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Topic: Explain why are you Amarokian

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ubik210486 Offline

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Posted: Sep. 17 2005, 08:36

Later I'll give my opinion. Now I have no time

The Bell(end) Offline

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Posted: Sep. 17 2005, 14:47

The first crescendo, the craziness, the excellent mixture of sounds, the ideas he used from past and future albums but without repeating himself at all, the spirit, generally I think this is the best selection of compositions ever put together. I find this album suits my thoughts and displays them in music, actually does seem like that!! I am and always will be a true Amarokian, no doubt about it

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raven4x4x

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Posted: Sep. 17 2005, 21:02

Hmm, I could probably write pages and pages about why I love Amarok so much, but it would be so rambling and disorganised that no-one would ever want to read it. I'll limit myself to a few main points, and try to get my thoughts in some sort of order.

* Firstly, Amarok moves me in a way no other album does. It has the full range of emotions, but most of all an unbelievable joy in the huge climaxes. It really is darn fun to listen to.
* The guitar work. Mike's guitar has always been the aspect of his music I love the most, and this album has everything I could possably want in terms of guitar. Acoustic, electric, loud, quiet, and those soaring climaxes.
* I also like the madness of the album. Sometimes I'm amazed that it works at all, with the sections of music seemingly randomly thrown together, with bizarre sound effects placed over the top, but I manage to enjoy every minute.
* That links nicely to my final point: I enjoy every minute. I can't think of any other album that I totally love all the way though, with absolutely no points that sink below the 'enjoyable' level.

That's basically why Amarok is my favourite album of all time.

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mink stoles Offline

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Posted: Sep. 18 2005, 09:02

I love Amarok because no matter how many times i listen to it those orchestral hits on the keyboard always frighten the hell out of me.

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So if you you feel a little glum,
To Hergest Ridge you should come.

Magellan

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Posted: Sep. 28 2005, 12:45

- It never sounds the same each listen
- It feels like a journey from point A to B somewhere...
- The craziness gives way to an intense finale (the best of all MO albums IMO).

Finally... dare I say... it's like tantric sex for the ears.

You can quote me on that one.

dave seck

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Posted: Nov. 16 2005, 12:22

I love the craftmanship of this album, on a level Mike hasn't revisited since. The attention to detail and inventiveness is unparalleled. It's a great "headphone album", lots to hear.

I love it because in no way is it "easy listening", it is a challenge. It's a grower, you can't take it all in in one go. I like the fact that so many people I show it to just don't get it.

The final climax is also one of the most stirring pieces of music I've ever heard. In Tubular Bells, the simple words "grand piano" sound majestic and profound because of their context (the previous 20 minutes has been an instrumental). This happens in Amarok. When the sample "happy?" comes back for the last time in the Africa section, I get goosebumps. Just one word.

Finally, I love it because at 60 minutes, it still leaves you wanting more! How many other artists can say that? Fantastic!

Tansy

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Posted: Nov. 17 2005, 05:57

Amarok to me,isn't so much an album it's an experience.Fun,exiting,amazing,shocking.... so many emotions there.Last night I attempted to listen to it & got disturbed by a cloth eared nincompoop of a son,who declared it to be "a car crash of an album"

since he refused to hear it all and then judge for himself,this remark was taken with a pinch of salt,and the :laugh:

it deserved.Next time I'll go back to headphones,it's better heard like that anyway IMO.Amarok is my second favourite M.O album to Ommadawn,just absolutely love it

But it's an album that needs a proper listen,and more than once with so much to take in.Some have remarked of being shocked/surprised at first hearing,and thoughts of what has M.O gone & done ect.I always like to keep an open mind when hearing new sounds because of this

Legend

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Posted: Nov. 17 2005, 09:20

Because it is so fresh and have all these sudden changes - both in style and speed. LOVE IT!!! The most crazy album from Mike I guess!!

Piltdownboy on horseback 22 Offline

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Posted: Nov. 17 2005, 10:55

It was my 2nd Mike album. I first heard it in the car of the people who were standing next to us on the camping site (we had no car-cd player or discman), when I was 11. In the South of France it was. I bought it in this massive supermarket there. It was really like I lost my virginity

...I can imagine... musically of course... never heard anything like it...

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oldcamel

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Posted: Dec. 02 2005, 17:23

just because Amarok's amazing. Every minute. But especially the "happy"-parts. It's definately not "happy" (ha-ha-ha).

Sonilink

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Posted: Dec. 13 2005, 13:40

Maybe that's why I love it so much: I don't know why, and I first baught it on internet for 0.99€ then I baught the HDCD and I'm very happy with it!!! :cool:

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ettlz

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Posted: Mar. 31 2008, 19:28

Because it reminded me why I like MO's music so much. Because it's quintessentially MO (no-one else does stuff like this). Because it's unique, bold, brave, and more than crazy enough to work. Because, like all the best practical jokes (which Amarok is, amongst other things), it's a work of art. And yet, probably his most accessible album.

Tati The Sentinel Offline

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Posted: Mar. 31 2008, 20:54

Amarok to me is Mike's personality reflected to the music.I can hear Mike saying about it,"I'm proud to be different!".And Amarok is different,like the man himself.

All the elements I do love on Mike's music are on Amarok.

Amarok 4ever \o/

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"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

trcanberra Offline

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Posted: April 01 2008, 03:39

Quote (raven4x4x @ Sep. 17 2005, 21:02)

Must say that pretty much encapsulates it for me as well, plus the fact that underlying the apparent chaos is an amazing structure waiting to be discovered.

