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Question: hergest ridge :: Total Votes:121 Poll choices Votes Statistics yes 116  [95.87%] no 5  [4.13%] Guests cannot vote

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olracUK Group: Members Posts: 1683 Joined: June 2003 Posted: June 15 2004, 17:50 I like it, the sound "textures", the "englishness" of it. But,as people have already mentioned, it was overshadowed, and too similar, to it's big brother TB. Oh, and as i had the original vinyl for about a thousand plays before getting boxed, I still prefer that version. One of the few times I've had to disagree with Mike (until this month  ) -------------- The answer is 42 - but what is the question? Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: June 16 2004, 07:15 Quote (familyjules @ May 24 2004, 07:52) HR is much, much subtler - you're simply not going to get it first time, or even the fourth or fifth time. Hee hee. If that album didn't strike me on first listen, on second listen, I was definitely hooked. What I find most interesting is that this album (seconded by Incantations) features what's probably Mike's most refined composing skills - most passages are quite complex, and I still couldn't figure out some of the chords. This is really an album to play for music teachers. -------------- 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

familyjules Group: Members Posts: 1190 Joined: May 2004 Posted: June 16 2004, 07:24 Quote (Sir Mustapha @ June 16 2004, 07:15) If that album didn't strike me on first listen, on second listen, I was definitely hooked. This is really an album to play for music teachers. It took me much longer than that.  Much, much longer.  I was looking for the same kind of musical releases I got from Tubular Bells or Ommadawn and all I could hear was this flat line only disturbed, quite literally disturbed, by the Thunderstorm on side 2.  I considered the album a poor relation of TB and O for years - I guess my musical palate just wasn't sophisticated enough when I was younger.  Now I hear beauty and superbly arranged musicality. I actually did take a Mike Oldfield album into school to play for a music teacher once.  But I chose Platinum (it had just come out), which wasn't the best example to turn on a guy with more traditional tastes.  Hergest Ridge, Tubular Bells or Incantations may have fared better. Jules -------------- I like beer and I like cheese Back to top

Brewer Group: Members Posts: 60 Joined: July 2002 Posted: June 18 2004, 23:20 Quote Most of the record is so serene and peaceful.  The notable exception is the Thunderstorm sequence - the bit I always skip. I assume you mean the 5 mins of just pure mayhem. I think that this section is superb. No matter how many times I have listened to it i still find more background sounds, it is very well layered with a lot of guitar riffs. Best listened to when slightly, or very stoned. With earphones on this piece can be very scary. -------------- Maker of MOs favourite beverage No trees were harmed in the creation and sending of this message. However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced Back to top

familyjules Group: Members Posts: 1190 Joined: May 2004 Posted: June 21 2004, 05:18 At the weekend I got the chance to listen to the original mix and compare it to the Boxed mix.  I can't really choose one as 'better' - the original has some parts that I now miss when I hear the Boxed version, yet the Boxed version brings to the fore some beautiful parts that were obscured on the original.  I definitely prefer the voices being mixed up on the Boxed mix of Part Two. Then I got to hear the Orchestral Hergest Ridge - what a gem!!  And for the first time in my life i enjoyed the Thunderstorm - the orchestral version is less aggressive, yet still suitably barmy. I now have the original mix and the Orchestral on one CD and they blend quite seamlessly - it makes a wonderful CD - a truly great listening experience. Jules -------------- I like beer and I like cheese Back to top

afghan Group: Members Posts: 145 Joined: July 2004 Posted: July 16 2004, 10:04 have to agree .not so much orgasmic for me.but i used to get the shivers down my spine and the eyes welling up.still do but i find with mikes newer material not so much.yeh a classic. -------------- may you never run aground or fall into the deep deep sound Back to top

