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Robert_Logan Group: Members Posts: 5 Joined: Jan. 2008 Posted: Jan. 19 2008, 22:53 Hello all! Lovely forum. I don't want to slate Mike's newer material, even if I have become quite disappointed in where he's gone. Rather, I'd like to ask whether anybody else has noticed a weird drop in how inventive he is with harmonies? His first four albums - and even some of his 80s albums - have a certain approach to chord sequences that I find quite original and magical; a kind of folky, strange but not dissonant, adventurous approach. The most obvious example of this for me is "Incantations", but "Hergest Ridge" and "Ommadawn" also have some beautifully inventive harmonic movements. It's something I really miss, because I actually quite like electronic music, and don't mind Mike's music going there. I also like orchestral and choral music. I think it's the fact his 90s albums (bar Amarok) all stick to very tried and tested chord sequences that mainly puts me off the new stuff, and I just don't get it given what he's shown to be capable of in his earlier material. What do you think? Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Jan. 20 2008, 10:28 In the 70s Mike wrote complex music because his personal life was complex (his family troubles caused troubles in his own life, etc.), so his music reflected that complexity. As his albums became hits and Mike's personal life improved as a result of this [but not only!], his music became progressively simpler, to the point that he even got to make a chillout album (Tr3s Lunas) - something which he'd have never dreamed to do in the 1970s. Also, during the 1980s Mike's music got simpler because Virgin (i.e. Richard Branson) started demanding pop songs from him. So, having started to write pop songs, he came to apply the 'pop' format to his instrumental compositions as well. At least this is what I think... -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Sweetpea Group: Members Posts: 1476 Joined: April 2007 Posted: Jan. 25 2008, 18:00 Greetings, Robert. Welcome to the board. Have you heard any bits from the new album Music of the Spheres? I think of MOTS as a close sibling to Mike's first four albums. I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe it's the structure, or maybe it's the harmonies. Considering what you've said, I would expect MOTS to appeal to you. -------------- "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

Ray Group: Members Posts: 857 Joined: Jan. 2000 Posted: Jan. 26 2008, 04:53 I think he is getting lazy......   That's why he sold all his guitars, he got fed up with keeping them in tune and dusting round them....or maybe that was the current Mrs Oldfield. He said himself some of the playing on tubular bells was very aggressive and he said he would start to be unable to play some of the bits as he got older.  So probably the dynamics of his compositions change based on how hard they are to play, how much energy the composer puts into the composition.  As you get older that gets harder, especially when you have no longer got a financial need. I guess that is why Mike doesn't do full concerts.  He probably gets too worn out and cant play lots of very fast solos one after the other for 2 hrs. A pity I know - as, like Tubularman, I would like nothing better than a full MO concert lasting several hrs.   I'd be happy with a Tubular Bells 2 concert again!  That didn't look not too stressful for Mr O.  All those other guitar players helping out!!!   (Sorry, I have merged two treads here!!  Ray -------------- Looking out over the harbour in Peel....... Back to top

moonchildhippy Group: Members Posts: 1807 Joined: Dec. 2004 Posted: Jan. 26 2008, 17:34 Quote (Ray @ Jan. 26 2008, 08:53)   That's why he sold all his guitars, he got fed up with keeping them in tune and dusting round them....or maybe that was the current Mrs Oldfield. Oh I'm sure the Oldfields could afford a cleaner to dust Mike's giutars     . -------------- 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

trcanberra Group: Members Posts: 349 Joined: Jan. 2008 Posted: Feb. 03 2008, 07:13 I think it's just down to the style of the music / album.  He's "been there - done that" with the music you prefer.  I find lots of invention in CDs such as TSODE and TBIII; yet to listen to anything later - will add my thoughts when I have. Back to top

