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Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Aug. 13 2003, 10:44 I know nastier voices than the one of Margaret Thatcher. But I love the speech. So inane, so ridiculous, it gives a lot of meaning to the moment even though I don't have a clue on what meaning it is. That's the fun of Amarok? What does it mean? I don't care, it rules! -------------- 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

Mike Chadwick Group: Members Posts: 231 Joined: May 2003 Posted: Aug. 15 2003, 03:50 ....AMAROK is AMAROK - you can not change anything on there.you can love it or leave it......but We all definitly love it! -------------- kik-eze kik-eze Back to top

bugular tell Group: Members Posts: 482 Joined: Mar. 2003 Posted: Oct. 17 2003, 18:07 sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i have tried to listen to this album more, and although it has improved, i have to say that i still dont rate it as a brilliant album, i'll have to let the fight go and resign myself to the fact that in my opinion mike didn't hit the mark with this one, i still like it but for me its the worst of his dicography     -------------- Light travels faster than sound, thats why some people appear bright until you hear them speak Back to top

DanishDonJuan Group: Members Posts: 137 Joined: Sep. 2003 Posted: Oct. 19 2003, 06:49 Bugular Tell, I must confess, that I too had a tough time getting into Amarok at first. There were some parts I loved immediately, put there is so much change in the sound, that some parts I didn't like at all at first. To me there is no doubt thought it is a masterpiece, because it is so difficult, original & unique. Like most other Oldfield fans I love the album now too, but I have to be in a specific mood to truly enjoy it, for it is not an easy album to listen to, like Ommadawn, Discovery & TSODE. It is not one of my most listened to albums(mainly because it is so long, & I wouldn't wish to stop it in the middle), but it is one of my favorites still. I can understand why some don't like it, because it is so different, and requires effort from the listener. There is so many ups'n'downs & hi'n'lows in this album. In short I love this album, but it isn't one of my favorites every day. -------------- If every road we traveled were the easy, we would be weak, and would eventually think every road difficult. If every road we traveled tough, we would be strong and eventually think no road to be difficult. Its the tough road that leads to happiness. A smooth sea never made a great sailor. Back to top

Watcher of the skies Group: Members Posts: 67 Joined: Oct. 2003 Posted: Oct. 19 2003, 13:29 i loved AMAROK from the first listening...weird but beautifull music.what can i say more? it is still one of My favourite MO albums ever. -------------- Hillmen are swore of allegiance living a live of silent dignity for your protection only so you don't worry... your pretty little head! Back to top

stitchfan Group: Members Posts: 44 Joined: Feb. 2003 Posted: Oct. 19 2003, 14:34 I think that it is MO's most weird album but not his worst, or have you heard something more bizarre than Amarok? [QUOTE] Ohana means family Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Oct. 19 2003, 14:38 Did you say "weirder than Amarok"? Larks' Tongues In Aspic (King Crimson), The Madcap Laughs (Syd Barrett), Ummagumma (Pink Floyd), Trout Mask Replica (Capt. Beefheart) and mostly everything by The Residents. -------------- 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

Watcher of the skies Group: Members Posts: 67 Joined: Oct. 2003 Posted: Oct. 20 2003, 01:41 I agree - The residents are making seriously much more wierd and creepy music that "Amarok"...for best results switch on "Commercial album" or "Mark of the mole"... -------------- Hillmen are swore of allegiance living a live of silent dignity for your protection only so you don't worry... your pretty little head! Back to top

Tati The Sentinel Group: Members Posts: 3360 Joined: Feb. 2002 Posted: Oct. 20 2003, 08:37 Amarok is much like Mike's reflex on the mirror during the bad days @ Virgin. And the music is also a emotional rollercoaster,much like Mike's life.You see some features of his personality on the album...here are some of the things I like a lot on it... -------------- "But it's always the outsider, the black sheep, that becomes the blockbuster." - Mike Oldfield, 2014 "I remember feeling that I'd been judged unfairly and that I was going to prove them wrong." - Peter Davison, 2011 Back to top

bugular tell Group: Members Posts: 482 Joined: Mar. 2003 Posted: Dec. 11 2003, 16:00 there are some nice bits on this album, but ultimately it sounds like Mike had a load of left over ideas and decided to put them all together and call it an album, like i have said before i don't hate anything Mike has done but amarok is just the strangest piece i have heard, it lacks any sort of cohesion, it doesnt flow very well, and that bloody maggie thather bit, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!   still each to there own! hehe   -------------- Light travels faster than sound, thats why some people appear bright until you hear them speak Back to top

c_haese Group: Members Posts: 83 Joined: Nov. 2003 Posted: Dec. 11 2003, 17:17 Quote (bugular tell @ Dec. 11 2003, 16:00) amarok is just the strangest piece i have heard I take it you haven't heard Music From The Balcony? Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: Dec. 11 2003, 17:22 I think the fact that you could say it lacks cohesion is something you will either love or hate it for. I can see where its critics are coming from when they claim its to erattic but personaly I think thats actualy part of its many strenghts. One of the things that appealed to me about TB when I first heard it was that you could get seriously lost in it, it took many, many listens before you knew what was coming next, certainly as far as part one was concerned. Amarok's the same but taken to an extreme, Amarok was the last time I was totaly blown away by Mike in this way. That 'getting lost' in his music is actualy an important element in what I think is lacking in all his recent releases, you will just never achieve that in a short instrumental no matter how good it is. As for Maggie Thatcher. Well its a great spontaneous example of Mike at his most bonkers if nothing else. Personaly I think its just another bizzare ingredient into the brilliant soup that is the Amarok experience. I don't think it would half the album it is without all those bits. Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Dec. 12 2003, 14:44 Quote (TOBY @ Dec. 11 2003, 17:22) That 'getting lost' in his music is actualy an important element in what I think is lacking in all his recent releases, you will just never achieve that in a short instrumental no matter how good it is. That is, if you're not a member of Gentle Giant. Being a complete music freak, it took me about 5 listens to more or less get a grasp of the whole album. Normally, I memorise music very quickly, but Amarok was a real challenge. -------------- 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

