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Topic: Earth Moving is not that bad..., ...it's just a pop album.< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
Ugo Offline




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Posted: Jan. 28 2003, 18:21

I'm getting sick and tired of people saying that Earth Moving is the worst album Mike made. But at the same time I'm starting to understand why people say so: because it's a Mike Oldfield album. :D No, I'm not mad. :)  Here we are all in a discussion board dedicated to Mike Oldfield, so of course if we view EM as a Mike Oldfield album we can safely say that it's a bad album, because Mike did much better things in his career, and EM was done just because Virgin needed a commercial album and Mike just played along with them. But what would have happened if EM had come out without Mike Oldfield's name on the cover (not even in the credits), but with the name of a fantasy band on it [Do any of you remember the Traveling Wilburies? ;)] ? IMHO, radios would have started playing this very good pop album by this new up-and-coming band, but then people would have heard the unmistakable sound of THAT guitar and they would have thought: hey, but that's Mike Oldfield playing in this. And the album would've been a huge hit. :) If I were Mike and if I had a time machine, I'd zap right back to 1989 and put out EM with an invented name.

So why don't all of you people out there saying that EM is sh*t try considering it in this perspective? I think you'll appreciate it more.

[P.S. If anyone is offended by this post, I'm sorry. It is intended as a personal outburst and not aimed to anyone in particular. Olivier and Korgscrew, if you or anyone else finds this post offensive, you may delete it.]


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maria Offline




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Posted: Jan. 28 2003, 18:44

Quote
But what would have happened if EM had come out without Mike Oldfield's name on the cover (not even in the credits), but with the name of a fantasy band on it


almost sure i wouldn't have bought it... before buying it, i had listened to some tracks in a tape recorded with mixed stuff... i didn't much like what i listened to, but since they were just two i thought that the rest could be different. when i listened to the whole of it, i still thought the same.

i can understand u, but any perspective i consider, when i listen to it, i don't like it. it's not that it's a s**t, but that simply i don't like it.
:)


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TimHighfield Offline




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Posted: Jan. 29 2003, 02:09

I have to say, Ugo, that I disagree with basically everything you've said in your post. My main reason for not liking EM is not because it is a pure pop album, but because it is a bad pop album. The lyrics aren't flash hot, some of the songs are rather reliant on the old keyboards/synths, it just doesn't sound too good. I will listen to pop music if it is of a decent quality - Mike can write some good pop music, even some of HO hints at this. But EM doesn't.

As for releasing it under a different name, I reckon that anyone who picked up on it may have thought 'what rubbish' and ignored it. I wasn't listening to music much in 1989, but from what has survived the 80s much of Earth Moving could have been more of the same rubbish that was around then. If it had been rather different to what was around, or just better written, arranged, whatever, then maybe it could have made an impact. But as it is, just with a different name? To be honest, I'd say no chance. The Traveling Wilburys is different - what I've heard of it, and what still gets played today on the radio, is quality pop music, seemingly unforced with a bunch of good mates and competent musicians having fun together - indeed, End of the Line is one of my favourite songs from any artist. And not because it's George Harrison, or Tom Petty, or Roy Orbison, or Bob Dylan, or Jeff Lynne, but because it is a decent song with a great singalong chorus, decent lyrics and a cool, instantly recognisable intro. ;) And I just can't honestly compare it to Innocent, Hostage or most of the other EM songs.
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Korgscrew Offline




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Posted: Jan. 29 2003, 08:39

I have to say that I also wouldn't have bought it had it not been by Mike. Now that I have it, I quite like some of it, but I feel that, for me, most of Mike's best songwriting and production work lies elsewhere (I'd nominate Pictures In The Dark for one).
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raven4x4x Offline




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Posted: Feb. 02 2003, 02:32

Earth Moving is voted one of Mike's worst albums mainly because it is different from what Mike normally does. I don't find it unbearable to listen to, it certainly has a nice, relaxing feel for me. The best song on Earth Moving is Far Country, mainly because of the guitar solo (well, duet really). I do agree that if Mike wants to write songs he should work on his lyrics: with songs like Innocent I would feel embarrased playing them to other people.

