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Topic: Rediscovering QE2< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
stig Offline




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Posted: Aug. 27 2000, 19:29

Owning Every single MO album on CD, recently (about a year ago), I decided i would try and complete my Vinyl Back Catalogue collection. I have come quite far, and have the entire Virgin era, thanks to Car Boot Sales, Small Record Shops, and the Internet.

Well Anyway, at a Local Market up my end (!), there is a guy who comes along and sells loads of Vinyl. He knows me very well, having sold me nearly all my 7" single collection (he calls me that kid who likes Mike Oldfield - how original of him), but Last Month he called me over and brought out a near mint QE2 vinyl from his van.
It was perfect. The hole in the cover, that didn't make it to the CD, everything - it was love at first sight.

I quite liked QE2 i thought, It wasn't his best, and i remember both Platinum and FMO overshadowing it for me, but i had to have it for my collection anyway. Well, after about a month of SERIOUS QE2 listening, I have to say that there is alot more to it that i first thought, and i rank it alot more highly than i used to.
Particularly 'Mirage', which i had completely forgotten about, and of course 'Taurus 1'..

Well sorry for the long post, but for anyone that isn't that fond of QE2, or just thinks it is average, I HIGHLY recommend you rediscover it!!
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Jammer Offline




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Posted: Oct. 28 2000, 15:59

Why are you planning to get all the vinyl albums when you already have the CD versions? I'm told that trying to find a vinyl of TSODE is very rare.

Which LP versions of CD albums would you recommend to get?

So far I have the original mix of Hergest Ridge


Do you still visit these forums, Steve? You haven't posted anything for a while
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Korgscrew Offline




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Posted: Oct. 30 2000, 19:10

I think one of the best things about LPs is just the size of the covers (ok, so you could argue that there are many good things and also many bad things about them). QE2, for example, having that hole in the cover and then all the ship blueprints on the inner sleeve. Then there's the life ring round the LP label itself. It seems to make it into more of an interesting object than a CD.
I always thought Exposed was quite good as well, with all the little film strip pictures all over the inside (being a double LP, it unfolds in the middle - a 'gatefold' cover) and back.
It's maybe not worth rushing out to get all of Mike's albums on vinyl if you already have them on CD, but I'd say get them if you see them for a good price, because they're fun to have.
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GMOVJ Offline




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Posted: Oct. 31 2000, 05:03

Yep, QE2 is too often classified in 'minor album'. Each time I listen to it, I rank it higher than before.

I agree with you Korgscrew, LP are much more beautiful than CD. A Cd is too small, you can't appreciate artwork correctly, and booklet are often made of thin paper... I think there's more material in LP, e.g FMO, The Complete or Boxed, it's very pleasant to listen to this album, reading and watching cover, inner cover, credits, instruments etc... letting your spirit fly around the story that the cover tells... a kind of Evocation. I'm not sure everyone can do the same with a CD with only two pages booklet. I own several LP, bought when CD was not very developped... and I very happy to have and to listen to them.

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GMOVJ
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Archangel Foster Offline




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Posted: Nov. 14 2000, 13:22

Is that true?? QE2 is thought to be an inferior album of Mike's??? Well, what the hell...???!!!
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CarstenKuss Offline




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Posted: Nov. 14 2000, 15:12

Hi Korgscrew,
my vinyl QE2 has no cut hole or life ring. You probably own a rare version (V 2181). See Dark Star Discography. Maybe you can scan those features and put them online here.
"QE2 = inferior" confused NO WAY!!!
-Carsten-

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-Carsten-
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GMOVJ Offline




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Posted: Nov. 16 2000, 05:16

wink Hey ! That's not what I think !
I was not talking about "inferior", but 'minor', refearing that it's usually consider (not by me, though) as :
- not his best album
- surprinsingly structured (the longest instrumental is 10 min)
- un-remarkabled regarding to TBx, Om etc...

I may should have said 'middle', 'medium'...

Archangel, when I said it was considered as a 'minor' album, I was just spotting a fact : there's few post in this forum, whereas 'Greatest' or 'Badest' (this is just for explanation...) have plenty of them !

And by talking with some others and reading about it on the internet, I notice that a lot of people think it's a 'medium' album. QE2 don't come to mind immediatly when you're talking about MO. Even with fans, it's always about TB, Ommadawn, Incantations, Amarok, TB3, FMO but there is not or few word about QE2. But Taurus I is wonderfull, QE2 (the title) is terribly great ! And no one seems to think it's an important-masterpiece album. No one seems important to do analysis, exploration or comparisons of Taurus I and II...

Of course, this is not my opinion...
Cheers, GMOVJ

PS : and this is not a cyberfight, we are just talking and exchanging with mutual respect point of view, no need to be sorry or excusing ourself every five seconds. No ? If no, sorry ;-)

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GMOVJ
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bennyboy Offline




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Posted: Nov. 16 2000, 05:55

"Platinum" is another one that gets sidelined a mite too often I think

Also "Earth Moving"

But thats another forum.
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Archangel Foster Offline




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Posted: Nov. 16 2000, 08:00

OK, maybe you're right about QE2 and Platinum, but tell my, why is that? I think both of these albums are soo great!
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Pacha Daddy Offline




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Posted: Nov. 16 2000, 09:47

A few months ago, I set out to make a little Oldfield collection for my RealJukebox so I could get a good mix going as I sat down to write. I wanted to put a lot of shorter tracks in it ("Orabidoo" being about the longest). And when I was done, I realized that I'd included just about all of QE2--because when I thought about which tracks I liked best, there they were. Overall, it's jut a damn fine listen. And the original "Taurus," as someone else said, is a great piece of music.
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Delfín Offline




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Posted: Jan. 22 2001, 17:15

Oh I think, agreeing with GMOVJ, that LPs are much better that CD's, not by the sound, but for the pictures... they represent for me a culture of 'buying for enjoying' instead sales scam-CD's culture... - I think they make them smaller because they´re cheaper and for people to buy more. It´s part of the discographic culture that nowadays locates art in a marginal place.

