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ian Group: Members Posts: 473 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: Aug. 12 2007, 11:57 Sounds like a classical rendition of "Tubular Bells 2 the early stages" from the CD single of Sentinel. To say, I am the repetetive piano man is a bit strange. Its like saying "I can't really come up with anything else" Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: Aug. 12 2007, 14:13 Quote (ian @ Aug. 12 2007, 11:57) Sounds like a classical rendition of "Tubular Bells 2 the early stages" from the CD single of Sentinel. To say, I am the repetetive piano man is a bit strange. Its like saying "I can't really come up with anything else" Well to be fair Mike has come up with a lot else but he also actively  sometimes seems to play into the hands of those critics who say he's a one trick pony. Those two radio snippets are so short its almost impossible to get much of a sense of them. The second clip sounded the most promising. The first is a bit too Tubular Bellsy but we'll need to hear the rest of it before it'll make any sense. Back to top

larstangmark Group: Members Posts: 1759 Joined: Mar. 2005 Posted: Aug. 12 2007, 14:37 Quote (TOBY @ Aug. 12 2007, 14:13) Well to be fair Mike has come up with a lot else but he also actively  sometimes seems to play into the hands of those critics who say he's a one trick pony. That's the way I see it too. He wasn't a one trick pony at all to begin with. There wasn't a repetivie piano figure on any of Mike's post-TB albums up until Crises. I never understod the sudden need to be "mr Tubular Bells", when he spent so much time proving he can do more than just that. Or perhaps he's trying to make the piano figure his "signature" that will be instantly recognizable. Most people I know it's Mike when they hear his guitar playing, not neceserily when they here the ostinato piano stuff. -------------- "There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste" Mark E Smith Back to top

captainjjb Group: Members Posts: 310 Joined: Feb. 2006 Posted: Aug. 12 2007, 15:14 I thought it had more TB2 about it than TB1.  Can't wait to hear him play the guitar again though!   What a wonderful exciting time for Mike... and his fans. Back to top

Harmono Group: Members Posts: 759 Joined: May 2005 Posted: Aug. 12 2007, 15:29 Quote (Velodynamic @ Aug. 11 2007, 08:56) OMG...it was TWO teasers!   At first I thought that the first 'snippet' was from the orchestral TB (wich I haven't heard). But I think it was transforming a bit before the clip ended. Interesting!   It did sound like it was transforming at the "end". Even a more obvious note to note reference to TB will not bother me if it's that short. Back to top

Velodynamic Group: Members Posts: 119 Joined: June 2006 Posted: Aug. 12 2007, 19:19 Quote (TOBY @ Aug. 12 2007, 20:13) Quote (ian @ Aug. 12 2007, 11:57) To say, I am the repetetive piano man is a bit strange. Its like saying "I can't really come up with anything else" Well to be fair Mike has come up with a lot else but he also actively  sometimes seems to play into the hands of those critics who say he's a one trick pony. I guess there is a bit of irony behind that statement and also an expression of slight shyness from Mike's behalf. He's only human with a great sense of humor and I think those're very lovely characteristics about Mike. No matter how famous he is, he never brag about his skills because he don't have to. He just "is what he is" -Mike Oldfield. I also think he was refering to other people around the world wich barely knows the name Mike Oldfield but do recognize the Tubular Bells piano pattern. After all that was the beginning wich blasted off his enormous career, so part of the statement is pure truth sort of, even if he has made lots and lots of other successful things. -------------- "...I've never seen a connection between music and politics. It's like trying to connect football with croquet." -M.O. Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Aug. 12 2007, 21:29 Quote (larstangmark @ Aug. 11 2007, 14:54) I now love the fact that it's a classical album, because while Mike is still a good composer, I have started to dislike his ideas when it comes to intrumentation and production. Goodbye programmed ethnic percussion, hello good tunes. That's one of my main feelings, too. But I still have the faint feeling that, somehow, he came up with a "Glorfindel box" to produce the sound of "Orchestra sounding like synthesizers", just to complete the link with Tubular Bells, or something... I'm looking forwards to this album, I most definitely am. -------------- 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

ironmike Group: Members Posts: 5 Joined: Aug. 2007 Posted: Aug. 13 2007, 04:30 Well, I think the marketing guys at Universal are to be blamed for choosing a very Tubular Bells-like sequence to start promote the album. And I think this is somehow risky, as both die hard fans and people that heard very little of Mike might start to think this is just another TB, now in classical version and this fact might deter them from listening/buying this new piece of work, otherwise very promising. Back to top

