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bee Group: Members Posts: 1227 Joined: Jan. 2004 Posted: May 31 2006, 15:08 Have had a little time to myself just lately & have spent much of it listening properly (ie no interruptions) to music. Absolute self indulgence...well you have to once in a while! Haven't listened to FMO for a while, though I have always loved it. When it first came out in the 80's I was obsessed with it & played it constantly. There is something so whole and complete about this album I'm not sure how to begin describe it. For me Taurus II is as perfect as music gets. It's got everything I love about Mike Oldfield in there, changes of direction, changes of tempo, surging sounds, thousands of instruments, fantastic guitar , different styles. It takes you everywhere at once and never loses it's direction, in other hands it could be a cacophonous mess but Mike makes it hold true. It feels good. He knows how to get the best from every instrument and allows them each a space of their own, giving them respect, and then together they blend and work together to create a masterpiece. And timpanis - I love timpanis...real drums bring such incredible structure to music. Taurus II is  gentle, tender, thoughtful, playful, exhilarating, clever and a joy to listen to. So I like it. A while back on tubularnet there was a discussion regarding Light & Shade & the difference between the old style Mike with real instruments & longer pieces as opposed to the new style with all the electrickery. I am generalising now but I feel there was an idea that those that really loved Tubular Bells Ommadawn & Hergest Ridge should move with the times and not hanker after the past. For me, Five Miles Out brings everything together, successfully combining elements of both styles, without making it sound either one way or the other. I know it's not an electronic album as such, but it in many ways makes me think of later stuff. When you think it was written during the 80's & there was such a lot of strange, plastic, going nowhere music around at that time, it shows you again that Mike is a unique artist. He was doing something unlike anything at the time, as he always does. I honestly believe he will be regarded generations from now as a remarkable composer. I think he made a masterpiece here and would rate it very near to Ommadawn if I had to make a list. And Ommadawn for me, is sublime. Looking forward to the new album ofcourse & really hoping for some of that Oldfield sound that comes across with a strong and powerful energy. bee -------------- ....second to the right and straight on till morning.... You heard me before Yet you hear me again Then I die Till I call me again Back to top

ImAFoolAndImLaughing Group: Members Posts: 536 Joined: Feb. 2006 Posted: May 31 2006, 17:17 Bee - so glad to see that someone else feels the same way about FMO that I do.  It's a gorgeous album - Orabidoo is my favourite MO track ever - but the album as a whole, the way it holds together and revisits themes and motifs throughout its different tracks (like that moment when a theme from Taurus II suddenly reappears in Orabidoo - Magic) , and meanders through such varied and exciting musical texures. I love it Tony -------------- "I was in this prematurely air conditioned supermarket and there were these bathing caps you could buy that had these kind of Fourth of July plumes on them that were red and yellow and blue and I wasn't tempted to buy one but I was reminded of the fact that I had been avoiding the beach." Back to top

ThisName Group: Members Posts: 307 Joined: July 2005 Posted: May 31 2006, 17:46 Yeah FMO is a very complete album that dosent have a single weak track. Taurus 2 did nothing for me early on but now I have heard it lots of times and agree that it is an incredibly powerful track. Although I prefer the live Mount Teide, I still think the album version is unusual and beautiful. Orabidoo is another track I have problems with but I need to give it more time. All in all, it is a superb album. I think in the last few releases by mike, the guitars have become subserviant, and when they are heard, they are swamped in reverb and are very clean. Taurus 2 for example is very rugged and earthly and thats what I like most. I say lose the pads and bring back the edge! -------------- www.ryanyardmusic.com Back to top

nushky Group: Members Posts: 104 Joined: Nov. 2005 Posted: June 01 2006, 05:38 Actually this is the album that got me into Mike Oldfield, I discovered it at age about 15. The key is that it has a lot of dynamics in it, especially in taurus II and it sounds like it's serious playing of a really tight band (the same band that did the live in Montreux). To me, the best Oldfield tracks (all albums listed) are the ones who are supported by a strong rythm section. And this is the case in Taurus 2, Orabidoo, Five Miles Out. Also some transitions and some sounds really get you somewhere else, like the faint singing of Maggie Reilly in the deep deep sound, the guitar solo at the end of Orabidoo, it sounds like it's come from a very far place. So maybe it's for this reason that I consider it the best "Oldfield rock'n roll" album Back to top

