Living in Ibiza certainly has done Mike Oldfield
a world of good. His distinctive way of playing the guitar hasn’t changed
yet he has found the world of drum’n bass which he has introduced into his
own original music in a way only he can master. The first notes of
‘Misty’ fully illustrate what I’m on about. In a way you can compare
it with Enigma yet minus the Gregorian chant (take ‘Return to the
origin’ as a prime example). So yes it is repetitive but wasn’t
“Tubular bells” build along the same recipe ? The music comes floating
towards you without imposing itself one single second in order to be the
perfect ‘chill out’ album. Take ‘No man’s land’ which could be the
perfect replacement for Francis Lai’s ‘Bilitis’ including some
wonderful, laidback guitar. World music is introduced in ‘Viper’
combining the Indian world with the contemporary urban jungle. The single
‘To be free’ almost goes as far as Johnny Clegg and Savuka incorporating
African chant in it’s melody. Then again ‘Turtle island’ comes from
the Francis Goya ‘book of muzak’. A nice resting point on this album is
‘Daydream’ which starts on piano as if it concerns a piece by Saint-Saëns.
Sometimes the soundscapes Oldfield uses come close to the world of Vangelis
as we can witness during ‘Sirius’. If you want to relive the “Tres
lunas” material in 3D you can do so by using the accompanying bonusdisc
which includes MusicVR, a 3D interactive PC Game written and conceived by
Mike Oldfield. Sadly the recordcompany hasn’t been honest by leaving
behind the information that it only concerns a demo of the actual game. If
you want access to the full game then you need to pay extra through
Oldfield’s website. “Tres lunas” is not a groundbreaking album but
worse music has been released over the years. So ‘chill out’ at ease and
let the Ibiza sun descend into your rainy suburb. Reviewed by : John
‘Bo Bo’ Bollenberg |
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