QE2 a minor album? No, but I think not one of the best...though I listened to it the other they, and it´s true... It´s wonderful!

Wouldn't it be good to have LP-size CD's?

About QE2...

I LOVE: QE2,Taurus I
I like so much: Celt, Arrival, Conflict
I like: Wonderful Land, Sheba, Mirage
I take: Molly

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The most precious thing I possess, is knowing the answer's yes
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Archangel Foster Offline




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Posted: Jan. 22 2001, 20:41

Delfín, it would be so damn cool to have LP-sized CDs, and it would be no problem, they could just stick something that holds the CD into an LP cover... Or at the very least they could stop making those ridiculous jewel cases that ruin the booklets if someone gets them into his hands who doesn't know how to handle valuable stuff... wink
...but of course they won't, because they're not cool... rolleyes
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Delfín Offline




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Posted: Feb. 26 2001, 07:42

Oooooh!

Hey right, right, right, right, you are... Azinxo!

But now what can we do, innocent consumers of great music.

It´s true as well that I´ve got a friend called my cool walkman, who coasted more than 8.000 pesetas (I think 3 billion Deustch marks... or maybe less) that brings me the pleasure of listening all MO's discography (OF COURSE I´ve got all that on tapes) biggrin and at the time we can perfectly F**K Richard Branson and all his hot balloon-cold heart culture mad

I wonder... where´s the heaven that we deserve as pure MOfans around the world... confused

With no more news at the time, I say goodday to you until the next close encounter. smile

Delfín.

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The most precious thing I possess, is knowing the answer's yes
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Korgscrew Offline




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Posted: May 27 2001, 23:13

Just in response to Carsten's (much) earlier request for scans of the QE2 artwork: You can now see all the things I mentioned here http://www.appleonline.net/richardc/oldfield/qe2lp.html
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GMOVJ Offline




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Posted: May 28 2001, 04:30

Hi fans !
Just a short message : Thank you Korgscrew !!! wink
Cheers, GMOVJ


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GMOVJ
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Baggiesfaninessex Offline




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Posted: Mar. 12 2002, 15:47

I have an original vinyl LP of QE2. Having read this discussion, I am now going to dig this album out of my collection and play it again for the first time in about 10 years - shocking I know eek but thanks to you guys, I'm about to rediscover a classic! Cheers.

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“A dog is not intelligent. Never trust an animal that's surprised by its own farts.” - Frank Skinner
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Baggiesfaninessex Offline




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Posted: Mar. 24 2002, 19:18

Well, going back to Stig's original message, I rediscovered QE2 this evening and am so glad that I did. OK - it took me about two weeks to do it but I have my reasons!!

'Taurus 1' hit me straight away - I remember a part of this track being played on radio back in 1980 when it was originally released, and some DJ said later that it was a meandering piece of music with no direction. Well, I will spare you the profanities and expletives I could now utter, but this guy was SO wrong! Consistent with the nautical theme of the album, it kicks off with that melodic 'sea shanty' type tune, and then it ROCKS... Collins' drums compliment MO's music perfectly and I just love the way that the baseline from the opening tune becomes the bombastic lead line later.

'Mirage' has such momentum and is so exciting. The title track also builds and builds to the finale. The horns on both of these tracks are fantastic in enhancing the overall power of the music.

Celts has a wonderful melody with Maggie chanting away some weird and wonderful mantra... I could go on!!

Finally, I will say that I was struck by the complex rhythms used throughout the album (Conflict, Celts) and the variety of percussion used.

This is no minor MO album - it is a triumph!

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“A dog is not intelligent. Never trust an animal that's surprised by its own farts.” - Frank Skinner
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Man In The Rain Offline




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Posted: April 02 2002, 13:20

I too have the QE2 LP with the port-hole and innersleeve - a lovely find. But an even nicer version that I own is the German edition with the water and leaves, it is the best Oldfield cover IMO...I've never seen a scan online but it just looks so beautiful, it fits the music perfectly smile

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Hergest Ridge 165 - Ommadawn 038 - Incantations 243
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Magnum Offline




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Posted: April 08 2002, 18:04

I have to agree with everything i've heard so far, especially about the vinyl versions. The hole in the LP cover is what make sit so special.

As far as the music goes, listen to Taurus or Arrival on Headphones and imagine a ship plunging through the waves or a proud Captain bringing his ship into port for the last time. This is what the music is about, telling a tale, which IMO works far better than words.
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raven4x4x Offline




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Posted: May 07 2002, 06:02

I like Conflict, Arrival and Wonderful Land. I often tend to re-discover Mike's albums. My CD best-of is growing as I have re-discovered Guitars, Hergest Ridge, parts of TSODE and Millennium Bell (that was a while ago). Its amazing how you can re-discover albums like that. One listen: "It's alright", next listen: "I love It". I need to listen to Voyager next, I might re-discover it.

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Thank-you for helping us help you help us all.
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34 replies since Aug. 27 2000, 19:29 < Next Oldest | Next Newest >

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