Sweetpea Group: Members Posts: 1476 Joined: April 2007 Posted: Feb. 07 2008, 04:20 Robeeeert... come back and play! Even a "Well, that wasn't very helpful", or "You guys are confusing me", or "Sheesh. Stick to the topic". -------------- "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

larstangmark Group: Members Posts: 1759 Joined: Mar. 2005 Posted: Feb. 07 2008, 15:13 Quote (Robert_Logan @ Jan. 19 2008, 22:53) Hello all! Lovely forum. I don't want to slate Mike's newer material, even if I have become quite disappointed in where he's gone. Rather, I'd like to ask whether anybody else has noticed a weird drop in how inventive he is with harmonies? I think it happened gradually. There are not a lot of surprising chord changes on the Discovery album either. The last really remarkable thing I heard from him composition-wise was actually Bridge to Paradise (from Earth Moving). At the time that raised an eyebrow or two in the Tängmarkian living room. After that it's been pretty much Am Em D, hasn't it? -------------- "There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste" Mark E Smith Back to top

raven4x4x Group: Members Posts: 1535 Joined: Jan. 2002 Posted: Feb. 08 2008, 05:11 Quote (larstangmark @ Feb. 08 2008, 04:13) The last really remarkable thing I heard from him composition-wise was actually Bridge to Paradise (from Earth Moving). At the time that raised an eyebrow or two in the Tängmarkian living room. After that it's been pretty much Am Em D, hasn't it? Aren't you forgetting Amarok and Music From the Balcony? -------------- Thank-you for helping us help you help us all. Back to top

larstangmark Group: Members Posts: 1759 Joined: Mar. 2005 Posted: Feb. 08 2008, 15:36 Quote (raven4x4x @ Feb. 08 2008, 05:11) Aren't you forgetting Amarok and Music From the Balcony? No, sadly I'm not forgetting Amarok or Music From the Balcony. Both pieces have nice and clever arrangements, but I don't hear groundbreaking harmonics. -------------- "There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste" Mark E Smith Back to top

trcanberra Group: Members Posts: 349 Joined: Jan. 2008 Posted: Feb. 16 2008, 01:44 Quote (larstangmark @ Feb. 07 2008, 15:13) Quote (Robert_Logan @ Jan. 19 2008, 22:53) Hello all! Lovely forum. I don't want to slate Mike's newer material, even if I have become quite disappointed in where he's gone. Rather, I'd like to ask whether anybody else has noticed a weird drop in how inventive he is with harmonies? I think it happened gradually. There are not a lot of surprising chord changes on the Discovery album either. The last really remarkable thing I heard from him composition-wise was actually Bridge to Paradise (from Earth Moving). At the time that raised an eyebrow or two in the Tängmarkian living room. After that it's been pretty much Am Em D, hasn't it? Hmm - suprising chord changes do not necessarily mean inventive harmonies.  I think that the sudden changes in some of his earlier albums sound a little forced, and he has radically improved his chord progressions and the way the tunes / themes develop (with Amarok thrown in to keep us all honest). I for one have no problem with the level of inventiveness, I'm even OK with the variations on a theme from TB that appear now and again. Back to top

Jesse Group: Members Posts: 394 Joined: Aug. 2007 Posted: Feb. 25 2008, 05:23 I think i know this guy, I'll trace him back for ye! Back to top