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Man In The Rain Offline




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Posted: Feb. 20 2003, 15:22

If Earth Moving is considered by many Mike's worst album, then that's the general consensus of his fans. It doesn't mean that people neccessarily hate the album - indeed I think its not tooooooo bad, the melodies are catchy and make a great pop song in Runaway Son, there are a few moments of beauty such as Far Country, but I still believe that it is the absolute worst album that Mike has ever made. Well, maybe Heaven's Open may just slightly lose out, but that has Music From The Balcony which is great. With Earth Moving, it just smacks of wasted opportunity. Mike can write fantastic pop songs - Moonlight Shadow, Five Miles Out, Family Man, Islands - and then this has pap like Innocent ("speak to me, like the very last speak"). This is the only album that makes me cringe to listen to, and one of three that I wouldn't have bought had it not been by Mike (with Heaven's Open and Discovery being the other two). If it had come out by a different artist, I would actually consider it worse, because it would seem as if it were the best that group or artist could do. As I know that it is by Mike, I am aware that he was aiming to record this type of album, and that he went on to far better things.

Ollie


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bugular tell Offline




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Posted: April 04 2003, 12:26

I agree, Earth Moving is a very underated album, and i think the reason for that is that everyone expects Mike to write instumental albums all the time, imho EM is one of my fave's because it is different, soppy songs, pop songs, rock songs its all there and while i admit they are not really chart material, they are still very catchy i try to keep an open mind towards the styles that mike seems to go through and find almost all the results superb!  :)

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c_haese Offline




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Posted: Dec. 22 2003, 09:50

Just to add my 2 cents here, I like EM even though it is quite different from Mike's other albums. I can see why many fans say that this is Mike's worst album, but that doesn't make it necessarily a bad album in the vast universe of commercial music. The worst of Mike Oldfield is still better than the best of Britney Spears :)

Cheers,

Carsten Haese
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Sir Mustapha Offline




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Posted: Dec. 23 2003, 08:49

At least, you have to give Earth Mowing (yup, I like calling it like that ;) ) a bit of credit because it is, at least, a simple, unpretentious pop album. I, personally, would consider a "bad" Earth Mowing better than a bad outburst of pompous and self-indulgent pseudo-artistic dreck like [censored]... and stop being mean to Heaven's Open.

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PICTURES IN THE DARK Offline




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Posted: Jan. 16 2004, 19:46

I like Earth Moving. And I'm also starting to get sick of all the negative things that people say about it. If a Oldfield album is not instrumental, it doesn't mean that it's a bad album. Besides, Earth Moving has some really beautiful songs (BLUE NIGHT, Holy, Far country...)
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olracUK Offline




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Posted: Jan. 16 2004, 20:33

Well, for my thoughts, i listen to EM on a fairly high rotation in the car. But, it is basically soft rock for a soft audience. Heavens open does the job much better.
So yeah, one of his worst, but still a league above voyager IMHO


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Navaira Offline




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Posted: Jan. 31 2005, 04:58

As I mentioned before, I like Earth Moving a lot; I think it's aged better than other 80s albums (try listening to Sandra for instance :P it's quite unbelievable that her songs have EVER sounded modern and to think someone has bought them... worse even, *I* had one of her albums!;). Just choose your comparisons right -- of course EM is not the best long instrumental Mike has ever made, it's not the best heavy-metal album ever and it's not the best collection of Polka tunes. But if I was ever asked to point out the best in the Eighties' over-the-top hairy rock genre or soft-rock in general, I'd choose this over The Final Countdown (now that's a song that aged badly...) anyday.

Also, I'm glad that Oldfield has made this album and not anyone else; because if it was released under the name Bonzo And The Gypsies, I probably wouldn't have ever bothered checking it out.


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Alan D Offline




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Posted: Jan. 31 2005, 06:27

Far Country is such a wonderful song, and so superbly, movingly performed, that Earth Moving is worth buying for it alone. Instead of saying that Earth Moving is one of MO's worst albums (whatever that means), I'd prefer to say that it contains, in Far Country, one of the finest achievements of his entire career.
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raven4x4x Offline




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Posted: Jan. 31 2005, 06:57

Quote (Alan D @ Jan. 30 2005, 18:27)
I'd prefer to say that it contains, in Far Country, one of the finest achievements of his entire career.


I second that!! Far Country is perhaps my favourite of Mike's songs, certainly my favourite of his quite, gentler ones. Holy is also quite a good song. However, this album contains too many songs I don't like (all the ones I haven't mentioned, basically) for me to consider it anywhere near a good album. In fact, I would have to rate it one of my least favourite albums. That certainly doesn't mean I consider it a bad album (nothing with Far Country on it could ever be bad), but compared to all of Mike's other albums this is the one I like least.  

And no, I do not dislike it simply because it is an album full of pop songs. I dislike it because it is an album full of pop songs that I don't like. If you made Discovery a fully song-based album by removing The Lake and adding Moonlight Shadow, Flying Start and Pictures in the Dark I would absolutely adore it, but the fact is that I don't find most of  the Earth Moving songs anywhere near as enjoyable as these three. So, if you do like this album try not to accuse those who don't like it of bias against all songs.  :)

Lastly, would I have purchased this album if it didn't have Mike's name on the front? It depends on whether Far Country was released as a single or not  ;).


