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LawrenceM Group: Members Posts: 2 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: Nov. 30 1999, 08:45 When I was just three, I heard Tubular Bells for the first time and sat entranced. I was 15 before I could get my first Oldfield album, and now I'm nearly thirty and beginning to wonder if all is well with Mike Oldfield. Millennium Bell has a very imposing title, some very pretty music, and some rather odd spoken verse, but does it have passion? Where is the emotional core of the music these days? I really liked TSODE, and even TBIII had something going for it, but I can listen to MB and it does nothing much for me, and if I wanted that sort of experience, I go buy a Jarre album! Perhaps it's just me. I had the same thing from most of Voyager. Does anyone else feel like this? All the best Lawrence Back to top

Unregistered Posted: Nov. 30 1999, 09:18 Yep, just the same Laurence! I've been a die-hard MO addict since I bought 'Ommadawn' in 1981. This latest offering could have been done by anybody. Orchestral works are all very well, and the music is nice, but which part does Mike play? The MB is definitely lacking in guitar which Mike plays better than anyone else. Like you say there's no feeling in this album. And it's about time he lost the bells thing too. Mike never used to worry about appealing to public opinion but everyhting has to have a bell on it these days. Back to top

Unregistered Posted: Nov. 30 1999, 09:48 It seems to me as this album (TMB) was made by anyone except MO. In the final mix Mike take his guitar and randomly and shortly played a few notes here and there. IMHO the worst MO record, very dissapointed with it. Back to top

jon Group: Members Posts: 1 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: Nov. 30 1999, 14:28 Im afraid I do not agree with most of the opinios I´ve just read. I find the new album quite good, and, in any case, better than the latest ones. I didn,t like "guitars" at all, in fact I think I´ve listened to it only 4 o 5 times. TBIII was OK, but nothing to do with TBII (who wants to compare it with TBI?. And now, TMB is, again, a enjoyable album. I think that sometimes I have the feeling of beeing waiting for a MO old-style new album every time I hear of a new record coming soon, and then, I feel disapointed as a firs impression. Except from the case of amarok, MO has abandonned that TBI, HG or Ommadawn old flavour. On one side, that is a pitty to me, but I still find MO´s music better than anyone else´s. The thing is that, the more I listen to this new album, the more I like it. Back to top

liron Group: Members Posts: 43 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Dec. 01 1999, 13:32 the operation went well, the patient died. mike oldfield was a sort of a god to me. and to say the truth (which i denied for long time), mike oldfield is dead. he was already well on his way to the neitherworld on TBII, and this last fiasco is another decleration of a man who lost his way. people talk about passion, "where's the passion?" they ask melancholically, listening to the void-like music. "where are the feelings?" they ponder silently. well I stopped wondering lads - i stopped right on TSODE. why do you crave for passion when there's not even a decent melody in sight? you go to any mike oldfield site - they'll tell you about the unique quallity and well recognized oldfield "sound". even in the commercialized '80s he continued to have the specific oldfield sound, but now... i could'nt recognise him from enigma, or jarre, or vangelis, or era, or adeiamus, or what-ever-ambient-back-to-nature-and-into- space-age band! the man does'nt even have the courtesy to pick up his blimy guitar and play it goddamn it! and when he finnaly does hit the nails or plectrum on the strings for a few seconds, we scream excitedly like wild apes. for those of you who forgot, i will remind you again: tubular bells, hergest ridge, ommadawn, incantations, amarok. emotional, innovative, emotional, expresionistic, emotional, inteligent, emotional, emotional, emotional. mike oldfield I loved and addored, used to shut his mouth and make music. mike oldfield we grew to know is a walking hedonistic pyrotechnical extravaganza - "the big ben at the end of my tb3, the new millenium for my bell". i would have excepted it if only there was something behind all that fuss. what amazes me the most is that there will always be the people who'll defend all that synthetically generated crap, always saying mike oldfield isn't supposed to make the same album for all of his life. I AGREE - don't make the same album all your life, try new directions, evolve - thats what art is about. but mike oldfield isn't evolving - artistically he's declining. in fact the only thing that does seem to evolve, is the picture of tubular bells on each of the editions. oldfield is either very confused, or either very vacant. (and as for me, although i say it every time, i'll stop waiting for art to come out of mr. oldfield's hands - 'till he proves otherwise). Back to top

