Dirk Star
Group: Members
Posts: 1331
Joined: Sep. 2007 |
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Posted: Mar. 20 2008, 04:49 |
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Quote (MikeArnold @ Mar. 19 2008, 23:25) | Mark, you make a good point.
As a long standing Mike Oldfield fan, coming on 30 years now (gosh, I'm showing my age!, the thought had crossed my mind several times over the past 5 or 6 albums. Having been extremely naughty, but impatient like some other M.O. fans, I downloaded the unauthorized version of MOTS, and have been listening to it for the past few months now. But, until Tuesday this week, when I picked up the official version from HMV in Vancouver (thank you HMV for being so prompt in stocking MOTS!, I really didn't feel justified in saying anything at all about the album.
Yes, it is annoying to keep on hearing the TB intro making it into Mike's recordings (albeit in a different key, or with slightly altered notes), and I really wish he would stop this. I mean, once in a blue moon is okay, but this has been so overplayed now.
The problem stems from the fact that the original TB is Mike's obvious best seller, and everyone tells him this is what he's remembered for. Personally, as an album I find TB Part One to be stunning, but Part Two very disjointed, morose, fun, weird and wacky. But, I found Ommadawn and Incantations to be infinitely stronger albums. Maybe just a personal preference! As one reviewer of the time commented when referring to Ommadawn. Tubular Bells seemed to be a "dry-run" for the real thing.
My take on MOTS: Despite the oft-used TB-style Intro, and other obvious nods to TB, I think that MOTS is very good. At the very least, MOTS ranks up there with the original "big four" albums Mike released. I am going to risk drawing a lot of flack here, but I believe this album is better than Tubular Bells, and the one and only true successor to that album.
Well done Mike, you have certainly found your niche. |
Some good points there Mike.I think I agree with you about MOTS being a better album than Tubular Bells in some ways.It`s certainly a more fully realised piece I guess.And Mike has certainly shown a great deal of self discipline and restraint in it`s composition.Maybe it`s more of a classical realisation to part one of TB Imo.Bookended by new re-interpratations of those most familar themes that started and ended his most famous "side" of music.It`s Mike coming full circle once again of course,but maybe this time he`s done himself and his composition full justice this time.It`s all down to indivdual preferances at the end of the day.But I think you are right it`s quite probablly Mike`s one true successor to his original concept.
I was never really too fond of TB2 myself which always seemed to me like a jigsaw puzzle in reverse.All the pieces were in place exactly were they were supposed to be.But then the actual pieces themselves had been dis-assembled, and I`d find myself mentally re-arranging them again back to their original state.TB3 on the other hand I really enjoyed,but I don`t think it quite works as a fully realised piece.And tracks like Moonwatch and Watchful Eye I thought were pretty much filler by Mike`s high standards.MOTS on the other hand contains no filler at all IMO.It`s just a shame for me that it took a number of incarnations to get to this one.
I can see why Mike is considering that maybe MOTS isn`t a bad album to retire on.Maybe once and for all the journey is finally complete he`s possibly thinking.I still think he`ll be back myself though.
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