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MusicToTheRescue Group: Members Posts: 11 Joined: May 2006 Posted: May 10 2006, 08:47 Well, It started well enough, and I thought after around 10 minutes that this album is his finest...the moment of weirdness, the voice "happy" ...great great great...then.....I lost the plot with it, it then drifted away from me and I found it slighlty uncomfortable, then it came back....then Maggie started on about end of begginings and I liked that.... How any listens does it take to 'get into this'? I ask because it could be absolutley great - but at the moment it is not...... Comments appreciated. MTTR Back to top

Redvers Group: Members Posts: 23 Joined: Oct. 2005 Posted: May 10 2006, 09:01 Actually played it today and felt wonderful at the end. It's one of my favourites, but I couldn't listen all the way through first time. After a couple of plays it suddenly seemed to gel and now it all sounds wonderful - different - but wonderful. But some take less, some more and some never! One comment from someone sums it up for me though - at the end you have a big smile on your face. -------------- Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority. Back to top

MusicToTheRescue Group: Members Posts: 11 Joined: May 2006 Posted: May 10 2006, 09:47 Yeah, it appears to be that sort of album... 'Happy' - man, that made me jump! I felt that sections of Amarok - such as that piece (happy) have influenced some of Radioheads later work....do you agree? Back to top

c_haese Group: Members Posts: 83 Joined: Nov. 2003 Posted: May 10 2006, 13:10 Quote (MusicToTheRescue @ May 10 2006, 08:47) How any listens does it take to 'get into this'? This will vary greatly from listener to listener. There are fans on this board who still can't get into Amarok after years of trying. I personally was hooked on my first listen. -Carsten Back to top

captainjjb Group: Members Posts: 310 Joined: Feb. 2006 Posted: May 10 2006, 17:04 I've only recently heard it (I was into Oldfield back in the 70's and 80's) and despite the old digital sounds being rather dated it is an intriguing piece with some lovely sections.  I’m still getting to know it.  It’s lots of fun, feels like I’m going out with an old girlfriend…. Back to top

Redvers Group: Members Posts: 23 Joined: Oct. 2005 Posted: May 11 2006, 06:08 Quote (MusicToTheRescue @ May 10 2006, 09:47) I felt that sections of Amarok - such as that piece (happy) have influenced some of Radioheads later work....do you agree? Ummm.....can't say I've listened to a lot of Radiohead - especially not to make a meaningful comment! Being in my fifties, I've tended not to listen to much of the more mainstream output over the last couple of decades but get to hear it when some of the 'younger ones' at work share it with me - or even when some on the board recommend someone/something and I'll give it a listen. -------------- Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority. Back to top

larstangmark Group: Members Posts: 1759 Joined: Mar. 2005 Posted: May 11 2006, 07:18 Quote (MusicToTheRescue @ May 10 2006, 08:47) It started well enough, and I thought after around 10 minutes that this album is his finest...the moment of weirdness, the voice "happy" ...great great great...then.....I lost the plot with it, it then drifted away from me and I found it slighlty uncomfortable, then it came back....then Maggie started on about end of begginings and I liked that.... MTTR - I know what you mean. I've listened to this album many times, but I can't remember half of it. After ca 10 minutes it's just a blur of repeated themes and small (quite insignificant) "miniatures" that I quickly lose track of. In that way it reminds me more of the original Tubular Bells than any of Mike's other albums. I think Amarok is very good. Many great melodies and wonderful production, but my overall impression is that Mike was a bit unfocused at the time. And if I remembers it right Mike actually produced Amarok and Heaven's Open simultaneously - so that could explain a few things. Plus both these albums were done in order to get out of a record contract, which surely didn't help. But then again I'm a minority in this opinion - most fans just love Amarok! My attention span is to short sadly... -------------- "There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste" Mark E Smith Back to top

Sonilink Group: Members Posts: 393 Joined: Jan. 2005 Posted: May 12 2006, 11:49 I remeber the 1st time I heard it!! it was at school during the lunch brake...   IT WAS SO GOOD! -------------- Take the Time Back to top

amazarak Group: Members Posts: 284 Joined: Mar. 2005 Posted: May 12 2006, 12:31 Quote (MusicToTheRescue @ May 10 2006, 14:47) then.....I lost the plot with it, it then drifted away from me and I found it slighlty uncomfortable In my case, I got the whole "plot" after 2nd or 3rd listening. For some people new to Mike's music it is hard to believe, but Amarok IS one consistent piece, with the same themes coming back and again. It definitely shouldn't be divided into separate tracks, like for example TSODE, which is also played continiously, but splitting it particular tracks is reasonable. cheerz amazarak -------------- Just hold your heading true Got to get your finest out Back to top

DarkFeline Group: Members Posts: 144 Joined: Oct. 2005 Posted: May 12 2006, 15:24 For me it's somewhere between 3 to 4 listens. Took a while for me to appreciate it. -------------- Who's your mummy, where she go? Back to top

AmarokFae Group: Members Posts: 43 Joined: May 2006 Posted: May 12 2006, 17:58 I LOVE Amarok. Hence my name. But here's a secret... I can't listen to it alone at night... I'm easily freaked out.... -------------- *+*Faerie Kisses*+* Back to top

Sweetpea Group: Members Posts: 1476 Joined: April 2007 Posted: June 14 2007, 02:59 I've tried Amarok a few times, but haven't yet gotten into it. Its disruptive character puts me off, so it's a big challenge to get through it. I'm still hopeful, however, since some of my current favorite pieces took me time to appreciate. -------------- "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

