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Mike Oldfield - Elements: Mike Oldfield 1973-1991 Audio CD

A fair review of the Mike Oldfield "Elements: Mike Oldfield 1973-1991" 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: Elements: Mike Oldfield 1973-1991
Rating:
Release Date: 2001-12-03
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Tubular Bells, Pt. 1 2: Tubular Bells, Pt. 2 3: Hergest Ridge [Excerpt] 4: In Dulci Jubilo 5: Portsmouth 6: Vivaldi Concerto in C 7: Ommadawn, Pt. 1 8: On Horseback 9: William Tell Overture 10: Argiers 11: First Excursion 12: Sailor's Hornpipe 13: Incantations, Pt. 2 14: I'm Guilty 15: Path 16: Blue Peter 17: Woodhenge 18: Punkadiddle 19: Polka Live [Live] 20: Platinum 21: Arrival 22: Taurus 23: QE2 24: Wonderful Land 25: Sheba 26: Five Miles Out 27: Taurus II 28: Family Man 29: Mount Teidi 30: Peak 31: Crises 32: Moonlight Shadow 33: Foreign Affair 34: Shadow on the Wall 35: Taurus III 36: Crime of Passion 37: Jungle Gardenia 38: To France 39: Afghan 40: Tricks of the Light [Instrumental] 41: Etude 42: Evacuation 43: Legend 44: Islands 45: Wind Chimes, Pt. 1 46: Flying Start 47: Magic Touch 48: Earth Moving 49: Far Country 50: Holy 51: Amarok 52: Heaven's Open

The Best - and the Mediocre - of Mike Oldfield - ***1/2
The first and most famous, "Tubular Bells", served as the theme for the film "The Exorcist". Mike Oldfield peaked early, producing a trilogy of ambitious, symphonically-structured rock tone poems in the early- to mid-1970's. It was a groundbreaking album, with Oldfield playing most of the instruments himself, thereby proving himself a formidable studio wizard and instrumentalist (especially on guitar). The work was beautiful, minimalist, overblown, scary, funny, and mind-blowing. The sophomore effort, "Hergest Ridge", had its great moments, too, but Oldfield's masterpiece is "Ommadawn", the third of the series. Drawing on Celtic roots (and influencing a lot of subsequent music in the process), it's a majestic and gorgeous work that wraps with a charming vocal folk tune, "On Horseback". This box set contains all of "Tubular Bells", and the first part of each of the other pieces, as well as samples of Oldfield's output from 1973 through 1991. After the first three works, though, his work was variable. "Incantations" is an interesting and hypnotic piece, a chant of Longfellow's "Song of Hiawatha" with Steeleye Span's Maddy Prior providing the vocals. And some of the shorter instrumentals, like "Woodhenge", are intriguing. But subsequent works seem to degenerate into semi-progressive 1980's rock. There's very little on the last two discs that could be called "outstanding", and some of it is downright mediocre. It's all impeccably produced, but much of it, especially the vocal tracks, leave one with a "so-what" feeling - you feel like you've just listened to the Alan Parsons Project or Styx. There are still highlights, though, like the post-modern, dissonant departure of "Evacuation" from the "Killing Fields" soundtrack; and "Aramok", a composition that's a throwback to the earlier works. In summary, the "Elements" box set is a mixed bag that will give you an accurate overview of Oldfileld's work into the early 90's, but if you want to acquire the best of the best, get the first three or four albums individually, especially "Tubular Bells" and "Ommadawn".


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