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

Pages: (5) < 1 2 3 [4] 5 > [ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

TheMan Group: Members Posts: 105 Joined: July 2002 Posted: Aug. 21 2002, 05:19 Yes MusicallyInspired, I agree. To me, TheReturnToTheOrigin is one of the best Mike songs in many years. Among the top 5 the last 10-15 years. Brilliant melody, great somewhat 'low-profile' sound which I think suits Mike very well. I love that Hammond-backing as well. I wish that Mike reuses and develops this song on the TL Part II. Make it the central theme Mike! TheMan Back to top

David Mar Group: Members Posts: 457 Joined: Oct. 2001 Posted: Aug. 23 2002, 05:22 Is there much guitar work on the album - I haven't hear the whole album yet! I was disappointed with the lack of guitar on the M. Bell even though I liked the album. Luckily there'll be loads of electric and acoustic guitars on the new version of T. Bells!! Back to top

Blue Dolphin Group: Members Posts: 1232 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: Aug. 23 2002, 06:06 Return To Origin rocks!!!!!!!!! *hick!* -------------- -The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it- Mike Oldfield - 1980 Back to top

Son of Distant Earth Group: Members Posts: 27 Joined: Sep. 2002 Posted: Sep. 08 2002, 22:53 "Misty" has my vote. It's got the Mike Oldfield soul to it. "Thou Art In Heaven" and "No Man's Land" are my next favs - all three songs have a sort of urgency to them that makes the spine tingle in places. Back to top

raven4x4x Group: Members Posts: 1535 Joined: Jan. 2002 Posted: Dec. 24 2002, 22:57 I only just got it several hours ago, but so far my vote is for the No Man's Land reprise. I just love the acoustic guitar in this album, and this track in particular. Return to the Origin and Tres Lunas are also standing out a bit. I shall have to listen to it more. -------------- Thank-you for helping us help you help us all. Back to top

Souvenirs Group: Members Posts: 5 Joined: June 2006 Posted: Sep. 28 2006, 10:56 My favourite track from Tr3s Lunas is probably Return to the Origin. Close seconds are Landfall, To Be Free and Turtle Island. Back to top

Sweetpea Group: Members Posts: 1476 Joined: April 2007 Posted: Aug. 30 2007, 03:33 My favorites are "Misty", "No Man's Land", "Return To The Origin", "Landfall", "Viper", "Turtle Island", "Tres Lunas", "Daydream", "Thou Art in Heaven", and "Sirius". -------------- "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 Back to top

Sweetpea Group: Members Posts: 1476 Joined: April 2007 Posted: Sep. 02 2007, 22:23 That's ten favorites. Maybe treslunasworshipper was right when he/she said it's "the best mike album ever".   -------------- "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 Back to top