Tati The Sentinel Group: Members Posts: 3360 Joined: Feb. 2002 Posted: Aug. 13 2007, 12:08 Quote (ironmike @ Aug. 13 2007, 06:30) Well, I think the marketing guys at Universal are to be blamed for choosing a very Tubular Bells-like sequence to start promote the album. Gosh,and it continues the saga "Mike Oldfield is Tubular Bells". -------------- "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

north star Group: Members Posts: 4 Joined: Aug. 2007 Posted: Aug. 13 2007, 12:46 Ive been a Mike Oldfield fan for nearly 30 years and was REALLY looking forward to the new classical CD..... but when I heard the 1st extract...I had to replay it again and again...i thought the interviewer was playing a bit of Tubular Bells to remind people who Mike is....but it wasnt Tubular bells it was a bit from the new Cd....My heart sunk.......... Who is guiding Mike on this.... He doesnt need to keep re hashing the same riff/motf .... I thought that MOTS was going to be the one that finaly gave Mike back his credability... Tub bells 1 /2/3 Mill/bell...Tub bells 2003 ,Live,quad ,etc,etc,etc..... I like many people on this forum will buy and listen to anything by Mike....but his last Cd "light and shade" was awfull..... I really thought that he realised this to ,and was about to forget selling out,listening to peolpe and do something from the heart and original.... But what is the first thing we hear a Tubular bells riff in there... Its such a cheap trick..and will give the press and everybody else the reason to say that he is just a one trick pony..... We all know that he can do it without going back to that same riff/formula.....Ommadawn,Incantations....not a referance to the original Tub bells... sorry to be so negative...but I want Mike to be back and having some proper respect .....he wont get it by sticking those bl**dy seven notes in YET AGAIN.... Back to top

larstangmark Group: Members Posts: 1759 Joined: Mar. 2005 Posted: Aug. 13 2007, 13:42 I don't think it's that depressing that there's a TB reference in this piece. As a matter of fact I don't think he developed that idea too much to begin with. Hergest Ridge was a 180 degree turn with mostly legato figures and slow guitar arpreggios, and Ommadawn relied on more traditional folk patterns. Incantations lived in a musical world of its own. When Mike decided to start recycling the TB themes (apart from Crises, which seemed more like a celebratory reference to TBs 10th anniversaty) he was more focused on making a new glossy and modern environemt for that old piano figure to exist within (TBII and TBIII) rather than elaborating on the original theme. This time Mike had to focus on the composition alone.  Look at Philip Glass, he did record after record using variations on the same fast 16th notes arpreggios, and noone threw tomatoes on him for being "mr Einstain on the Beach". Marc Bolan recycled the same four or five chords for 13 years doing only slight (but oh so important) modifications. What Mike has recycled much more than his TB introduction is the Am/G/Em chord sequence. But on the other hand, that's hardly a selling point. -------------- "There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste" Mark E Smith Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Aug. 13 2007, 14:18 Quote (north star @ Aug. 13 2007, 17:46) he wont get it by sticking those bl**dy seven notes in YET AGAIN.... Well they're not the same seven notes...so end of argument :> The Tubular Bells opening riff is - if I've counted correctly - 30 notes (of course they aren't 30 different notes, the same one is played more than once, but it's a full 30 notes until the sequence repeats completely). If you purely count the notes of the scale used, it comes to 6 if I'm not mistaken, and if Mike wasn't allowed to use the same scale more than once in his work, then I suspect he'd have given up long ago... Yes, it's a similar pattern. So was the opening to Amarok, yet I've never heard anyone complain about that one...the degree of similarity is roughly the same, I'd say. The theme develops in quite a different way, to my ears, and the pattern moves around a lot more. I dare say it sounds more complex than Tubular Bells to me. Still...unless you're a partner or shareholder in Oldfield Music Ltd, I'd suggest not worrying about how Mike is seen by the press and the general public. That's his problem to deal with. How he's seen by the public doesn't change the music (though I'm of course aware that public perception can guide an artist in a certain direction) - it affects only the sales, and I thought most fans felt that Mike shouldn't be bothered by how much money he's making. Has it never occurred to the nay sayers out there that Mike might actually like the music he's making? Composers do have motifs and sequences that they like, little patterns, certain turnarounds, chords, favourite cadences, structures and all the rest...those tend to come out most when music is written 'from the heart'. That inevitably results in certain parts of certain works sounding similar. I've heard it with Bach, I've heard it with Beethoven, I've heard it with Elgar, with Pete Townshend, Paul McCartney and Jean Michel Jarre. It's not just confined to music either - look at all the pictures of sunflowers that Van Gough painted, or the number of times themes which recur in the paintings of Dalí and Magritte. Of course, posting this is probably doing about as much good as urinating in a hurricane...trolls seem to prefer ignorance. Still, at least I can say I tried. Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Aug. 13 2007, 14:56 Quote (Korgscrew @ Aug. 13 2007, 19:18) Composers do have motifs and sequences that they like, little patterns, certain turnarounds, chords, favourite cadences, structures and all the rest...those tend to come out most when music is written 'from the heart'. That inevitably results in certain parts of certain works sounding similar. Yes, yes, yes! That 'from the heart' comment is the key. I've just listened to those tiny clips for the first time, and they come up as fresh as morning dew. I love the fact that listening to the first one makes me recall Tubular Bells, because it's such a new look at it that I feel like laughing out loud: 'You didn't know I could do this, did you?' It's like a little private nod from Mike to me. I can almost see the momentary grin of pleasure on his face before he gets down to business in earnest. Listen to any Vaughan Williams symphony: you know from the first few notes that it's him. Of course you do! This is why we have favourite composers among the greats - not because they compose to a formula, but because they follow their heart, their soul. They write like they do because they can't write any other way and still be true. Go into an art gallery. You can spot a Monet, a Rembrandt, a Constable from fifty yards off, and that recognition makes you smile, like seeing an old friend. Get close and you can read the brushstrokes almost like a signature, but with every picture these guys will show you something new - just like Vaughan Williams does with every symphony - but what we see or hear has to come to us filtered through their perceptions, their temperament. Art of any kind, from any artist worth attending to, is like that. I'm thrilled to bits with the little I've heard of Mike's new piece, so far. I feared that he'd somehow get lost in the orchestral transformation. I know now that he won't. Back to top

