Welcome Guest
[ Log In :: Register ]

 

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

Topic: Norwegian review of L&S translated, From Dagens Naeringsliv< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
Elf Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 67
Joined: Jan. 2005
Posted: Oct. 06 2005, 07:20

So far I've only found one review of L&S in the norwegian media. This one was in Dagens Næringsliv (Norway's Fiancial Times) last Saturday. Every week end they review a new album and this time they dedicated that space to Mike. I've translated the entire article for you, and personally I think this review sums up
the album beautifully.

In fact, it portrays my excact feelings about this album Enjoy:

Shadow waxing
Mike Oldfield makes Secret Garden [Norwegian New Age group that won the Eurovision Song Contest ten years back] sound like a rock group breaking new ground.

In 1973 when Oldfield was only 20 years old, he composed and performed the album no record company wanted. His friend Richard Branson therefore chose to release "&#128;&#156;Tubular Bells" himself, hence it became the very first release on Virgin
Records. En excerpt from the album was used in the horror film "the Exorcist," which didn'&#128;&#153;t diminish the record'&#153;s success. So far the album has sold 16 million copies.

Horse ballad.

Today the 52 year old is a stinking rich new age hippie, who in this country [Norway] is probably most famous for the pop hit "&#128;&#156;Moonlight Shadow"&#128; and his relationship with Anita Hegerland. None of these are mitigating circumstances on this double album.

The first part, "&#128;&#156;Light,"&#128; consists of lightweight ambient which reeks more of a 80s sound than of a contemporary sound. The second part, "Shade," is supposed to be even darker and hipper, but unfortunately it has ended up as meaning "the future looks dark for Mike Oldfield." What you get are dark techno ballads that no DJ would have been caught dead playing even at an after ski in Austria.

There'&#128;&#153;s no law against dedicating songs to your motorbikes ("Blackbird"&#128;), your horse ("&#128;&#156;Rocky"), or a setting on your computer program ("Angelique"&#128;) when you&#128;&#153;r'e having a mid life crisis. But you should expect a certain contact with reality.

Everybody who'&#128;&#153;s willing to admit that they'&#128;&#153;re still doing ambient music would feel compelled to buy Oldfield a round or two if they should meet him. He has been one of the pioneers on the epic instrumental pop music scene. His debut album was a state of the art overdub feast with thousands of layers of sounds.

With this record it'&#128;&#153;s clear that the balance doesn'&#153;t tip in Oldfield's favour anymore.

Dolphin singing.

Mike Oldfield has said that he wanted to make a chill out album this time out.

It sounds like he has been sitting too long watching the sunset at the legendary after party club Café Del Mar on Ibiza, where he admittedly did spend more time than what was good for him. But it also sounds like he hasn't listened to what they'&#153;ve
been playing there for the past decade.

Because "&#128;&#156;Light & Shade"&#128; is old fashioned, scratchy and very dull. The boring Fender-solos, the pathetic vocoder-voices, the endless clichés of melodies that burst when they appear from within the shadows. Both Vangelis and Jean-Michel Jarre would have spent at least one more round in the studio with this music
playing distantly in the background.

"&#128;&#156;Shade"&#128; for instance starts with the dance tune "&#128;&#156;Quicksilver."&#128; In addition to it being very bad Eurotechno, it also includes sound of bubbling water and dolphins singing. That says it all!

There is some attempts to break new ground here, though. Mike Oldfield has included a software program (U-Myx), which enables you to play around with four of the songs and remix them. But I doubt you can do anything to save the songs from a complete crash landing.
Back to top
Profile PM 
Tansy Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 416
Joined: April 2005
Posted: Oct. 06 2005, 08:28

Elf-you said enjoy! Well enjoy I most certainly did!! .Although not exactly singing praises re: both M.O & his new album,just couldn't help being amused by some of the comments eg:
Quote
Today the 52 year old is a stinking rich new age hippie,

Absolutely priceless :laugh: no not making fun of one persons perception,quite the opposite in fact-if only more bad reviews were like this one!
Back to top
Profile PM 
Tubularman Offline




Group: Awaiting Authorisation
Posts: 2304
Joined: June 2004
Posted: Oct. 06 2005, 09:08

bad article! I saw it too on the net, but didnt want to share it. I respect what they think about the album but not when theyre using bad words about mike him self. They dont get respect for me! Typycial frozen norwegian press! They hate another music, and love love love international pop ugly shit music. All they love is idol.. and other boring groups.
I dont really mind about Coldplay but when they give the new album almost six stars,....  :/  naaaaaaa i dont know what to say beacuse all this borring music they love makes the orginal music go down and out! Thats what i hate!
They scare them away and makes laugh of them.
But one comment i saw a norwegian review said; "I expect more from a musical man like Mike", thats a better word and way to show that L+S was not so very good for him.

