Tubular.net :: Mike Oldfield Forums Discussion, news, reviews, fan music, and more.
	Search :: Members :: Help :: Guidelines

Pages: (3) < [1] 2 3 > [ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

a_r_schulz Group: Members Posts: 425 Joined: Sep. 2001 Posted: Nov. 29 2004, 06:19 Just a few first impressions from my PC at work (blush-don't tell my boss, please ) with WinDVD and small PC 'tin boxes', so sound check will have to wait for home tonight - though all tracks say 'digitally remastered 2004'. Got the DVD this morning at a local shop for 17 Eur - not a bad bargain for what I've got, except that Virgin seems to be a litle short on paper - just the sleeve sheet, with track list printed on the inside, no booklet. It's All-region, PAL 4:3, Dolby Digital Stereo, 2:50 total, produced and designed by Abbey Road Interactive. - Someone at Virgin put some really nice work into the menus - very pleasant to view, and I had no problem to read the titles even in the standard playback window on my 19" tube. I'll see if it's different on TV tonight. - All those video clips not on the original Elements VHS tape are IMHO already worth every cent of it (compare the track lists! ). Full version of the TB BBC recording is gorgeous, including that we (I, at least) evetually get the full cast list at the end - was a little surprised that Pierre Moerlen was already participating. Don Alfonso, as someone already stated somewhere else, is some Benny Hill'ish slapstick sketch, quite fitting the lyrics. Would just have been the cream topping if it had been the extended version ('hashed meat' verse missing). Now that's already ~95 minutes of video clips, almost twice compared to the ~60 minus interviews of the original VHS Elements. - So now the bad news - from skipping through it, 'Incantations part 1' from the 'Space Movie' is just that - nothing of 'Orchestral Hergest Ridge' or other of the otherwise unpublished tracks - sigh! Well, at least no voice-overs, just occasionally some roaring launching and exploding rockets - another 17 minutes. - Also, no trace of the announced alternate 'Innocent' clip either. - Follows the full Islands part of the 'Wind Chimes' tape - nothing new for me, but saves the tape - 42 more minutes of pleasure. - Finally Mike's interview from the original Elements release, interrupted by excerpts of the music clips, total of ~13 minutes. All in all, IMHO a perfect Christmas gift for every Oldfield fan - if it had come two weeks later, that is, since now every true fan will already have bought it long before X-Mas Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Nov. 30 2004, 10:10 Quote (a_r_schulz @ Nov. 29 2004, 11:19) - So now the bad news - from skipping through it, 'Incantations part 1' from the 'Space Movie' is just that It's actually not even that, but sections from Parts 3 and 4 (including the segment which was on the original Elements video, which is no doubt why they picked it). Perhaps if this DVD is successful, they'll consider releasing some others. With the number of bootlegs around, they'd do well to consider releasing The Essential if nothing else. As I've said elsewhere, I can't complain about this Elements DVD - there are way more positive than negative aspects to it, in my view. That they've included the whole of The Wind Chimes is especially good - normal record company behaviour would have been to include just a few tracks from it, and leave the rest to a separate release, in order to squeeze more money out of fans. I'm impressed... Back to top

a_r_schulz Group: Members Posts: 425 Joined: Sep. 2001 Posted: Nov. 30 2004, 14:48 Yup - shame on me; guess it's been too long that I've listened to Incantations for the last time. As I said, I just skipped through that part, so I might have even missed the rare bits (had they just been there! ). Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Nov. 30 2004, 17:13 I hadn't seen any of the Space Movie before, but... I must say I found the piece of it on the DVD a bit dull. I guess I've never associated Incantations even slightly with the idea of space travel, and I found the images and the music quite at odds with each other most of the time. Back to top