Guest Unregistered Posted: Aug. 16 2004, 16:45 I always felt that Hergest Ridge was just Tubular Bells reworked and therefor a rip off. It bored me to tears Back to top

afghan Group: Members Posts: 145 Joined: July 2004 Posted: Aug. 16 2004, 18:09 I seem to remember tb2,tb3,were the reworks.i dont find much of tb in it at all.the only album outwith these to have a part similarity would be crises which was in a small part the reworking of tb.hergest ridge stands on its own merits as an oldfield classic composition. -------------- may you never run aground or fall into the deep deep sound Back to top

hiawatha Group: Members Posts: 2391 Joined: Mar. 2004 Posted: Aug. 16 2004, 19:11 There is an element of reworking. One theme is a like a slower version of something similar to the main "Finale/The Bell" theme. The "Martian Thunderstorm" contains a theme used twice on TB1, and also a variation on "Guitars Sounding like Bagpipes" from TB1.  I don't think this in any way detracts from it standing "on its own merits as an oldfield classic composition. -------------- "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

familyjules Group: Members Posts: 1190 Joined: May 2004 Posted: Aug. 17 2004, 04:30 Quote (hiawatha @ Aug. 16 2004, 19:11) There is an element of reworking. One theme is a like a slower version of something similar to the main "Finale/The Bell" theme. The "Martian Thunderstorm" contains a theme used twice on TB1, and also a variation on "Guitars Sounding like Bagpipes" from TB1.  I don't think this in any way detracts from it standing "on its own merits as an oldfield classic composition. I agree.  I certainly think it was structured like TB, and at the time the press used to call it "son of Tubular Bells".  But I think that's why I didn't enjoy it for years.  I was hoping for another Tubular Bells.  Ridiculous, I know, but I was only young. When you take Hergest Ridge separately and on its own merits, then you really start to appreciate it for what it is.  In fact that's the big lesson I've learned from listening to Mike.  And I'm still learning it.  When I bought HR I was expecting another TB.  When I bought Incantations I was expecting another Ommadawn.  And I was expecting another Ommadawn of sorts with Amarok.  If you do that you're always going to be disappointed until you reajust how you listen.  Each album may have similarities, but the differences are usually more striking.  All of Mike's instrumental epics are very very different animals. Jules -------------- I like beer and I like cheese Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Aug. 17 2004, 07:08 Well, critics always want to compare something with something else, so it was only natural they'd try to see Hergest Ridge as a son of Tubular Bells - not because of melodies and themes, but for the Part 1 / Part 2 idea. It smelled like a formula to them, when it's not a formula. But nobody said critics were (are) smart, anyway. -------------- 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

raven4x4x Group: Members Posts: 1535 Joined: Jan. 2002 Posted: Aug. 19 2004, 08:44 I've never thought of Hergest Ridge an anywhere similar to Tubular Bells. I suppose if I listened to it and really thought about it I might be able to pick out a few common themes and a similar basic structure, but apart from that they are totally unrelated in my mind. They are so different in feel, style etc. I'm actually finding it quite hard to think of why it could ever be considered a TB 'rip off' at all. Prehaps it is just that the critics needed some reason to slag it off, but I can't see any real similarities at all. -------------- Thank-you for helping us help you help us all. Back to top

Guimauve2 Group: Members Posts: 36 Joined: April 2004 Posted: Aug. 19 2004, 23:12 HG is a beautiful album. It took me a long time listening to it (I was always listening to Ommadawn, Incantations, Amraok, TBI, TBII, TBII, you know, the classic ones), but when I finally did, I was amazing. It's one of the best. Back to top

EeToN Group: Members Posts: 845 Joined: Sep. 2001 Posted: Aug. 20 2004, 08:21 Quote (raven4x4x @ Aug. 19 2004, 14:44) I suppose if I listened to it and really thought about it I might be able to pick out a few common themes and a similar basic structure, but apart from that they are totally unrelated in my mind. They are so different in feel, style etc. I totally agree. And I feel exactly the same about TBII & TBIII when they are considered to be unneccessary albums. -------------- If I were music, I would be Enigmatism. Back to top