Those damn  :(  idiotics!
just had a caveman inside


--------------
Mike Oldfield M i x e s
https://soundcloud.com/tubularman
Back to top
Profile PM WEB 
Elf Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 67
Joined: Jan. 2005
Posted: Oct. 06 2005, 09:34

Quote (Tubularman @ Oct. 06 2005, 09:08)
I dont really mind about Coldplay but when they give the new album almost six stars,....  :/  naaaaaaa i dont know what to say beacuse all this borring music they love makes the orginal music go down and out! Thats what i hate!
They scare them away and makes laugh of them.
But one comment i saw a norwegian review said; "I expect more from a musical man like Mike", thats a better word and way to show that L+S was not so very good for him.

Those damn  :(  idiotics!
just had a caveman inside

Quote
bad article! I saw it too on the net, but didnt want to share it. I respect what they think about the album but not when theyre using bad words about mike him self. They dont get respect for me! Typycial frozen norwegian press! They hate another music, and love love love international pop ugly shit music. All they love is idol.. and other boring groups.


Hello? If you haven't paid attention Norwegian reviewers have slaughtered almost all of the Idol-contestants albums.

It's no secret that the Norwegian press and Mike never have been friends, but so can be said for the English press as well. However, I think this reviewer actually showed som knowledge about Oldfield. He also pointed out that a lot of the ambient/electronic artists from the 90s owed him a lot. He just didn't like this album, and who can blame him?

It's the first Oldfield album I won't be buying, and I've got everything he's done both in vinyl and cd, as well as quite a few 7" and 12" records.
Back to top
Profile PM 
Tubularman Offline




Group: Awaiting Authorisation
Posts: 2304
Joined: June 2004
Posted: Oct. 06 2005, 17:02

what i mean was that those reviews people dont respect musicans, like good old mike. But how he thinked about the album is not what i disliked. Its the way things is said like; "Today the 52 year old is a stinking rich new age hippie"
argh!!  :(


--------------
Mike Oldfield M i x e s
https://soundcloud.com/tubularman
Back to top
Profile PM WEB 
TubularBelle Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 1487
Joined: April 2004
Posted: Oct. 10 2005, 21:39

This review is very harsh but as you say he does seem to know a little about Mike and has made a few valid points I feel.

--------------
I hate getting up early. I didn't even realise there were two 6 o'clocks in one day!
Back to top
Profile PM 
Navaira Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 481
Joined: Jan. 2005
Posted: Oct. 11 2005, 05:09

I especially think that the point about Mike not listening to other people's records and in doing so failing to sound 'modern' is true. That's especially the case with dance music; it seems Mike has completely missed the fact that dance music not only evolved a lot in the past 5-10 years but also (this year) ate itself and died. 'Romance' is a poor joke and 'Quicksilver' is practically a leftover from Robert Miles' first album.

Mike, we DO love you, we really do! But as people who love you we can't keep the truth from you: you REALLY need to do some catching up. It might be a good thing to listen to the latest Chemical Brothers, Richard X and Ladytron albums, for instance. (But not Crazy Frog, dear.)


--------------
http://www.raygrant.com :: My album 'Exorcism' is out on iTunes now
Back to top
Profile PM WEB 
raven4x4x Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 1535
Joined: Jan. 2002
Posted: Oct. 11 2005, 07:25

I don't care in the least if he sounds 'modern' or not. I really have no idea what 'modern' dance music sounds like, or how it differs from older dance music. I really can't comment on things sounding 'dated', 'cliched' or anything like that, because I haven't heard much other dance music.

--------------
Thank-you for helping us help you help us all.
Back to top
Profile PM 
Alan D Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 3670
Joined: Aug. 2004
Posted: Oct. 11 2005, 07:31

Quote (raven4x4x @ Oct. 11 2005, 12:25)
I don't care in the least if he sounds 'modern' or not.

Neither do I. Why should we? Does Beethoven sound 'modern'?
Back to top
Profile PM 
tubular_trekkie Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 366
Joined: Sep. 2005
Posted: Oct. 11 2005, 08:03

Quote (Alan D @ Oct. 11 2005, 12:31)
Quote (raven4x4x @ Oct. 11 2005, 12:25)
I don't care in the least if he sounds 'modern' or not.

Neither do I. Why should we? Does Beethoven sound 'modern'?

