Elysium
Group: Members
Posts: 2
Joined: July 2005 |
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Posted: July 25 2005, 15:50 |
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Regarding Mike being a good guitarist of that there is no doubt, but is he an exceptional guitarist, say in the mold of John Mcglaughlin, or Richard Thompson? To be honest, I am not sure, but for the type of music he creates, he definitley is. There are many good guitarists, but the exceptional ones, are fewer. Steve Hackett is one whom also never gets his dues, in either media press or album sales, but he his an exceptional guitarist, both technically and creatively, but he too, eschews to follow the market trends, creating music that comes from his heart, but technified by his head and his many years of playing. To watch Steve Hackett play the guitar solo from 'Firth of Fifth' is quite an experience, it's haunting and emotional. Mike Oldfield is a musician of diversity and eclectism, and apart from the odd few superb solos (one that comes to mind is that from 'The Man In The Rain', most of his guitar work is accentuative, but this requires a technical ability of extreme high standards, otherwise, the music loses its power to evoke the story or ambience in the listener's mind, and ultimately, this is the point about Mike's music and playing. He is not a rocker, although he can no doubt turn his fingers to it when he wishes to do so, no, Mike is a teller of experiences, he evokes moods and intuitions and inner-journeys: he is a cerebral player. When he gets it wrong (and he has done so on a number of occasions) he is awful, but when he gets it right, my word, he can move you to tears. Mike Oldfield is not 'new age', either, he is of all ages and eras. So is Mike a good/bad guitarist...you bet he is!
Best wishes
Elysium
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