Unregistered Posted: Dec. 01 1999, 15:05 This is a copy of my reply in another discussiangroup, but after reading the ones above, it seems to belong in this one better!:There must be no misunderstanding, TMB is a masterpiece and if there would be a composer of the millenium election, Mike would rank up with some of the classic masters. But, is it the style of music you like? Or is it the musician? And do you follow him everywhere his musical evolution goes? of course MO would be boring if stayed with the Bells. But from my point of view I do mis the joy of real compositions of the Tauruses, Amarok and Ommadawn for instance(not forget to mention the Bells). They take you away for half an our or so and built up to grand finales and a total wall of music, still recognizing every rithem and sounds. Isn't this realy what we want him to do? For me listening to MO is taking a hot bath, but on TMB it is just if someone is turning on the cold water every 3 or 4 minutes Back to top

Unregistered Posted: Dec. 02 1999, 01:00 I must say that one thing that the internet has done is surprise me. It is a great forum for fans to communicate and discuss their favorite artists. I must say though, that everytime a new Oldfield album comes out, I am always surprised at the negative comments that are often made. Though, I don't always think Mike's albums are 4 star affairs, I don't think he's truly made a terrible album. No reviews though have surprised me more than some I've read for 'Millenium Bell'. I have listened to the album once and I fail to see how a fan of Oldfield could not see the brilliance in much of this album. Is it different? Yes. But, how could that not be respected. I understand the argument made for the lack of guitar, but for one thing, it's there if you listen. Second of all, the drive to do different things is going to warrant changes. There are probably fans of Mike's symphonic sound who were let down by 'Guitars'. All in all, I find MB to be quite an amazing album. I only wish I could see the concert. Being here in the USA limits the chances to see Mike, though I did catch the TB II concert in L.A. Again, I would say to all fans of Mike, try MB before you let bad reviews sway you. Everyone has an opinion, which is fine. Personally, I find this album to be Mike's most heartfelt work since 'Songs of Distant Earth'. Back to top

Unregistered Posted: Dec. 02 1999, 03:40 Once again, Matthew's opinion could have been written by me. I believe there are MO fans out there who, if Mike's next album was 45 minutes of silence with a bell chime at the end, would say it's the best thing he's ever done. Can they really be that fanatical? The composition of TMB is brilliant - that's not in doubt. But it lacks Oldfieldness! It's all very well writing orchestral pieces but if Mike's not playing the subtleties that only he can produce are missing. I do agree that Mike has to progress and experiment with different styles and approaches to his work, and not all albums should be Amaroks or Ommadawns, as that would be boring. But I do think Matthew's hit it on the head. Taurus 1 still remains one of my favourite pieces after 19 years, and the Wind Chimes is a classic which really does transport you to a south sea island. Long live the wall of sound! Back to top

