Whilst Sallyangie was Mike Oldfield’s first deposit into the "bank of music," Tubular Bells certainly became his piggy bank. In order to spice up his account in Ibiza, the musical octopus (or better still his record company) has now released a "best of" based uniquely around the phenomenon Tubular Bells. Pulled from various Tubular Bells inspired albums, this album comes across as a "tubular patchwork" 28 years after the original release. Whilst it mainly was the fact that Oldfield’s music was used for the film The Exorcist, our multi-instrumentalist saw the sales of the album obtain astronomical proportions. Maybe from a musical point of view rightfully so. Yet I’m not really sure if he should agree to wring out his music like that. OK, there’s obviously a big difference between the material on the first, original Tubular Bells and The Millennium Bell but I’m not convinced this album will find its way on the market, as for the occasional fan it’s not interesting enough, whilst the real fans already have the entire catalogue. The actual "part one" of Tubular Bells is proposed here as a "cut and paste" result, taken from sources as diverse as the original version, the orchestral version and the exposed version. The same is done with parts of "part two" whilst “Sailor’s Hornpipe” ends the album. In between there are “Sentinel” and “The Bell” taken from Tubular Bells II, “Far above the clouds” from Tubular Bells III and the title track from The Millennium Bell. Even using producer Trevor Horn within the recording process doesn’t automatically mean Oldfield will enter a new domain in order to reach so far unconvinced listeners. When compared to the original version it becomes clear that Mike has matured, enabling him to record a much more detailed and clear sound for posterity. Whether at all this compilation will enable him to reach new fans is beyond me, as to me he remains an album artist, and single success aside, his main work remains the long tracks on Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge and Ommadawn. Incidentally three albums from his very beginning, a beginning which, from a financial side of view, was the toughest, but in the end the most inspirational. Let’s hope his current Ibiza experience doesn’t inject him with the techno virus waiting to be launched within Tubular Bells IV or Tubular Bells V! Maybe for collector’s this can be an interesting CD to invest in as I can’t imagine it will be with us for a very long time indeed. [Sounds as if perhaps it should have been called (Cash) Cow Bells, no? -ed.] Reviewed by : John "Bobo" Bollenberg |
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Released: 4 juni 2001
Label:Virgin
Catalogue number:CDV2936
Total playing time:62’15