Marky Group: Members Posts: 390 Joined: Sep. 2005 Posted: June 15 2007, 08:23 I was studing for my final exams in law in 1990 when Amarok was released. I bougbt it on tape cassette and I was beyond words, although alas, not quite literally as I wrote this short review of it for David Porter's Fan magazine Airborne, published July 1990. ..."The nicest thing about MO's music is that one never knows what to expect next. The sheer variety is unparallelled in modern music. Amarok reminds me of a day when the weather never stops changing; when one sets foot outside and is drowned in rainfall; when one dries out, puts on waterproofs, an extra sweater and strong shoes, tucks one's umbrella under an arm and promptly departs into bright sunshine. It is substantially different, but it does incorporate pastiches from previous albums, woven and grafted with skill, flair and precision, not to mention a liberal sprinkling of humour. The whole atmosphere is very positive and relaxed. nevertheless following Ommadawn in channeling and unleashing that phenomenal creative energy which makes me think Oldfield composes on top of a rainbow. I feared he had forgotten how to produce a portrait after painting so many postcards. He hasn't. It is a masterpiece." That still sums up my feelings. It is a unique album. As Q magazine said of Tubular Bells 3: it could be nobody else. Back to top

bee Group: Members Posts: 1227 Joined: Jan. 2004 Posted: June 15 2007, 14:05 Quote (Marky @ June 15 2007, 13:23) nevertheless following Ommadawn in channeling and unleashing that phenomenal creative energy which makes me think Oldfield composes on top of a rainbow.                               ~ I feared he had forgotten how to produce a portrait after painting so many postcards. He hasn't. It is a masterpiece." Oh how I love that! I absolutely agree with you, so beautifully put, rainbows etc lovely images! And the part about postcards and producing a portrait , I liked that too. We all eagerly await the new masterpiece. One thing I'd love to do, and it is quite impossible for me, is to be able to listen to Amarok again as if I had never heard it before, like the very first time. It was & is amazing & will always be a real favourite of mine. -------------- ....second to the right and straight on till morning.... You heard me before Yet you hear me again Then I die Till I call me again Back to top

moonchildhippy Group: Members Posts: 1807 Joined: Dec. 2004 Posted: June 16 2007, 04:30 Quote (bee @ June 15 2007, 18:05) Quote (Marky @ June 15 2007, 13:23) nevertheless following Ommadawn in channeling and unleashing that phenomenal creative energy which makes me think Oldfield composes on top of a rainbow.                               ~ I feared he had forgotten how to produce a portrait after painting so many postcards. He hasn't. It is a masterpiece." Oh how I love that! I absolutely agree with you, so beautifully put, rainbows etc lovely images! And the part about postcards and producing a portrait , I liked that too. We all eagerly await the new masterpiece. One thing I'd love to do, and it is quite impossible for me, is to be able to listen to Amarok again as if I had never heard it before, like the very first time. It was & is amazing & will always be a real favourite of mine. I agree about that statement and Ommadawn , Bee     , but for some reason Amarok I find scary, possibly as I tried listening to it for the first time when I was driving. No matter how much I try I can't get into it. -------------- I'm going slightly mad, 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 "Part time hippy" I'M SUPPORTING OUR SOLDIERS BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!! Back to top

Sweetpea Group: Members Posts: 1476 Joined: April 2007 Posted: June 26 2007, 06:23 I recently decided that if Amarok was worth my attention at all, I wasn't going to wait another seventeen years to find out, so I gave it another go the other night. It was still odd, but it was no longer painful. I actually didn't recall much from my previous attempts, but I was dreading the Thatcher section. It wasn't as interminable as I remembered it to be. In fact, the only truly rough part, this time, was the weirdness that comes in around the fifteen minute mark - which was when I paused to grab a Hefeweizen. After resuming, I nearly snorted it through my nose when I got to the part with the yawning. I'm beginning to see where people are coming from with their praise of this work. I listened to Amarok three times that night. There is something that's niggling me... a brief tune that pops up at 8:37, 8:50, and 9:43... it's familiar and I feel I ought to know what other album it appears in. Can anyone enlighten me? -------------- "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

EeToN Group: Members Posts: 845 Joined: Sep. 2001 Posted: June 26 2007, 08:19 Quote (Sweatpea @ June 26 2007, 12:23) There is something that's niggling me... a brief tune that pops up at 8:37, 8:50, and 9:43... it's familiar and I feel I ought to know what other album it appears in. Can anyone enlighten me? Ah yes, that became the Let There Be Light main theme on TSODE. -------------- If I were music, I would be Enigmatism. Back to top

CuNimb Group: Members Posts: 222 Joined: July 2003 Posted: June 26 2007, 09:26 My wife likes some Oldfield, but not all. The first time I put Amarok on for her she said "turn that bl00dy racket off". I said "ok, just let me listen to this track!" hehehe   -------------- Happy? ha ha ha.... Back to top

bee Group: Members Posts: 1227 Joined: Jan. 2004 Posted: June 26 2007, 18:42 Quote (CuNimb @ June 26 2007, 14:26) I said "ok, just let me listen to this track!" hehehe   That is really funny! How long before she realised?!! I don't know another living soul that likes Amarok, apart from you all here. I think you have to know a bit about Mike's music in general before you can fully accept it as something of note. -------------- ....second to the right and straight on till morning.... You heard me before Yet you hear me again Then I die Till I call me again Back to top

Bill Bobaggins Group: Members Posts: 477 Joined: June 2005 Posted: June 26 2007, 20:07 I know I've said it here before, but Amarok is probably my all-time favorite MO CD.  The first time I listened to it it just blew me away.  Amazing and awe inspiring. -------------- Speak friend and enter. Back to top

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