liron Group: Members Posts: 43 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Dec. 02 1999, 06:52 you should only just read the articles with mike oldfield in the '70 - for example: "i hate people that play blantley", in second thought you should'nt go that far in history: just read the articles from the period of amarok's release, where he states: "i hate the commercialism in music... young people grow on kiley minugue's music and thinks thats what music is all about... todays music is just computers playing, a bunch of engineers who press buttons and hate what they do... i made this album to show that it could be done - an album without computers in it, in fact there is'nt that much synthesizers... what amazes me the most is that TB did'nt inspire young people to go on in that direction, i mean, you have jarre and vangelis - but they're crap... so i made this album to oppose the commersialism trade in music these days". some of the words spoken by the man himself. very nice, indeed, but just listen to what he says in his latest interview. to the question of what does he think about commersialism in music he replies: "i don't really care about it... i except the fact that my music has to be commersialised...". read the article in tubular web if you want the whole lot. that's what i call consistancy of thought... if that's what you want, mike, to make commersialised music that will appeal to the masses, in order not to be called a "dinosour"... well it has a name: "greed". 40 million copies of your records sold world wide... i think you can live on your bank money for the rest of your life, so i dont see the need in making compromises in order sell. an artist - you are definatly not. and as to the well known phrase of yours "...i can express my feelings very easily in music...", i'll have to say - "mike, take it from a man who once declared you a "guitar god" - you lost it lad!" you lost it and we keep on waiting for you to find it. still waiting... Back to top

Gerhard Group: Members Posts: 11 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Dec. 02 1999, 16:48 Hi, my english isn't so good, so i write in german! I hope, somebody can understand me :-) Ich kann die Kritiken gut verstehen. Die drei letzten Alben von MO waren nicht gerade die besten. Man kann an einer Hand die besten Stücke aus diesen Alben aufzählen. Die neue MTB ist allerdings wirklich was neues. Ok, Ihr habt Recht. Die typische Mike Oldfield Gitarre kommt nur sehr selten zum Einsatz. Aber es ist ein geniales Album. Die letzten drei Alben hatten viel Gitarre und waren nicht gerde umwerfend. Das neue Album hat wenig Gitarre ist aber genial. Ein Komponist wie Mike entwickelt sich. Die alten Erfolge mit TB, HG, Ommadawn sind Vergangenheit. Aber mit MTB hat er wirklich was neues gemacht, auf das wir alten Oldfield-Fans doch warten. Ich bin auch aus den 80ern mit Mike großgeworden und habe immer wieder auf ein Album wie Crises bzw. Five Miles Out gewartet. Was bis heute ein Wunschtraum blieb, denn diese Zeiten sind vorbei. Jetzt haben wir nach vielen Jahren wieder ein tolles Album und wieder sind nicht alle zufrieden. Die Kritiken in anderen Foren, sind oft immer nur positiv ausgefallen, was mich beim anhören der letzten Platten Voyager, TBIII und Guitars zum Teil doch sehr gewundert hat. Mike hat mit diesem Album meiner Meinung nach das Potential geschaffen, wieder nach oben in die Charts zu gelangen. Denn für wen hat den Mike die Alben gemacht. Doch nur für die alten Begleiter aus den 70 und 80. Keiner glaubt doch wohl ernsthaft daran, daß seine Alben noch massenhaft verkauft werden wie in den frühen Jahren. Der grosse Break kam schon Ende der 80er während der dreijähringen Pause bis zur Veröffentlichung von ISLANDS. Mike hat nie wieder den grossen Erfolg gehabt. Ein Lichtblick zu Beginn der 90er war AMAROK, ein genial und fantastisches Album. Neu und erfrischend. Aber nur für eingefleischte Fans die Mike kannten und die Genialität schätzten. Heavens Open war mehr oder weniger eine Katastrophe bis dann 92 TBII erschien. Diese Album, ein Remix von TB war genial, dann noch TSODE und dann kam lange nichts mehr, bis zum 29.11.1999. Millenium Bell ist von den Melodien schön anzuhören und die Melodien gehen gut ins Ohr. Sehr harmonisch. Das die Gitarren nicht sehr vertreten sind, ist nicht weiter tragisch. Dies zeichnet doch auch die Klasse von Mike aus, daß hier Stücke zu hören sind, die allein seine Klasse als großer Komponist nur unterstreichen. Das er Gitarre spielen kann ist uns doch allen klar. Dafür gabs ja Anfang des Jahres GUITARS. Da waren es eher zuviel Gitarren. Was auch nicht der Hit war. Das einzig negative an MTB ist der Titel! Warum schon wieder Bell??? Solangsam ist Bell bei Mike ausgelutscht. Ich hoffe, das wir in 10 Jahren nicht die ...Bell IX kaufen müssen. Ausser dem Titel ist die neue genial und von den Melodien superb. Gruss an alle MO-Fans Gerhard Back to top