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Sir Mustapha Offline




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Posted: Jan. 31 2005, 11:07

If I were to grade the songs in Earth Moving, it would be kind of like this:

Holy (A+)
Hostage (C-)
Far Country (A-)
Innocent (C+)
Runaway Son (A-)
See The Light (B-)
Earth Moving (C)
Blue Night (B+)
Nothing But (B-)
Bridge To Paradise (A-)

So, the good-to-bad ratio here is pretty much 50/50, which I consider fairly mediocre, mostly because the good songs aren't that good (except for Holy).

For the fans of Far Country and Holy here, have you heard King Crimson's "Matte Kudasai"? Now there's a fantastic ballad, and a great place to check Adrian Belew's singing and guitar playing.


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Alan D Offline




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Posted: Jan. 31 2005, 14:11

Quote (Sir Mustapha @ Jan. 31 2005, 16:07)
Far Country (A-)
Runaway Son (A-)
Bridge To Paradise (A-)

Hard to comment here really. For me, to put these three songs alongside each other with an A- grade would be the same kind of thing as saying that Rembrandt, Rolf Harris, and my great-aunt Mildred are all pretty useful with a paintbrush.

So for once (and after all, silence is golden), I'm lost for words.....
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Sir Mustapha Offline




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Posted: Jan. 31 2005, 14:48

I don't know why, really:

Far Country = Beautiful. A tad generic and thin-sounding, but the guitar duet saves it.
Runaway Son = Nothing special, but fun and catchy as heck.
Bridge To Paradise = Almost overblown, but still catchy.

I just know plenty of songs better than Far Country, that's that.


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hiawatha Offline




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Posted: Jan. 31 2005, 21:09

I tend to think of the term "pop" as applying to a quality-free subgenre of rock that is populated by Britney Spears, and is not populated by creative geniuses such as Mike Oldfield. (Michael Jackson, as he is now, truly earns the title King of Pop). Therefore, I would not go as far as to call EM a "pop" album.

Here's my ratings:

Holy (B+)
Hostage (B+)
Far Country (B+)
Innocent ©
Runaway Son (D)
See The Light (B-)
Earth Moving (B)
Blue Night (A-)
Nothing But (B-)
Bridge To Paradise (A+)


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raven4x4x Offline




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Posted: Feb. 01 2005, 00:55

Quote (Alan D @ Jan. 31 2005, 02:11)

Quote (Sir Mustapha @ Jan. 30 2005, 23:07)
Far Country (A-)
Runaway Son (A-)
Bridge To Paradise (A-)


Hard to comment here really. For me, to put these three songs alongside each other with an A- grade would be the same kind of thing as saying that Rembrandt, Rolf Harris, and my great-aunt Mildred are all pretty useful with a paintbrush.

So for once (and after all, silence is golden), I'm lost for words.....


Why? Is it so hard to believe that others don't love Far Country like you do? You (and I) may hear some quality in it that the other songs don't have, but that certainly doesn't mean that everyone else will.

Quote (hiawatha @ Jan. 31 2005, 09:09)
I tend to think of the term "pop" as applying to a quality-free subgenre of rock that is populated by Britney Spears, and is not populated by creative geniuses such as Mike Oldfield.


I strongly disagree. What 'pop' means now may be quality-free to you, but i feel it's unfair to condemn a whole genre like that. I agree with you that most pop around nowadays is close to quality-free, but pop songs are not automatically bad. What about Mike's songs during the 70s? Surely some of those have to be considered pop songs?

Quote (Sir Mustapha @ Jan. 30 2005, 23:07)
the good songs aren't that good (except for Holy).


So an A- isn't that good?? My word you're harsh.  ;)  And I take it your attitude to this album has improved since you wrote your review on your site.


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Alan D Offline




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Posted: Feb. 01 2005, 04:11

Quote (raven4x4x @ Feb. 01 2005, 05:55)
Why? Is it so hard to believe that others don't love Far Country like you do?

Wooooah! No, it's not hard to believe at all! What I meant was that I don't know how to respond, when two sets of criteria about what makes a good song are so completely different - as mine and Sir M's clearly are in this case. There seemed to be too much ground to cover before we could make any headway.

But in fact, I also realised that Far Country is so important to me that I didn't want to try to defend it in some way, even though I did want to reassert my outstandingly high regard for it.
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