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Mike Oldfield - QE2 Audio CD

A fair review of the Mike Oldfield "QE2" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Mike Oldfield reviews here, or go back to the Mike Oldfield tabs.

Mike Oldfield Band: Mike Oldfield
Title: QE2
Rating:
Release Date: 2000-07-11
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Taurus I 2: Sheba 3: Conflict 4: Arrival 5: Wonderful Land 6: Mirage 7: QE2 8: Celt 9: Molly

QE2
e. QE2 being Oldfield's 1980 release and his 6th studio album and contains tracks both by Oldfield himself and cover of other groups, i. , Abba and the Shadows. These covers being "Arrival" by Abba and "Wondeful land" by the Shadows. The album did very well and topped the charts in Germany. The booklet has fine linernotes by Dave Laing in which he describes the album and how fared when it was released. We also get a nice list of whom and what they play on every track. 4/5.


Mike Oldfield- QE-2
And this CD is of a distinct British Flavor with several tracks. Those of you that don't get it, the title stands for the ocean liner by that name from the early 1980's when the vinyl version came out. Overall I think this CD is much better than the one I just reviewed called "Platinum". From the sounds of what could be a Gypsy camp to the sounds of Old England, a good CD!.


Mike Oldfield's best
I've loved it since I had it on LP. This is Mike Oldfield's best album. Sheba alone knocks me out. One of the pieces borrows from Mozart. The original Tubular bells is a close second. His Best:
1. QE2
2. Tubular Bells
3. Crises
4. Hergest Ridge
5. Platinum.
A lot of his other stuff is uninteresting. Crisis has 3 great vocal songs by Maggie Riley and Jon Anderson. Hergest Ridge copies Tubular Bells style of long pieces constantly changing.


Very fine album
Sound throught the album is a little bit thin but otherwise production work is very fine and I like those real horns (which were replaced by synths in next album). Sounds like instrumental progressive rock.

One thing bugs me in this album: I don't personally like idea of Mike covering Abba & Shadows. I think those cover songs should have been published as singles. Albums should have Mike's own stuff or traditionals. However, Mike's versions of these songs are very fine. Shadows responded to Mike by covering Moonlight Shadow some years later.

Just like two other instrumental albums relased in 1980 (namely Tangerine Dream's Tangram and Jarre's Magnetic Fields) this albums features vocoder. That's OK, since I've always been a fan of vocoder sound.

Mike's own compositions are nice. The highlights are title track and Celt. Title track QE2 is one of my favorite songs. The second half of it has so catchy melody and sound. . .
Also the second half of Taurus I is funny.

Often good music is not commercially so succesful but
this album reached no. 1 spot in German album charts. Nice.


Outstanding celtic-styled Mike
it could be heard that he is searching for more natural sounds. "Qe2" came out between the rocking "platinum" and more complex "Five miles out". there is only little left from clear and crispy production of "platinum" - the production is different and the whole album has a bit darker sound than other albums.
"Taurus I" is a real gem from here - a 10 minutes long complex track with a lot of celtic motives and great Vocoder tricks. Mike's guitar and synths are outstanding.

"qe2","Sheba","Wonderful land","Arrival" and "Molly" are very positive and cheerful tracks. only "Mirage" and loud "Conflict" have that bit of Madness and darkness in them.
"QE2" is another great work from Mike Oldfield that should not dissapoint any of his fans. his mixture of distorted guitars,synths,celtic music and progressive rock didn't grew old up to now. a must have album!.


You can see a complete list of all Mike Oldfield discography, or go back to the Mike Oldfield tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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