Ketal Group: Members Posts: 11 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Dec. 03 1999, 11:17 g rien capté... Well, i don't have bought TMB, but I will and may something about it when i have it... But, reading these messages, i've finally thought about all MO albums I have. I really love his music, that's why i'm trying to buy all the albums. Indeed i bought the latest ones, but i've started to buy the old ones too... The first one i was offered was "Earth Moving", and i really liked it (I think i was about 10!), but I hadn't enough money to buy the next ones until i was 15. I bought Islands, and then i was really fond of this style of music. But after i bought some other ones, my brother offered me "Voyager".... ouch! It was... hum... strange, but i couldn't find something really nice in it... (finally, i think there's one i really love... i think it's 'Mont StMichel' [maybe because i'm french?? :P]). But my brother received SOTDE from me... And I was sooo fond of it that I took it from him during some months! SOTDE was really amazing, and it's definitely one of the best album MO made. (but i couldn't see the videos!!!! ). So Voyager wasn't really nice I said... and i had the same feeling when I bought TB3. Sure, it was cool, but..... cool. I wasn't so 'happy' listening to it, contrary to the other ones... And on 'Guitars', there was some Mike's style, but i still can't really like it. I don't have TMB, i will buy it... and hope Mike will be better than on his latest productions. This forum have make me realise that Oldfield wasn't as good as before. In fact i didn't have really saw that because i was buying older albums, which are really excellent! Damn, once again I wasn't really clear in my message, and my english isn't good enough to enable me speaking well.... Message to Mike: WAKE UP, stand out of this commercial stuff! make us feel better, be the one we loved before! Bye Ketal ketal@caramail.com http://www.multimania.com/ketal/ Back to top

Kane Group: Members Posts: 1 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Dec. 04 1999, 01:12 Hello everyone, Well i think TMB is not the best Oldfield's album at all. Not the worst too. But the real problem is the lake of research in the compositions. Since some years, MO is in the "easy way" of musical work. It could be very "acceptable" if he hadn't make AMAROK or OMMADAWN or some other masterpieces... If you know the music, you will find that a lot of themes in the last album are very simple... just a little melody (ok, some are nice) again and again sometime with a little guitar onto. The sixth track is a good example. An orchestration in the 1850' style but the theme repeats with always the same orchestration, there are no variations. Ok, it's very hard to have the same feeling that the middle of the 18th century but... Some tracks are very pleasant but without the feeling of the early albums. It seems without "magic touch" without life... another axample, Mastermind is cool ad funny but it's not enough, it's seems too easy for MO... with some effects deja-vu in other albums ! And the track with a "modern" rythm are made for live (ok it's possible too) but very hard to listen if you want the Oldfield style... Ok when he made "Platinum" it was very disco and disco is not the greatest musical style of the century but but he played fabulous piece of guitars into ! Nothing like that here. I don't think it's a bad album but for Mike Oldfield it's not a great piece of works. Three albums in one year it's too much, who knows ? If you took the great pieces of Guitar and the great pieces of TMB you could have a very good album ! Since TBII i think MO hasn't made a perfect album... perhaps a very good producer (Trevor Horn again ?) could help him to resolve some problems. Sure he could make some complex work in the futur ! Like AMAROK or HERGEST RIDGE ? I just want to find the MO with great ideas and sense of the creation ! Sorry for my english but i'm french and it's soon here ! So long Back to top