Scatterplot Group: Members Posts: 1980 Joined: Dec. 2007 Posted: Feb. 28 2008, 16:41 Folks, this is not meant to put down MO in any way at all, but the dude's getting old. But not too old to do a "legacy album". Forgetting that the Moody Blues are still touring on canes and walkers, the 1999 album "Strange Times" is how I will remember them. They are coming to my town in March but I will not go. I do not wish to remember them as the band who gave a copy of the video "live at red rocks" to every player and say to all players, "Do This!!"....year after year. The point being, they were about 54 when they did what I consider their "legacy album". I think it was their best album, or at least in their top 3. The tie-in with MO is that I think...I think, he will do another "hand crafted" album. He has a new kid and other things, but wait 2 years then write me back. MO was blessed by when he was born. He got to experiment, manipulate and watch the synthesizer's evolution, as well as shape it. Yamaha, Roland, Korg, Emu, maybe even Kawai. Guitars, forget it. I'm sure he custumized guitars in ways Jimmy Page never thought of. But as computers evolved he got sucked into it. I remember in the late '80s I played Islands for a good freind who was a fair producer/synthaholic/engineer/guitar player/masters degree in computer information systems. He said, "It's too written out, like every event was written on a computer". I agreed. But "Northpoint" is one of my fav. songs still in 2008. Technology got the worst of him for a while. But I tell you, TB 3 has parts that go back to Ommadawn. MO bounced back in 1999. 2/3 of the way into the album, a woman singing like she's crying, so much so I want to cry. The "top of the morning" piano piece.....so cool, so fine, so EMOTIONAL. Mike did some great stuff on TB3, don't think he faded yet. But the 21st century has been boring at least for me. Light+Shade was a very boring effort. Cute in places, but thats about all. Loop-based software, hmm. Music of the Spheres is quite a bit better, much better than Light+Shade. I'm not a classical music fan but I like it. He does too much of the 35 year old Tubular Bells "piano hammering" but it is good.     Don't think for a moment that only 4 or 5 early albums were good. And I still think he's got something like The Moody Blues "Strange Times" waiting. I think he kept back some fine material to save for that "legacy album". I may be full of crap but time will tell......... Jim -------------- We raise our voices in the night Crying to heaven And will our voices be heard Or will they break Like the wind Back to top

Ray Group: Members Posts: 857 Joined: Jan. 2000 Posted: Feb. 28 2008, 17:15 Quote (Scatterplot @ Feb. 28 2008, 21:41) Folks, this is not meant to put down MO in any way at all, but the dude's getting old. But not too old to do a "legacy album". Forgetting that the Moody Blues are still touring on canes and walkers, the 1999 album "Strange Times" is how I will remember them. They are coming to my town in March but I will not go. I do not wish to remember them as the band who gave a copy of the video "live at red rocks" to every player and say to all players, "Do This!!"....year after year. The point being, they were about 54 when they did what I consider their "legacy album". I think it was their best album, or at least in their top 3. The tie-in with MO is that I think...I think, he will do another "hand crafted" album. He has a new kid and other things, but wait 2 years then write me back. MO was blessed by when he was born. He got to experiment, manipulate and watch the synthesizer's evolution, as well as shape it. Yamaha, Roland, Korg, Emu, maybe even Kawai. Guitars, forget it. I'm sure he custumized guitars in ways Jimmy Page never thought of. But as computers evolved he got sucked into it. I remember in the late '80s I played Islands for a good freind who was a fair producer/synthaholic/engineer/guitar player/masters degree in computer information systems. He said, "It's too written out, like every event was written on a computer". I agreed. But "Northpoint" is one of my fav. songs still in 2008. Technology got the worst of him for a while. But I tell you, TB 3 has parts that go back to Ommadawn. MO bounced back in 1999. 2/3 of the way into the album, a woman singing like she's crying, so much so I want to cry. The "top of the morning" piano piece.....so cool, so fine, so EMOTIONAL. Mike did some great stuff on TB3, don't think he faded yet. But the 21st century has been boring at least for me. Light+Shade was a very boring effort. Cute in places, but thats about all. Loop-based software, hmm. Music of the Spheres is quite a bit better, much better than Light+Shade. I'm not a classical music fan but I like it. He does too much of the 35 year old Tubular Bells "piano hammering" but it is good.     Don't think for a moment that only 4 or 5 early albums were good. And I still think he's got something like The Moody Blues "Strange Times" waiting. I think he kept back some fine material to save for that "legacy album". I may be full of crap but time will tell......... Jim you mean "only time will tell"   -------------- Looking out over the harbour in Peel....... Back to top

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