 
qjamesfloyd Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 1349
Joined: April 2001
Posted: Dec. 17 2019, 02:36

I wouldn't be to concerned about all this, Mike has said things in the past and then contradicted himself years later. But I would say we all do, the only difference is we are not in the public eye with every word we write/speak taken as gospel. And these autobiography things happen a lot, in Richard Bransons  there is not much about Mike at all, and it could be argued Mike had a major hand in the success Richard's life and career. Also in George Harrison's autobiography, I Me Mine, John Lennon was upset as to how little he was mentioned.
Back to top
Profile PM 
First_Excursion Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 279
Joined: Aug. 2012
Posted: Dec. 20 2019, 07:34

Quote (Liquid Friend @ Dec. 16 2019, 12:46)
She sang the shit out of QE2 and Five Miles Out previous to Crises...

You are dead right, I agree and nobody's perfect, certainly not Mike and the book is awful.  It's no doubt however those same personality quirks gave him the audacity to test out the nutty musical ideas that still have me fascinated decades later.
Back to top
Profile PM 
larstangmark Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 1759
Joined: Mar. 2005
Posted: Dec. 23 2019, 09:32

I read Herbie Hancock's biography recently, and was equally disappointed. Considering the amount of success he's had, he's still very much focused on the dogs that barked at him along the way. And then there's his obsession of teaming up with other superstars and intellectuals that obviously strokes his ego. And for someone who's consistently been inventing and daring to take chances, it's baffling to learn that he equals the quality of the music with the size of crowd that he manages to attract.

Sometimes it's better just to listen to the music. Or talk to the studio engineer, cause that's the only who person who seems to remember the studio sessions. :P


--------------
"There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste"
Mark E Smith
Back to top
Profile PM WEB 
29 replies since May 29 2007, 14:01 < Next Oldest | Next Newest >

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

Pages: (2) < 1 [2] >






Forums | Links | Instruments | Discography | Tours | Articles | FAQ | Artwork | Wallpapers
Biography | Gallery | Videos | MIDI / Ringtones | Tabs | Lyrics | Books | Sitemap | Contact

Mike Oldfield Tubular.net
Mike Oldfield Tubular.net