Well not now, but he probably did at the time  :)
I'm not really concerned as to whether MO sounds sufficiently 'modern' or cutting-edge - it just doesn't seem to me to be that important. After all what's 'in' or cutting-edge is largely dictated by the 'kewl' people in the media and doesn't necessarily reflect the quality of the product. I think MO is simply beyond 'cool', sort of meta-cool if you like  :cool:


--------------
"The concept of progress acts as a protective mechanism to shield us from the terrors of the future."

- from 'Collected Sayings of Muad'Dib' by the Princess Irulan
Back to top
Profile PM 
Navaira Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 481
Joined: Jan. 2005
Posted: Oct. 11 2005, 12:35

Quote (raven4x4x @ Oct. 11 2005, 07:25)
I don't care in the least if he sounds 'modern' or not.

Neither does Mike, and neither do the buyers, apparently. Am I wrong in thinking "Light and Shade" is the first MO album ever to miss the UK top 75?

Comparisons with Beethoven don't really make much sense. They did/would when Mike released Amarok, Tubular Bells or Incantations. If you're going to release chill-out albums that sound EXACTLY like Enigma did four albums ago, you're not going to be remembered as modern age Beethoven.


--------------
http://www.raygrant.com :: My album 'Exorcism' is out on iTunes now
Back to top
Profile PM WEB 
Piltdownboy on horseback 22 Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 1548
Joined: Sep. 2005
Posted: Oct. 11 2005, 13:11

About this chart thing: I believe that The Killing Fields also didn't make it to the top 75 (came to 97 I think I've read somewhere). And I can't imagine Millennium Bell getting into that chart (but that's probably a good thing!;). Just a shame that Guitars and TBIII didn't get the succes it deserved.

About the review: It's too harsh... but it's got a few point I can agree with: Quicksilver and Romance sound like bad outtakes from some 1993 techno compilation.
But what the critic didn't mentioned was that there are beautiful tracks on L&S, like Surfing, Tears of a Vocaloid, Resolution and some others...

But it's not some Norweighian boreheads' opinion that counts, does it... :cool:


--------------
"And now we're going to play Platinum!"
Back to top
Profile PM 
TubularBelle Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 1487
Joined: April 2004
Posted: Oct. 11 2005, 20:57

Quote (Navaira @ Oct. 11 2005, 05:09)
I especially think that the point about Mike not listening to other people's records and in doing so failing to sound 'modern' is true. That's especially the case with dance music; it seems Mike has completely missed the fact that dance music not only evolved a lot in the past 5-10 years but also (this year) ate itself and died.  

Mike, we DO love you, we really do! But as people who love you we can't keep the truth from you: you REALLY need to do some catching up. It might be a good thing to listen to the latest Chemical Brothers, Richard X and Ladytron albums, for instance. (But not Crazy Frog, dear.)

Absolutely true Navaira. I feel quite proud of myself for coming up with this analogy in a much nicer way in the 'What a load of ....' thread before this review was posted. You can't really criticise the reviewer either, he does have some knowledge of Mike. And as he isn't supporting IDOL or Eurovision Song contestants either it shows he does have some taste.

It is MIKE who has chosen to want to sound modern, not his fans and he has not done a very good job of it. It is because he has tried to do dance music that it has become obvious how far behind the eight ball he really is. People always describe Mikes earlier music as timeless which is an advantage to him because he can use it over and over again many years later but this time it hasn't worked for him because he has tried to explore another genre of music without even exposing himself to it in the first place apart from his Ibiza experience several years ago and he is still in that time warp. I'll keep saying it, MIKE CALL MOBY!!!!!!

@Elf, could you possibly edit your post and take out those symbals and numbers that make it harder to read?


--------------
I hate getting up early. I didn't even realise there were two 6 o'clocks in one day!
Back to top
Profile PM 
mrZ Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 4
Joined: April 2005
Posted: Oct. 19 2005, 22:20

Quote (Elf @ Oct. 06 2005, 13:20)

Another Norwegian review here:

http://hissig.no/anmeldelser/o/mike-oldfield/light-shade/


--------------
geschtonkenflapped
Back to top
Profile PM WEB 
13 replies since Oct. 06 2005, 07:20 < Next Oldest | Next Newest >

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

 






Forums | Links | Instruments | Discography | Tours | Articles | FAQ | Artwork | Wallpapers
Biography | Gallery | Videos | MIDI / Ringtones | Tabs | Lyrics | Books | Sitemap | Contact

Mike Oldfield Tubular.net
Mike Oldfield Tubular.net