Unregistered Posted: Dec. 04 1999, 04:44 Peace... I think thats the overall feeling in this forum... We hate the new Oldfield music, but were going to wait for the return of the guitarmessiah no matter how long it will take... Personally I have to agree, he has lost it. Still I like his new-agey slightly Oldfield flavoured syntheseizhermashine-stuff. But it doesnt make feel real feelings like, for example when the bassline is introduced in the glockenspiel-bells theme at the start of TB(I)... /Mats Back to top

Unregistered Posted: Dec. 09 1999, 19:34 Nun, ich bin schlicht und einfach enttäuscht, und wie ich sehen muss, bin ich längst nicht der Einzige. "Guitars" hat ja schon z.T. perverse Klänge drauf, so z.B. die ganzen generierten Perkussions-Geräusche, die nun einfach schlecht gemacht sind und nicht in die Umgebung der Gitarren passen. Was sich Mike aber mit seinem neusten Kind erlaubt hat, übertrifft alles. Ausgesprochen langweilig, Durchschnittsware, wie ich sie von ihm bislang nicht gewohnt war. Zuweilen habe ich gar das Gefühl, dass er Melodiestücke geklaut hat, Teile von Vangelis zum Beispiel. Und der Technoschrott am Schluss der CD is schlicht indiskutabel. Aber was will man erwarten bei soviel Auskoppelungen in so kurzer Zeit - da muss die Qualität zwangsläufig auf der Strecke bleiben. Ein Künstler kann sich nicht exponentiell weiterentwickeln, dies ist auch mir klar. Nur, wenn ich mir das "neue" Album anhöre, so kann ich mir nur schwer vorstellen, dass Herr Oldfield selber dazu stehen kann, ohne rot zu werden, und er müsste sich eigentlich fragen, ob eine Schaffenspause nicht angebrachter wäre als sich mehr und mehr vor einem einst anspruchsvollen Publikum, das noch Wert auf Individualität in der Musik legte, lächerlich zu machen. Back to top

Blue Dolphin Group: Members Posts: 1232 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: Dec. 11 1999, 12:36 I totally disagree with liron. First of all, Mike has never, and I say never!!!, told that Jarre and Vangelis are crap. He only once said that he, Jarre and Vangelis are still the great instrumental artist. And that is true!!!!! So shut up about that. I listen to Jarre and Vangelis too. Second, when Mike said that commercial crap is stupid, and that he made Amarok. Tb3 and TMB are commercial. But as a true Oldfield fan, you have to know that what Oldfield says, always ends up as the opposite. Well, that was it. I think oldfield should turn back to "Five Miles Out" style. Like Taurus 2, Orabidoo and Mount Teide. They are great! Blue Dolphin -------------- -The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it- Mike Oldfield - 1980 Back to top

Unregistered Posted: Dec. 12 1999, 16:54 Hey Lawrence, You never told ma that you were a member of this site as well!!! But I must admit that I have not listened to that bloody album for a week now and I don't miss it at all Love Your Girlfriend P.S I see that I'm one of your intrests!!!! Back to top

Unregistered Posted: Dec. 12 1999, 17:22 Well, Emma, then you should change your boyfriend! See you far above the clouds, Andi. Back to top