New Incantation Group: Members Posts: 85 Joined: Sep. 2007 Posted: Oct. 15 2007, 10:58 Misty ~ Could have been a classic chill-out track had it not been for the irritating sax that brings a harshness to proceedings. The  piano-work is sublime, however. 9/10 No Man's Land ~ Has a nice underlying rhythm throughout and the intro of the acoustic guitar added some extra flavour. And yet the theme never really took me anywhere; the beat remained untempered as if MO wasn't sure how to end it. 7/10 Return to the Origin ~ love this one: takes a bit of time to grow but it reminds me of previous MO albums such as Crisis & TSODE. But the sax frigs it again. 8/10 Landfall good mix of guitars and piano. Only a relatively short track, I was hoping it could have gone on a little longer and developed into something more substantial. 7/10 Viper Love the easy piano &  Indian Drum sounds at the beginning and "weird native vocals" throughout made this track come alive. 8/10 Turtle Island Never sure whether this is an acoustic or Spanish guitar, but love it whatever it is. But the overall sound is very "muzak-y". Still nice though. 8/10 To be Free Reminds me too much of The Corrs or perhaps Enya, which isn't a complaint as such but would have preferred a fully instrumental version rather than vocal layer. Still nice, easy going: harmless fluff really. 6/10 Firefly Another one of my favourites: fairly simple in its foundations & development. The "pitter-patter" sound reminds me of raindrops on a rooftop window. Has a seasonal flavour about it too - perhaps Spring because of its rather optimistic bright colours, sounds and overall mood. 9/10 Tr3s Lunas More substantial treatment here: piano, guitars and keyboards in perfect harmony. And there's one or two layers that remind me of other MO tracks from previous albums, which I can't place at present. Best track of the set 10/10 Daydream Harmless little ditty - more of a "filler" really. Definitely lives up to its title - good to relax too if a trifle short. 7/10 Thou art in Heaven I don't know whether I love or loathe this track. Too many ambient sounds getting smacked together along with shrill pianos and that bloody sax again! Also has a "trudge" feel about it, like its trying to march through a field of mud. Too heavy in the mind & ears for me. 5/10 Sirius Could have been a "9" but for that sax again. Was Mike doing a favour for an unemployed sax- sessionist I wonder? 8/10 ** Have omitted the 2 remixed tracks No Man's Land & To Be Free. Overall: 8/10 Not a classic, but some of the tracks stay in the mind for a long long time. Very much in the same vein as TSODE but perhaps not quite so accomplished.  The biggest fault with this album is the totally unnecessary saxophone - oh if only for Umyx!! . Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Oct. 15 2007, 15:51 Quote (New Incantation @ Oct. 15 2007, 15:58) The biggest fault with this album is the totally unnecessary saxophone - oh if only for Umyx!! Lots and lots of people complain about this, but it's never bothered me at all. First thing - it isn't a saxophone. He's playing a guitar but the output is processed to give a 'saxophone-like' sound. But because the source is Mike's guitar-playing, what you get is something quite distinctive and different, in which the notes don't have the same character as they would if a saxophone were playing.  So I think of this as a new instrument - a saxotar. It might be worth listening to it again, with a different set of expectations: that is, not expecting a saxophone, but something else - something new - with different expressive capabilities. Second thing - there are passages where the saxotar gives just the right effect, to my ears - and an effect that I doubt could be achieved any other way. The end of Sirius, for example, moves into a whole new gear when the saxotar comes in. I can never define what that additional character is, but it hints at a kind of tamed wildness - a controlled raucousness, if you like - which seems to me now to be an essential part of Sirius. Same goes for the No Man's Land Reprise (which for me is really the close of the album, and a wonderful ending too): when the saxotar comes in, it's like a new window opening in a familiar room. Obviously if the actual sound grates and is unpleasant, then that's a physiological issue that won't go away (I have difficulty, for instance, listening to solo piano for that reason). But taken as a purely artistic decision, I think Mike's use of the saxotar in TL is a fascinating experiment - capable of injecting a sense of fun on the one hand, or on the other, an expressive plaintive effect that I can find quite moving. Back to top

New Incantation Group: Members Posts: 85 Joined: Sep. 2007 Posted: Oct. 20 2007, 05:25 You make a great point about the "saxotar" Alan. Perhaps I was being a tad harsh with this album on first listening primarily because I felt what I thought was a real sax just unbalanced the whole piece. But then I thought to myself, would a creative mind like Mike , who loves experimenting with new sounds really resort to using "old" instruments such as a sax? Anyway, I will re-listen to the album and reconsider the "sax" layers again with a more open mind this time round. Having said that I do wish more albums were mixed in Umyx format thus giving some form of control to the listener as to what layers he/she prefers etc Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Oct. 20 2007, 08:48 Quote (New Incantation @ Oct. 20 2007, 10:25) then I thought to myself, would a creative mind like Mike , who loves experimenting with new sounds really resort to using "old" instruments such as a sax? Two things come to mind: 1. You can't get much older than drums, but that doesn't mean they're somehow outdated. I'd go so far as to say that no instrument should be discarded as 'old' - because everything is contingent upon what else is going on, and just because a dog has had its day doesn't mean its day can't come round again. Look at his use of Uillean pipes, and so on. 2. If Mike had decided to use a real saxophone, I suspect it would have been used differently, and in such a way that (Mike being Mike) the result would at least be interesting, even if disliked. The differences may have been subtle, but a real sax wouldn't have had the same kind of expression as the saxotar, and would have been handled differently, I think. Obviously I'm on safe ground with my speculations here, because he didn't do that, and won't - so I have the comfortable knowledge that my hypothesis can never be tested! Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Oct. 20 2007, 10:24 There's some good, positive points about the sax sound here. My big problem with it, though, is that Mike never really took the opportunity to flesh out the 'instrument' to its full possibilities; the damn thing just lurks around, in the background, whining every 30 seconds or so as if it were some synthetic Kenny G making a guest participation on a Toni Braxton tune. And the fact that Mike gave up on the toy makes it more of an ephemeral gimmick than anything else. The MIDI/Guitar combo was put to a much better use in Guitars, I think. -------------- 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