AlexS Group: Members Posts: 194 Joined: Nov. 2005 Posted: Aug. 13 2007, 15:41 Well now I'm even more excited! I like the way it referenced TB at the start. It's not the same melody, but something familiar, and it seems the rest of the album is very different to the opening piece. Even though I've only heard those small clips, it sounds lush and beautiful. It has been referred to as "classic" Oldfield - and I think it certainly will be - NOT because of a slightly similar opening riff to TB, but for the ideas, the evolution and orchestration. It must have been a dream come true for Mike to produce an epic album with a full orchestra. Classical music was such a major influence on his own work, it will be nice to finally hear his approach. In the meantime, let's not criticise what we haven't properly heard!! -------------- http://www.thelightdream.net http://thelightdreams.bandcamp.com/ Back to top

larstangmark Group: Members Posts: 1759 Joined: Mar. 2005 Posted: Aug. 13 2007, 15:45 Quote (Korgscrew @ Aug. 13 2007, 14:18) Has it never occurred to the nay sayers out there that Mike might actually like the music he's making? I think it has occured to at least a couple of "nay sayers" that we're dealing with an artist who seems more than a little concious of how he's perceived by the public; an artist that has gone on record saying he's done several albums of music he didn't care for. Naysaying is not trolling. -------------- "There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste" Mark E Smith Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: Aug. 13 2007, 15:46 I don't really see how anybody can pass judgment on MOTS from what was played on that show. I just listed to them again and first clip does sound like it becomes quite interesting as the presenter starts speaking, it kind of drops down quite nicely and the second clip sounds pleasant enough. What I'm really looking forward to most in this album is that there will be absolutely none of those dull drum machine and synth pad sounds that have been all over a fair amount of Mike's work since TSODE (certainly over the last few albums) MOTS, in relative terms, can only sound fresh and new. As for worrying about Mike's credibility and how he's perceived by the general public. It doesn't worry me as much as it used to but I guess I would like to see him get credit where credit is due by the music industry/media, it is like he doesn't exist these days which is a shame. I'm also pretty sick fed up of arguing his corner in many a pub discussion about music and the fact that he's actually written some incredible highly original music in his long career and not just cheesy naff AOR and bland chill out. Back to top

Quicksilver Group: Members Posts: 85 Joined: July 2005 Posted: Aug. 13 2007, 16:13 Here you can find a funny track made by a spanish fan. It's called "The repetitive piano sequence man"   http://p200server.us.es/mikeoldfield/detallearchivo.asp?id=4356 Back to top

Tati The Sentinel Group: Members Posts: 3360 Joined: Feb. 2002 Posted: Aug. 13 2007, 16:21 One thing I've noticed and liked a lot - Mike hasn't lost the feeling to create great melodies -------------- "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

north star Group: Members Posts: 4 Joined: Aug. 2007 Posted: Aug. 13 2007, 17:01 I know we shouldnt worry what the press and general public percieve Mike oldfield's music...but it would be great for once for Mike to regain his position and standing in the public eye..... But if the album only sells say 10,000 cos it gets panned and the critics only say its another re hash of Tubular Bells.....and doesnt get the exposure cos people on hearing that extract just think its the same old thing again ,and who knows the rest of the Cd could be "his masterpiece"...but only us elite followers get to hear it..... He just makes it all so hard for himself by sticking that theme in..... as you say... "incantations lived in a world of its own"....thats my point.... why couldnt this new work be 100% original..... As i said I LOVE his music ,but it used to hurt when time after time ,instead of something new...Tub Bells was re hashed...what a wast of time...and the only peolpe that benifited was each new label that Mike signed to...cos that all had their own "Tub bells".... we all know its a great riff...but so was beethoven's fifth.DA DA DA ...Da......but you dont hear it on every other piece of music he wrote....If I want to hear that classic Mike Oldfield riff,i'll play the original ...cos it hasnt been bettered in any of the future uses.... Sorry to rant on.....But I was a tad disapointed... HOPEFULLY as you say the extract we've heard will come and go and will not affecct what I hope will be a classic!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: Aug. 13 2007, 17:24 I know what you're getting at North Star and I must admit I only take the argument that musicians and artists are always repeating themselves so whats the harm in sticking a TB like riff in MOTS so far. For me Mike has taken it beyond to far with all the TB's out there but its his artistic grave.... Anyway thats as far as this debate goes until I hear the whole thing. In context it hopefully sounds superb. Back to top

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