Unregistered Posted: Dec. 13 1999, 05:36 Hi fans, I'm a german oldfield-fan and I write better in my native language ;-). Ich wollte nur etwas zu der Meinung von Andi was sagen. Schade das Dir TMB nicht gefallen hat. Das einzigartige an sein Musikschaffen ist, dass er alle 2 Alben seinen Stil stueckweise geaendert hat. Man nehme nur den Schritt von Incantitation zu Platinum weiter zu Discovery. Ehrlich gesagt gelang ihn das nicht mehr richtig in seinen letzten Alben. Doch mit TMB finde ich, ist wirklich wieder was neues entstanden. Wir muessen eins sehen, er sagt von sich selber, das er die Musik nicht fuer seine Fans schreibt, sondern eigentlich nur fuer sich. Also brauch er auch nicht rot zu werden . Du sagtest, Du findest das Album eher durchschnittlich, ich frage mich aber bezueglich zu was? Zu seinen frueheren Arbeiten wohl kaum und ansonsten findet man nur wenige, die so eine Musik schreiben. Ich bin absolut kein Technofan, aber der letzte Track ist nicht indiskutabel. Beim Durchlesen der Postings glaubt man manchmal, das es einige Gitarren-Fetischisten gibt, die dann voellig enttaeuscht sind, wenn man so wenig Gitarre im neusten Album hoert. Mike Oldfield ist ein Multiinstrumentalist, was er auch auf seiner letzten Konzertreise bewiesen hat, also nicht beschraenkt auf eine kleine Auswahl von Musikinstrumenten. Das Argument der vielen Auskopplungen in kurzer Zeit ist nicht von der Hand zu weisen. Allerdings war Amarok in einem recht kurzen Zeitraum entstanden, wenn ich mich nicht irre. Danke fuers Lesen. Bye S"oren Back to top

tamas Group: Members Posts: 25 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Dec. 13 1999, 06:47 Dear Mike! Although I fear you will never read my letter, I have to address it to you personnally. I was a fun of your music since 1983, age of 13. We have never met, but you were always one of my best friend - through your music you were always with me, and I have to thank you some of the most catharthic moments in my life. Your music was a very important inspiration form for me, and my three fantasy novels, which were published in the 90's in Hungary, and were quite a great success, could not have been born without your help. Howewer I am looking in despair the slow metamorhopse of your music since the "Songs of the Distant Earth". Your compositions were always some kind of music "ballads", "legends" with very strong narrative construction, full of complex emotional layers, but all of this had slowly disappeared: today they are fragments, fragments of emotions, without any depths, without inner consistence. I was shocked when I have heard first the techno rhythms of the Tubular Bells III. I am not against the techno, I really like ACID music, but this style has nothing to do with your music. Your music is - or at least it was - constructed from emotions. Techno is against emotions. To speak about emotions in a non-emotional way? What kind of paradox it is??? After the TBIII I though this tragic mutation should never be repeated again, and I was waiting really very-very much the Milleneum Bell. But I was shocked again - especially shocked by the final track. One of the strongest part of your music was always the cathartic endings - the final track was even cathartic on the TBIII (it was the only really genious part of that album). But what is that terrible techno-mutation on the end of the M.B.? What is it? What does that D.J.Pipi do with your music? Mike, what had happended to you? How could you let your music to be sterilized by the ultraviolent rays of the Ibizian sun? In 1990 you wanted to show the people that there are still alternatives in the music, so you made AMAROK. It was one of your gratest works, and one of the most genious music of the last few decades. Today we need much more a new AMAROK, than we needed 9 years ago. Much much more.... But what we had got instead of this? How could you call the T.M.B. your best work? How could anybody be so blind and deaf to praise it? Mike, you made a long, and beautiful journey since 1973. You have seen much things, and showed us even more, but I fear you have lost something on that journey. Will you ever be able to find it again? Maybe the legend of the Bells is over for ever? We do not want any more DJ Pipi-s, DJ Pepe-s, DJ. Pipo-s, DJ. Popo-s, DJ. Etc-s! We do not want the Legend of the Bells to be destructed, to be desacralised! Mike, maybe I am nobody to giving you advices, but I suggest you go to the forest on a mysty, silent day, sit on a tree trunk, close your eyes, listen to the birds and the song of the wind, and think it over. Think it over very deeply. Tamas Beregi Back to top

Unregistered Posted: Dec. 13 1999, 07:29 Hallo Soeren! Ich bin froh, dass es dank dieses Forums zu einem Gedankenaustausch kommt! Um meine Meinung ein wenig detaillierter ausformulieren zu können, bitte ich Dich, mir Deine E-Mail-Adresse zu geben. Meine lautet: brunnair@freesurf.ch Danke und tschüss, Andi. Back to top

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