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Topic: New Podcast about Mike Oldfield!< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
LivingForever Offline




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Posted: June 07 2020, 17:58

And last but not least (well maybe a tiny bit least), here’s part 3, covering 1994- the present day.

I’ll be honest, there was some of this stuff that even the two “all-eras” fans struggled to say something nice about - but we still had a blast and it was a good chat!

https://www.theeuropeanperspective.com/?p=3231


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hergestridge Offline




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Posted: June 07 2020, 21:20

I very much enjoyed all three parts of this podcast, though I was a bit surprised that none of the participants mentioned what I think is one of the most telling remarks about Mike's music. This was made by Tom Newman in the BBC TV documentary about Tubular Bells, where he said that one of the worst things Mike did was to attend the Exegesis course, because he then 'found it very hard to reach the places where the real music came from'.

I'd love to hear some more in-depth things about Mike's music, in particular his first four albums, which I think are by far his best. If you ever do think about doing something like that, I'd love to take part.

Thank you very much to all those involved.
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BTH Offline




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Posted: June 08 2020, 08:02

Three excellent podcasts! Though I reckon you were pretty harsh on Music of the Spheres... Some spectacularly powerful and emotional stuff on there, particularly Animus through to the Tempest. It's a great listen... I was lucky enough to get to the premiere in Bilbao (though ended up watching it from behind a pillar!;).

I was also shocked at the lack of regard for SODE! I'll always have a soft spot for it since it was my first "new" Mike Oldfield album having, at the age of 12 just been introduced to him via the TV broadcast of the TB2 premiere... SODE still stands up pretty well I reckon! I absolutely loved TB3 as well, found it to have a lot of heart in among all the technology.

As for Return to Ommadawn, I certainly have to beg to differ... I don't really care if it has much to do with the original album or not. It's an absolutely stunningly great album, one I keep returning to myself again and again. The detail and intricacy of the production is superb, the emotional peaks and valleys are so powerful. I hope he continues on a similar path in future, whether he wants to call it "TB4" or "Return to Ommadawn Again" or whatever! Up there with his very very best. I think you three definitely need to listen to it a few more times!  :p


Edited by BTH on June 08 2020, 08:03

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qjamesfloyd Offline




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Posted: June 09 2020, 08:14

Totally agree about Songs of Distant Earth and Return To Ommadawn, both fantastic albums.
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nightspore Offline




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Posted: June 09 2020, 19:29

It seems an apt moment to say that The Songs of Distant Earth the music is much better than The Songs of Distant Earth the novel, which is just about one of the most tedious and dull novels I've ever read. I remember the science of it is a bit dodgy, too: needing vast quantities of ice to repel the hazard of interstellar dust at near-light speed. Other writers have dealt with this using the so-called 'Ramscoop' idea.

Clarke wrote two good novels: The City and the Stars and Childhood's End,one good novella - "The Lion of Comarre" -  and one great story, "The Wall of Darkness". 2001: A Space Odyssey is quite silly the way it investigates the riddle of Iapetus by launching a human expedition before a probe has even been launched to investigate! Duh! Perhaps it was a satire on NASA finances. There were some good space descriptions towards the end, though - especially the abandoned space port.
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LivingForever Offline




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Posted: June 10 2020, 19:03

Thanks everyone for the comments, much appreciated. Glad that people enjoyed most of it - and inevitably there will be things we didn’t mention; either because we just didn’t know/remember, or there simply wasn’t time (the total running time was already pushing 10 hours!;)

We’ve taken a fair bit of flak on Facebook groups for being harsh on “Music of the Spheres” and “Return to Ommadawn”, I don’t know what to say really. In the case of “Spheres”, it’s really a case of none of us having listened to it that much. I probably listened to it for the first time since it came out a week before the podcast! I don’t dislike it at all, but it’s not a favourite. I’ll definitely revisit based on what people have said here though!

In the case of RTO, it really does invite direct comparison with Ommadawn and in that case it feels like a hollow copy without any of the feeling, to me (and all 3 of us agreed on that...) Most albums had at least one person defending them (usually me, to be honest!;) but there were sadly a few that none of us really enjoy - however we wanted to talk about all the albums and hopefully it was still good to hear the highlights we picked out, even if we weren’t that positive about the whole albums.

The one album I do feel bad about is “The Songs of Distant Earth” - I really love that album (unlike the other two who were ambivalent at best), however we came to record that segment and I realised I had not written anything down about it. :D

I therefore ended up pretty much winging something, and listening back it didn’t really come across how much I like it, which followed up by the less than glowing review from the other two did start the episode on a bit of a downer!

Still, we have been talking about doing more podcasts (on Mike, and possibly giving the same treatment to other artists), so maybe I’ll be able to redress the balance one day!

Thanks again for listening

James H


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BTH Offline




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Posted: June 11 2020, 10:43

Quote (LivingForever @ June 10 2020, 19:03)
Still, we have been talking about doing more podcasts (on Mike, and possibly giving the same treatment to other artists), so maybe I’ll be able to redress the balance one day!

If you need someone to come on and advocate for "Return to Ommadawn" you know who to call!  :p

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LivingForever Offline




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Posted: June 11 2020, 18:10

Quote (BTH @ June 11 2020, 10:43)
Quote (LivingForever @ June 10 2020, 19:03)
Still, we have been talking about doing more podcasts (on Mike, and possibly giving the same treatment to other artists), so maybe I’ll be able to redress the balance one day!

If you need someone to come on and advocate for "Return to Ommadawn" you know who to call!  :p

Hey, yes - if we do end up recording podcasts about every album we may well have to call on people from here to be advocates for some of the albums!

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TOBY Offline




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Posted: June 25 2020, 05:10

Quote (LivingForever @ June 10 2020, 19:03)
Thanks again for listening

James H

Just checked in here and caught this. Spent yesterday afternoon trawling through the whole thing. Great podcast James. Thanks for doing it.

I hardly really listen to Mike these days but I do check in here and on his Facebook groups occasionally just to see what going on. I thought it was really interesting hearing all your views on the albums. I'm around about the same age as you guys and definitely of the generation that grew up rushing out to buy the albums on release day back in the 80's and 90's so I definitely had a lot of shared opinions and memories on things with you all. One thing that particularly made me laugh was when you were talking about the song Shine and how terrible it is but how the guitar solo is so incredible. I know a few guitar playing MO fans who all think the same thing. We always used to discuss that and have a laugh about it. Only Mike would put one of his best guitar solos in one of his worst songs. Thats why I love him. So many shared experiences with MO fans it seems.

Anyway I'd love to hear any more podcast discussions if you do have any planned. At this point in Mike's career looking back and reminiscing with misty eyes on the past is the only thing to do I guess. Certainly a nice thing to do too of course.
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Priabonia Offline




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Posted: June 25 2020, 13:07

Just listening to Part Two, a good listen, you guys have an engaging manner, though frankly not much after Incantations really interests me (I "switched off" some time in the 90s after disappointment after disappointment). Return to Ommadawn? A poor pastiche of possibly the finest album ever made...

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