ThisName Group: Members Posts: 307 Joined: July 2005 Posted: June 01 2006, 06:43 Yes I agree that the ryhythm section is really important to mike s music. Its one of the things i like best about his music, the way he writes pieces that just don't fall into a 4/4 pattern. Keeps you guessing! Thats why recently I have not enjoyed things like light and shade, because it is all too generic, 4/4, 3/4 stuff and you never really feel a surprise or twist. Does anyone else feel like this? -------------- www.ryanyardmusic.com Back to top

amazarak Group: Members Posts: 284 Joined: Mar. 2005 Posted: June 01 2006, 08:00 Yep, I think it's Mike's best 80's album. It's nice to see that there are others who share this view. amazarak -------------- Just hold your heading true Got to get your finest out Back to top

theben Group: Members Posts: 21 Joined: Nov. 2002 Posted: Sep. 17 2006, 12:44 first heard fmo when i was about 10 years old, now i'm 33 and i never lost the very special feelings combined with these tracks. I think it has no weak parts and mike and his band (watch them in live in montreux) are very inspired. It also contains my two favourite pop songs of mike. Back to top

InsideOfYou Group: Members Posts: 33 Joined: July 2010 Posted: July 26 2010, 05:39 Not his best 80s album IMO (that would have to be Amarok) but a very satisfying and rewarding listen overall. Awesome production values too: Mike, if you're reading this (OKAY, I KNOW HE'S NOT), this fan would like to recommend only using what was employed on this LP, and "Crises" for any future albums, namely: *48-track analogue tape and automated analogue desk like Neve *Vintage analogue synths *Lots of lovely acoustic guitars and acoustic instruments *Vintage guitars like your Gibson LP Junior recorded using tube amps like Fender Twin *Real strings and horn players brought in to play where necessary *Singers recorded so that we can hear the depth and range in the vocals instead of digits and Auto-Tune type effects *REAL drums played loud and proud, augmented by percussion where necessary to round out the sound. IMO Mike would find it hard to make a weak album with these factors in place I am allowed to dream, aren't I? Back to top

nightspore Group: Members Posts: 4761 Joined: Mar. 2008 Posted: July 26 2010, 09:47 Quote (bee @ May 31 2006, 15:08) I think he made a masterpiece here and would rate it very near to Ommadawn if I had to make a list. And Ommadawn for me, is sublime. I really don't "get" HR and Ommadawn. To me they sound overwhelmingly like desperate attempts to cash in on Tubular Bells, but with far less memorable melodies. Back to top

ex member 892 Group: Members Posts: 827 Joined: July 2008 Posted: July 26 2010, 12:42 Quote (nightspore @ July 26 2010, 09:47) Quote (bee @ May 31 2006, 15:08) I think he made a masterpiece here and would rate it very near to Ommadawn if I had to make a list. And Ommadawn for me, is sublime. I really don't "get" HR and Ommadawn. To me they sound overwhelmingly like desperate attempts to cash in on Tubular Bells, but with far less memorable melodies. AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!! Okay, got that out of my system. You certainly do love your "Ommabashing" (As Milamber put it) don't you Daniel. Back to top