Michael the Dark Group: Members Posts: 10 Joined: May 2004 Posted: Sep. 05 2004, 08:32 Hergest Ridge is simply amazing piece of music,i really love that album and to me it is one of Mike's best work along with Amarok,Tubular Bells or TSOTDE...the atmosphere is much more gentle and when i turn it on i always flow somewhere into another dimension. and that gorgeous bass riff in part one before the section that was in "complete Mo"... -------------- Some fall like the snow Too much too slow Back to top

Wayfarer Group: Members Posts: 308 Joined: June 2002 Posted: Sep. 06 2004, 18:57 SACRILEGE!!!! Someone has clicked on 'no' -- Wayfarer P.S. Of course I'm joking And, about my opinion... well, I'm not going to repeat what I've already said five minutes and two posts ago. -------------- My homepage - www.thewayfarer.info My search - www.cannotbefound.com My community - www.taurusiv.net My luthier - www.artluthier.com Back to top

Craig Evans Group: Members Posts: 253 Joined: Sep. 2004 Posted: Oct. 05 2004, 18:14 I agree with you Hiawatha that the Martian Thunderstorm in Hergest Ridge Part 2 sounds like a variation of the "Guitars Sounding Like Bagpipes" song from Tubular Bells Part 2 and the other idea that was used in two places on Tubular Bells.   The other idea that was used in two places in Tubular Bells is a bassline, which comes just before the "Fast Guitars" song in Tubular Bells Part 1 and again at the end of the guitar solo in the "Piltdown Man" song on Tubular Bells Part 2.     -------------- "It is good to be on Horseback" - Mike Oldfield "On Horseback" "(Insert "The Thunderstorm" here)" Back to top

Delfín Group: Members Posts: 667 Joined: Nov. 2000 Posted: Oct. 09 2004, 08:38 I complete agree with everything you say, Satyagraha. Subtleness is the quality in music that need most time to appreciate, but it is still one of the most important. 'Hergest Ridge' and 'Incantations' are for me the main examples of that in Mike Oldfield's music. Incantations was the first Mike's album I had, and I thought it would be one of the worst at that time, but after having them all, I can tell for sure it is one of the best five. It's like diving deep into the sea and discovering a hidden treasure, one of the most precious feelings music can give. 'Hergest Ridge' is another example, and I remember in my teenage years, when I was so enchanted by 'Tubular Bells', at the time when I bought 'Hergest Ridge' I couldn't tell which of them was better for me. I am a musician as well, I record my own instrumental music and have 8 Cds so far (home made, but I think with quality), and I'm working in one of them which reaches a lot of that quality, subtleness, mellowness, and I bet people won't love it at the first listen, but it will beguile them in further listens... I started speaking about Mike's music and ended up speaking about mine's... it's kind of a getting-out of the cot I reckon. Anyway, hopefully soon I'll be able to share some tunes with you all, whenever I have any Internet at home. I am completely sure you'll all enjoy my music. You guess the reason why???   Delfín>> -------------- The most precious thing I possess, is knowing the answer's yes Back to top

hiawatha Group: Members Posts: 2391 Joined: Mar. 2004 Posted: Oct. 09 2004, 09:41 Quote (Craig Evans @ Oct. 05 2004, 18:14) The other idea that was used in two places in Tubular Bells is a bassline...., It is also similar to the main bass line of "Stranglehold" by Ted Nugent. Similar, but not identical. -------------- "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: Oct. 09 2004, 15:14 My introduction to Mike Oldfield in the late 70s was through 'Boxed', and Hergest Ridge was the one that above all (far more than TB) made me take notice. I'd been listening to a lot of Vaughan Williams at the time, and Hergest Ridge just slotted beautifully into that 'English landscape' kind of feeling. I've mentioned this in another forum - but it's worth repeating that if you get the chance to walk along Hergest Ridge with a personal stereo playing the music in your ears, the combination of landscape and music may well blow you away (if the wind doesn't). It was a fantastic experience when I did it last year. Back to top

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