The Thin Man Group: Members Posts: 151 Joined: May 2002 Posted: Dec. 04 2004, 09:24 The excerpt on the DVD is not a direct clip from the Space Movie video itself as neither the pictures nor the music are in the same order.  Musically, the DVD has the first half of Part 3 followed by the second half of Part 4 (the normal version, without the strange chanting that's on the video), there's no voice over, and Richard Nixon is missing !  All in all the revision is more coherent and gives a good flavour of the video, so well done the editor. The original Space Movie irritates the hell out of me as it chops and changes every few minutes.  Just as Orchestral HR gets going it's over to part of Ommadawn, then part of Incantations, back to Orchestral HR, and off to TB (and so on for 75 minutes), all with launches, explosions, beeps, commentary and the aforementioned Richard Nixon superimposed! I would also tend to agree with Alan.  What has MO got to do with space travel anyway (apart from TSODE, and the space skater) ?  Big brown beastie, big brown face, I'd rather be with you than flying through space. The Thin Man Oh, and the rest of the Elements DVD is wonderful.  Thank you Virgin. Back to top

hiawatha Group: Members Posts: 2391 Joined: Mar. 2004 Posted: Dec. 04 2004, 09:51 Quote (The Thin Man @ Dec. 04 2004, 09:24) The original Space Movie irritates the hell out of me as it What has MO got to do with space travel anyway (apart from TSODE, and the space skater) ?   There's also "Saved by a Bell". -------------- "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

Tati The Sentinel Group: Members Posts: 3360 Joined: Feb. 2002 Posted: Dec. 04 2004, 15:20 The closest thing that relates Mike into space stuff is the fact he is a Star Trek fan,just this. -------------- "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

The Big BellEnd Group: Members Posts: 971 Joined: Jan. 2004 Posted: Dec. 04 2004, 15:50 Mike is a massive fan of science fact and science fiction when it comes down to space travel. -------------- I, ON THE OTHER HAND. AM A VICTIM OF YOUR CARNIVOUROUS LUNAR ACTIVITY. Back to top

The Thin Man Group: Members Posts: 151 Joined: May 2002 Posted: Dec. 04 2004, 18:08 Yes, I'd forgotten he was a Trekkie.  But, to me, his music still doesn't seem to be the natural background music for a documentary on space exploration.  (Mind you, if I were travelling to the stars there would certainly be loads of MO coming out of the dashboard ! ) The Thin Man Back to top

olracUK Group: Members Posts: 1683 Joined: June 2003 Posted: Dec. 04 2004, 20:15 Going off topic for a moment - would Mike be one of those people who ticked the "sign me up" box on the Virgin Galactic website to get 5 minutes of free fall at £100k plus? I think he might well have. Does anyone know if the Don Alfonso clip was filmed with Mike's knowlege or input? Although it has the same slapstick/benny hill theme as Bluepeter, I get the impression from watching it for the first time that it was filmed after the record to give TV stations something to show. -------------- The answer is 42 - but what is the question? Back to top

raven4x4x Group: Members Posts: 1535 Joined: Jan. 2002 Posted: Dec. 05 2004, 23:32 Well, I'll give my first impressions after watching it fully for the first time (fully except for The Wind Chimes, I haven't watched that yet). Firstly, I had no problems with sound levels or anything else, and I could read the menu perfectly (OK, I have a big TV but this writing is no smaller than many others). The sound and video quality is good, but some of the videos themselves are a bit funny. My favourite is In Dulci Jubilo, it's quite fascinating being able to see all the different instruments that made the song, and it's quite a well made and interesting video. It was nice to hear so many tracks that aren't on albums: Shine, Pictures in the Dark, William Tell Overture etc, and the videos for most of these are OK if I ignore the 70s and 80s special effects. However, I disliked the different version of Heaven's Open that they made the video for. Nothing will ever make it a bad song, but I much prefer the album version. Mike's performance in that video is a bit silly, and the Five Miles Out video is so apalling it's funny: I've seen better graphics on Dr. Who episodes. Still, I can't blame the DVD for that, and it's really great to be able to see all of these old videos for the first time. I'm not sure what to think of The Space Movie. There doesn't seem to be much relation between Incantations and space travel, but it was nice of them to include my three favourite parts of the album, plus the fanfare section that I'd never heard before. (my CD doesn't include that part) Thanks Virgin!! I found the interview dissapointing: too many videos (which I'd already seen before in the main part of the DVD) and barely any talking. If you put all the talking together it wouldn't run for five minutes! I had hoped for a lot more. Still, that is more than made up for the fact that this DVD even exists. I never expected a video collection of this quality to ever get released. Overall it's a very nice package. -------------- Thank-you for helping us help you help us all. Back to top