nightspore Group: Members Posts: 4761 Joined: Mar. 2008 Posted: July 26 2010, 21:00 Quote (Syd B @ July 26 2010, 12:42) Quote (nightspore @ July 26 2010, 09:47) Quote (bee @ May 31 2006, 15:08) I think he made a masterpiece here and would rate it very near to Ommadawn if I had to make a list. And Ommadawn for me, is sublime. I really don't "get" HR and Ommadawn. To me they sound overwhelmingly like desperate attempts to cash in on Tubular Bells, but with far less memorable melodies. AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!! Okay, got that out of my system. You certainly do love your "Ommabashing" (As Milamber put it) don't you Daniel. Ha ha - usually I bash Incantations! I fully expected someone to say "Ommagod"! Still, there's a factual basis for what I say: like TB, its two successors are two-part suites, one for each side of an LP, so comparisons are inevitable. And I don't think even the most rabid HR or Ommadawn fan would claim that these records are melodically or inventively superior to TB. Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: July 26 2010, 21:52 Quote (nightspore @ July 26 2010, 09:47) To me they sound overwhelmingly like desperate attempts to cash in on Tubular Bells, but with far less memorable melodies. Come on, the first time he did that was in 1992, if you know what I mean. I don't see Hergest Ridge and Ommadawn as attempts at "cashing in", but he was certainly sticking to a "tried and true" structure. Still, they manage to be individual albums, at least to me. But "don't get" is exactly my relationship with Five Miles Out; not as in "don't understand what it means", but in "don't get what's so good about it". To me Taurus II is the most utterly by-the-numbers no-surprises middle-of-the-road Oldfield composition of all time; most of the time it just plods on and on as if there was nothing else to do, and when it eventually breaks into something unexpected, it's into those disgustingly horrible distorted vocals by the end that sound like a Russian Communist Party nationalist chant. Side B, at least, is far, far superior, but by that time the damage is already done. By the way, I think side B could be rearranged into a really darn solid EP: Orabidoo on one side, Family Man / Mount Teidi / Five Miles Out on the other. I oughta try listening to it that way! -------------- Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds. Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com Back to top

Incantations Group: Members Posts: 157 Joined: May 2010 Posted: July 27 2010, 02:16 Quote (InsideOfYou @ July 25 2010, 21:39) Not his best 80s album IMO (that would have to be Amarok) but a very satisfying and rewarding listen overall. Awesome production values too: Mike, if you're reading this (OKAY, I KNOW HE'S NOT), this fan would like to recommend only using what was employed on this LP, and "Crises" for any future albums, namely: *48-track analogue tape and automated analogue desk like Neve *Vintage analogue synths *Lots of lovely acoustic guitars and acoustic instruments *Vintage guitars like your Gibson LP Junior recorded using tube amps like Fender Twin *Real strings and horn players brought in to play where necessary *Singers recorded so that we can hear the depth and range in the vocals instead of digits and Auto-Tune type effects *REAL drums played loud and proud, augmented by percussion where necessary to round out the sound. IMO Mike would find it hard to make a weak album with these factors in place I am allowed to dream, aren't I? Amarok was released in 1990... -------------- Hmm... Back to top

InsideOfYou Group: Members Posts: 33 Joined: July 2010 Posted: July 29 2010, 11:34 Yes, but the 'production values' of Amarok are very unusual, it kind of reminds me of an album Pink Floyd they were attempting in the seventies called "Household Objects".   My point is that for most albums that Mike has done, the more conventional arsenal of guitars, keyboards, drums (of one sort or another), vocals, horns, strings etc. are employed, and using the latest digital technology to play and record these has resulted in a watered-down, anaemic rendition of his signature sound(s). However, there is hope because the latest trend in the recording industry is to sync-up analogue multi-track with DAW's http://www.endlessanalog.com/tag/sync IOY Back to top

Incantations Group: Members Posts: 157 Joined: May 2010 Posted: July 30 2010, 06:57 Wait, so by '80's albums' you ment albums by Mike that have production values similar to those in the 80's? or am I mislead? -------------- Hmm... Back to top

InsideOfYou Group: Members Posts: 33 Joined: July 2010 Posted: July 31 2010, 15:57 Recorded September 1989, so I think of it as an eighties album. (Released June 1990). Sorry pedants Back to top

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