It gets my vote for Mike's masterpiece, and is my favourite among his works.

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Posted: April 01 2008, 05:07

Why Amarok?

hmm... I guess it is because I like car crashes.

To me Amarok is music of a mental picture...two 25 tons trucks hurdling towards each other

desecrateddawn Offline

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Posted: April 04 2008, 18:36

The first time I heard Amarok I hated it!!!

I was about 16 at the time, my brother had just bought Elements and had set about buying all of Mike's earlier releases... I'd loved Tubular Bells 2, I'd loved Crises, I'd loved Ommadawn... but then he came home with Amarok... and I just thought "what a mess!"

Even though I didn't like it, there was something that made me want to hear it again...

and then again...

...and by my 3rd listen it had changed the way I thought about about music. It was beautiful, crazy, moving, funny, mind blowing, thought provoking... Amarok is simply a work of art; the craftsmanship, the musicianship is just amazing.

The section about 5 and a half minutes into Amarok is the most moving section of music I've ever heard. It gets me every time.

I've still not found another album that can take me a journey in the same way Amarok does. It truly is a masterpiece!

...and to think I didn't like it at first!!! D'oh!!

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Sweetpea

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Posted: April 04 2008, 19:24

Quote (desecrateddawn @ April 04 2008, 18:36)

The section about 5 and a half minutes into Amarok is the most moving section of music I've ever heard. It gets me every time.

I think 5:35 to 15:00, from Amarok, should be released as a single. But I guess nine and a half minutes is kinda long for a single? Would be a fun way to shake up any new fans lured in by MOTS, though.

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"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

Ugo

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Posted: April 05 2008, 18:32

- Because it's perfect in its construction.
- Because it's extremely varied. No album in the world contains such variety.
- Because it passes very easily from heaven to anger to silliness and vice versa without ever losing its quality.
- Because Mike, after Amarok, has never played guitar as fast as he did in Amarok.
- Because it's got lyrics in a pretty much unknown language.
- Because it's the only album I have that I can sing along to, whistle along to or play along to in its entirety, by heart. I can't get to do that with any other album I have, not even with the Beatles.

- Because it's the longest uninterrupted piece I really like. To me, John Cage's Roaratorio, an Irish circus over Finnegans Wake is sh*t, Klaus Schulze's Into the blue is sh*t, and Jean Michel Jarre's Waiting for Cousteau is sh*t.

- Because I've heard Korgscrew play the impossible Fast Waltz solo live, and this convinced me that Mike was also able to play it live with no speed-altering tricks.
- Because the whole of it will never be performed live by anyone. I'm 100% positive about this.

Oof, I'm making this way too long. I am a devoted Amarokian because I love Amarok. And that's all.

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Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian

Alan D

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Posted: April 06 2008, 06:42

Why I might one day become an Amarokian:

1. Because I'm aware that Amarok contains some of the finest music MO ever made.
2. Because I've been repeatedly 'giving it another try' from 1990 to the present day, and I know no other work that elicits such persistence in me.
3. Because when I threw out the last of my vinyl years ago (blissful day), I thought 'well, at least I don't have to bother replacing Amarok with a CD' ... but actually, before very long, I did.
4. Because there have been two or three occasions (out of many dozens of listenings) when I've managed to reach the end without being upset by how much he ruined it, and have wondered: 'am I starting to get it, now?'
5. Because I can tell it's a work created with great passion.

Why I might never become an Amarokian:

1. Because I think Amarok contains some of the most horrible noise MO ever made.
2. Because I've been repeatedly 'giving it another try' from 1990 to the present day, and wonder whether I'm really just wasting my time.
3. Because when I threw out the last of my vinyl years ago, I thought 'well, at least I don't have to bother replacing Amarok with a CD' ... and sometimes I think that if I'd stuck to that resolution it would have saved me a lot of frustration.
4. Because apart from two or three occasions (out of many dozens of listenings), when I reach the end I'm upset by how much he ruined it, and think 'I am never going to get this'.
5. Because quite often I wonder if the 'great passion' might really just have been a big tantrum.

moonchildhippy Offline

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Posted: April 06 2008, 08:28

Quote (Tansy @ Nov. 17 2005, 09:57)

since he refused to hear it all and then judge for himself,this remark was taken with a pinch of salt,and the :laugh:

it deserved.Next time I'll go back to headphones,it's better heard like that anyway IMO.Amarok is my second favourite M.O album to Ommadawn,just absolutely love it

That's my problem with Amarok, yep "car crash music" it was one of the Mike albums I needed, back in Dec'04. After reading on here it was Ommadawn 2, I went and bought it, as you may know my ex husband is not really a Mike fan , so I thought I'd play it in the car, I nearly crashed it , a then virtually brand new 04 Reg Ford Focus

.
I've had other attempts at listening to Amarok, yes I can hear some beautiful moments in there, but then the peace is shattered by what Alan desribes as a "tantrum" . I want to fall in love with Amarok , but for some reason it scares me

.

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It finally happened, I'm slightly mad , just very slightly mad

If you feel a little glum to Hergest Ridge you should come.

I'm challenging taboos surrounding mental health

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I'M SUPPORTING OUR SOLDIERS

BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!!

54 replies since Sep. 17 2005, 08:36

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Mike Oldfield Forums » Albums » Amarok » Explain why are you Amarokian