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Oct. 20 2007, 12:40 Quote (Sir Mustapha @ Oct. 20 2007, 15:24) the damn thing just lurks around, in the background, whining every 30 seconds or so I think this does it an injustice, though to defend that statement I don't think I can much more than quote what I said a few posts back: Quote The end of Sirius, for example, moves into a whole new gear when the saxotar comes in. I can never define what that additional character is, but it hints at a kind of tamed wildness - a controlled raucousness, if you like - which seems to me now to be an essential part of Sirius. Same goes for the No Man's Land Reprise (which for me is really the close of the album, and a wonderful ending too): when the saxotar comes in, it's like a new window opening in a familiar room. However, there's another instance too, which always knocks me for six whenever I hear it, in Ringscape. Listen to the bit between 2.45 and 3.00. There's a plaintive little sequence of three notes, repeated three times - and I think that's the saxotar playing them, or something that sounds very like it. (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, though it doesn't matter what it really is, because it's the effect that counts). That little sequence is full of beauty and heartache, and marks one of the high points of Light and Shade, for me. It just isn't possible to pack more tenderness and feeling into such a tiny interval, with such subtlety, and it alone justifies the saxotar experiment, for me. Also - we don't know that he's given up on it, do we? Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Oct. 20 2007, 16:55 Quote (Alan D @ Oct. 20 2007, 12:40) However, there's another instance too, which always knocks me for six whenever I hear it, in Ringscape. Listen to the bit between 2.45 and 3.00. There's a plaintive little sequence of three notes, repeated three times - and I think that's the saxotar playing them, or something that sounds very like it. (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, though it doesn't matter what it really is, because it's the effect that counts). That little sequence is full of beauty and heartache, and marks one of the high points of Light and Shade, for me. It just isn't possible to pack more tenderness and feeling into such a tiny interval, with such subtlety, and it alone justifies the saxotar experiment, for me. I also think that's a MIDI guitar, but using a different instrument; fortunately, because whatever patch he's using there doesn't sound plastic and whiny like the sax patch. -------------- 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

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Oct. 20 2007, 17:20 Quote (Sir Mustapha @ Oct. 20 2007, 21:55) I also think that's a MIDI guitar, but using a different instrument; fortunately, because whatever patch he's using there doesn't sound plastic and whiny like the sax patch. But you see, even if I were to agree about your description of the saxotar effect in Tr3s Lunas (I don't), and took this response of yours at face value, we have here a significant development of the saxotar experiment leading to something really pretty wonderful. The picture you painted of Mike playing with his toys and then discarding them doesn't bear much inspection, I think. But also - this spirit of experimentation is the spirit which led to Mike's use of a glass of water as an expressive instrument in Amarok (which I think you would applaud - yes?), and indeed the spirit which led him to Tubular Bells in the first place. Well, experiments can succeed or fail (they aren't experiments if the outcome is known); so it hardly seems appropriate to be derisive about the failures (if that is indeed what they are), and dismiss them in terms of juvenile tinkering. That is how a great artist progresses. That's how he explores. Shouldn't we be encouraging that? Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Oct. 20 2007, 17:42 Encourage, yes, but not necessarily experience, like or enjoy. Something that looks very good on theory can eventually turn into a car crash when put to practice; and the impression I had with Tr3s Lunas is that, regarding Mike trying to emulate other instruments using MIDI patches and guitar devices, either he'd have to choose better MIDI patches or flesh out exactly what he was trying to do with it. An analogy to that is the Vocaloid on Light + Shade; it's a "new toy" also, but he devoted much more effort in trying to create something out of it. That's laudable to some point, and my personal opinion on the final results are irrelevant. On Tr3s Lunas, though, there isn't really that kind of focus. It looked like he was just using a substitute for a real saxophone, and the sound was too plastic for that. Just to make it clearer: my objection is not to the use of the MIDI Guitar module, but to the use of a "realistic" sax sound that just doesn't cut it. As for experimentation, well, a lot of writers, in an attempt to improve their skills, write a lot of crap, be it as exercise or as failed half-ideas. They don't need to publish everything they write, much less do we need to read or appreciate all that. An experiment for what it is and for what it leads to is two completely different things. -------------- 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