dbruce Group: Members Posts: 48 Joined: July 2003 Posted: Dec. 13 2003, 08:37 It's strange for me that I noticed this topic today. I've not listened to much of MO in perhaps about a year, until about a month ago when I started trying to archive all my albums on MP3 CD's. So at present I've got all my MO albums on the PC. Every night I pick something for my alarm to play in the morning to get me up (it's been Crises the last week) and for some reason last night I picked Amarok. Well, was I woken up this morning?! The intro started at a 'normal volume' and at the first stab i was wide awake! Rather than getting up, I lay and listened for an hour and remembered what I'd been missing out in not having listened to it for so long. Before I heard it for the first time, all I had to go by was the massive hype it had from fans on mailing lists, fansites, etc. Knowing it was just one hour long track made me realise it was going to be weird, and to be honest, I think I liked it the first time through just to 'agree with the crowd'. I hadn't really had a chance to take it all in yet. I think it was somewhere midway through the second listen when i realised "this is bloody brilliant!" I have to agree that the unpredictability of Mike's music works to great advantage. The three albums I like most for this are Amarok, Ommadawn and Hergest Ridge. For some reason I just can never quite tell what bit's next! I'd never thought of this before, but this might be why I don't rate TB quite as high as I might have expected. I just know the thing inside out (having played most it on guitar for as long as I can remember. Mind you, my memory's not what it used to be). I'm rambling. My point: I don't know that I have one, other than agreeing that Amarok is a great album, even if it's still only going to get occasional listens. I completely agree that it can't be played in 'parts'! David Back to top

bugular tell Group: Members Posts: 482 Joined: Mar. 2003 Posted: Dec. 13 2003, 14:11 [/quote] I take it you haven't heard Music From The Balcony? i have heard MFTB, and think that its ok, strange in places, not all the way through like amarok! lol -------------- Light travels faster than sound, thats why some people appear bright until you hear them speak Back to top

Nelson Unregistered Posted: Jan. 21 2004, 09:40 If quality is a measure of the strength of feelings a piece of music invokes in the listener, then Amarok is one of Mike's worst albums. It's clever technically, but there is very little in the way of good/great melodies compared with most other MO albums - art is not about complexity for complexity's sake - the beauty and power of a melody is that it conveys a lot with a little !. The patchwork quilt structure made me think this was the release of all those "shelved" pieces mentioned in Boxed, and when I heard sections of Amarok in a Sallyangie release, I knew I was not far off the mark. I like about 5 minutes or less of the whole album, but even those pieces do not compare with the intensity of albums like HR and Ommadawn - there is no opening up of oneself in a desperate bid to be understood - a feeling of self-affirmation and joy at being able to communicate intense personal fellings more powerfully and directly than any words ever could. It's not aspirin to the ears of someone who experinces life as pain. Listening Ommadawn when I was 14 made more sense to me than anything - it was like "someone feels the same as me" "he knows what I'm going through!". I think I would have had a breakdown without MOs music, but I could happily live without Amarok. The careful attention to the composition was to me put aside with Amarok - MO has even said many aspects of the album were to annoy Virgin ! Hardly the basis for a classic piece of music ! MO was really passionate about the music in the 70s (it was his life, everything to him) in a way he can never be again IMHO. Sure he's made great music since, which is more "light" and easier to get into, but please don't tell me Amarok is his best. The "gets better more you listen" approach makes me wonder if this is not simply due to having the piece in memory and then liking it because you are so used to it. Back to top

Tellur Group: Members Posts: 74 Joined: Oct. 2002 Posted: Jan. 21 2004, 11:08 I loved Amarok from the very beginning and it didn't have to grow on me over a period of time. You either understand it or you don't. I did and I consider it one of Mike's best pieces, although sometimes I say the same thing about Ommadawn. Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Jan. 22 2004, 05:24 Nelson's post up there once again confirms the "you either hear it or you don't", and shows that liking Amarok or not is very subjective and depends on people's taste. Even though I completely understood what he said in his post, my feelings are the complete opposite. Amarok has always made sense to me, and always hits on my nerves with a huge mallet every time I listen to it, and if it doesn't happen likewise with him, I'm not to complain and try to change his mind. It's a personal thing: after all, he didn't invade our board, insulted 80% of the members, and said Amarok was "meandering, bombastic, pretentious, etc." like some other individuals did (*snide*), so kudos to you, Nelson. Music can be such an intriguing little bastard sometimes, can't it? -------------- 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

bugular tell Group: Members Posts: 482 Joined: Mar. 2003 Posted: Jan. 23 2004, 15:46 Damn, i wish nelson started this post now! he said everything how i was ment to say it!   i have come to the coclusion that amarok is like marmite................... you either love it or you hate it! -------------- Light travels faster than sound, thats why some people appear bright until you hear them speak Back to top

bugular tell Group: Members Posts: 482 Joined: Mar. 2003 Posted: Nov. 01 2004, 15:53 hmm, not listened to it with a beer or 2 (ahem! inside me, but was chating with a friend from the forum (you know how you are!   ) and said i didn't like it all that much, so decided to listen (yet again) and have to admit sounds better with beer! there is hope! lmao!       -------------- Light travels faster than sound, thats why some people appear bright until you hear them speak Back to top

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