hiawatha Group: Members Posts: 2391 Joined: Mar. 2004 Posted: Dec. 06 2004, 10:04 I quite like the Space Movie, and am hoping that if this "Elements" DVD is wildly successful, they consider re-releasing the entire "Space Movie" on DVD. The space age is quite behind us now, and the actual footage of space flights begins to take on the aspect of science-fiction. I really like how the music is made to fit the footage, and this includes the starts-and-stops. A big plus is that there is music on there (Orchestral HR, and one of the cut-out sections of Incantations) that is not heard much elsewhere. The only thing that might be out of place is the use of the beginning of TB1 (non-orchestral) for a section. I can imagine a dumb American saying "is this Exorcist in space?" and looking to see an astronaut's helmet turn 360 degrees on his neck. The same hypothetical dumb American would probably say when it was over "Hey, why didn't he sing "Faith of the Heart" while that old space footage was showing?" Imagine a re-release that would have a second disc of bonus material that would include the TSODE video(s) which I have been trying to see for the first time for years now. -------------- "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

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Dec. 06 2004, 15:31 On the 'To France' video, Maggie Reilly looks pretty haggard and almost ill - quite a transition from the 'Moonlight Shadow' video. I don't know anything about her - was she going through a bad patch at the time? Or is she just an unfortunate victim of the strangely misaligned reds blues and greens on the video??!! Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Dec. 07 2004, 08:22 I find it particularly odd the way she goes and sits down on the drum riser during the guitar breaks - she'd have looked far less silly if she'd just stood where she was (singers sometimes like to carry a tambourine for those moments...). Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Dec. 07 2004, 09:49 Quote (Korgscrew @ Dec. 07 2004, 13:22) I find it particularly odd the way she goes and sits down on the drum riser during the guitar breaks Yes. But then, she looks as if she needs to sit down! Back to top

xiphfan Group: Members Posts: 25 Joined: Feb. 2003 Posted: Dec. 07 2004, 12:15 Quote (Alan D @ Dec. 07 2004, 09:49) Yes. But then, she looks as if she needs to sit down! I don't know when exactly the video was filmed but I believe she was pregnant at the time. Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Dec. 07 2004, 13:08 That would explain everything, I guess... Back to top

Dude Group: Members Posts: 73 Joined: June 2003 Posted: Dec. 11 2004, 06:30 This dvd is somewhat of a miracle - just an amazing tracklist. Highlight for me is the different version of Heaven's Open. I think it's far better than the album-version - I keep playing it over and over again. Too bad he didn't do Sentinel for Virgin... (well at least the video-edition is not entirely useless now). And from a graphic designers point of view I regret that they didn't make more of the packaging and the menu's. (Look at the beautiful artwork of the elements box and the intro of the elements video...) But apart from this I'm very happy with this DVD. A big Thank You to Virgin! -------------- Fortunately I've been adhering to a pretty strict drug regimen to keep my mind limber. Back to top

qjamesfloyd Group: Members Posts: 1357 Joined: April 2001 Posted: Dec. 13 2004, 11:36 I don't feel we have to much to complain about,for a change,for a Mike Oldfield release,and that pleases me,i love this D.V.D.it has lots of new video's,some better than others,but all equaly valid as a piece of Mike Oldfield history,i love the A Trick of The Light video,the solo that Mike pulls of is astounding,and really shows what an exciting guitar performer Mike was in the 80's,so,the next thing we need is some live performances on D.V.D. we all know there are lots of them out there,so,there is no lack of material. And this D.V.D. reminds me of just how good looking Anita Hegerland is Back to top

torbenyj Group: Members Posts: 377 Joined: Jan. 2003 Posted: Dec. 13 2004, 18:31 i'm sad that there's no real to france video TYJ Back to top

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ] Pages: (3) < [1] 2 3 >

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


Mike Oldfield Tubular.net