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Oct. 20 2007, 18:09 Quote (Sir Mustapha @ Oct. 20 2007, 22:42) Encourage, yes, but not necessarily experience, like or enjoy. Ah, there I can agree with you. There's no obligation to enjoy the fruits of the experimentation. I'm not a great fan of the glass of water myself. But I'm not trying to persuade you to like the saxotar. My concern is really to show that: (a) it's possible to like it (because I do), and be able to accept it as an interesting expressive instrument; and (b) his attempt doesn't deserve our derision (the 'Mike and his toys' sort of thing). I think he deserves better understanding than that. Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Oct. 21 2007, 04:44 Quote (Sir Mustapha @ Oct. 20 2007, 21:55) I also think that's a MIDI guitar, but using a different instrument; fortunately, because whatever patch he's using there doesn't sound plastic and whiny like the sax patch. Here's an interesting aspect that I should have mentioned before, but just reminded myself of by revisiting the Tr3s Lunas game. In the game, there's a place we call 'Butterfly World'. When you enter it, the light fades, the colours change, evening falls in the landscape, and a gentle haunting musical passage begins. In the distance you can see shapes rising from the ground and fading into the air. When you go closer, you see that they're butterflies - hundreds and hundreds of them. Among those butterflies there are two - a red one, and an yellow/orange one, that you can control as an avatar. And each one plays its own special tune when you fly it. The yellow butterfly's tune includes those magical three notes on the saxotar that Mike includes in Ringscape at between 2.45 and 3.00. Imagine, if you can (or better still go and play the game), flying with this yellow butterfly, surrounded by hundreds of other butterflies, through a beautiful evening landscape with gentle music in the background, and with the butterfly avatar singing these exquisite saxotar notes. No other instrument would achieve this plaintive crying. It feels as if this kind of magical artistic moment is what the saxotar was invented for, and it represents Mike at his most delicate, sensitive, and imaginative. That's the main thing I wanted to say, but also, having listened to it again in the game, as well as in Ringscape, I must say I do think this is indeed the saxotar that plays those lovely notes, and not something else. Perhaps Mike just found a  perfect way of voicing it in that passage. Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Oct. 21 2007, 07:49 Quote (Alan D @ Oct. 20 2007, 18:09) (a) it's possible to like it (because I do), and be able to accept it as an interesting expressive instrument; Sure it is, I have no doubt about that and never tried to prove that wrong. If that's the way I sounded, I apologise. Quote (b) his attempt doesn't deserve our derision (the 'Mike and his toys' sort of thing). I think he deserves better understanding than that. Well, maybe not, indeed. Truth is, ephemeral toy making in music is a widespread practice; and if Mike were guilty of it, we could find hundreds of others that do much worse. If you want an example, just remember the Autotune "feature" they used on the vocals of about 90% of "dance" songs, which make the notes jump around madly. That's a completely stupid trick used solely for the sake of being "cool", without the intention of truly using it for expression. Maybe someone did that, but I can't name any examples myself. As for the "Butterfly World" sequence, I never saw or heard it, but yes, I do believe the sax could have been used to a great effect; and I also believe that a simple moment like that can make the whole experiment valid. -------------- 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

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ] Pages: (5) < 1 2 3 [4] 5 >

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


Mike Oldfield Tubular.net