Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells

Tubular Bells - The ultimate edition box

In the end - or near the end - there is a new release nobody shall miss if You read here as a lover of Mike Oldfield or his Tubular Bells - it´s the ultimate edition box -
CD 3 the demo/early mix cd is the good thing here - much better then the finished lp became - this is the missing link - more elegant than everything he ever released (Mount Teide is also very elegant) - You can hear the later recordings already here in this demos - the early mix is also much better, not that bombastic, more musical - if You are a MO fan You will listen again and again here - (the sound is pretty good but You will have more fun with a good Hi Fi, its not working well in my mobile audio) - and if you like it do not miss the extended sallyangie cd with his guitar-demos there...
by the way.. if You prefer the old masterpieces & miss the genius in MO´s later work try Fennesz.

Tubular Bells - The ultimate edition box -
In the end - or near the end - there is a new release nobody shall miss if You read here as a lover of Mike Oldfield or his Tubular Bells - The ultimate edition box -
CD 3 the demo/early mix cd is the good thing here - much better then the finished lp became - this is the missing link - more elegant than everything he ever released - You can hear the later records already here in this demos - the early mix is also much better, not that bombastic, more musical - if You are a MO fan You will listen again and again here - (the sound is pretty good but You will have more fun with a good Hi Fi, its not working well in my mobile audio) - and if you like it do not miss the extended sallyangie cd with his guitar-demos there...
by the way.. if You prefer the old masterpieces & miss the genius in MO´s later work try Fennesz.

Unique and awesome milestone in rock history? Maybe, but it's impossible to prevent anyone for the magnificence of the debut album of a complete unknown teenager who with 18 years old conceived a complete symphonic rock opus, previously baptised as "Breakfast in Bed" or "Opus One" but finished being called "Tubular Bells". Mike Oldfield ended his work by the age of 19, quite near to become 20, when the album finally happen to be released by recent found Richard Branson record company, Virgin Records, on 25th May of 1973, after quittance of other companies which rejected the demonstration tape of that young composer. The impact of that album was immediate; few words which by means not to be very significant to describe it: "a work of a genius".

Rest is history.

About this spanish release, there is something important to notice everybody: first copies of the Spanish edition, between 1974 and 1975, had suffered a little cut at the end of first side of each album. So it means there is a sudden fade-out near the closing exposure of Part One. Instead of 25'38" that lengths every standard edition of TB, here lasts 24'45" (final guitar solo had to be removed to adecuate ending of vinyl playing).

Neil Parsons, 1st May 2009

Most people know the opening segment of 'Tubular Bells Part One', simply, as the theme song for the movie 'The Exorcist'. The rest of this album, when listened to as a whole, suffers quite a bit from a "fever" for the grandiose. It's almost painfully obvious that this is Mike Oldfield's magnum opus, and the way the movements are arranged (most of the time in segues lasting barely 30 seconds) leads me to believe that this was intentionally crafted to "amaze" the audience of the late 1960s.

The modest and innocuous bell lines that make up the first few minutes tear away into compressed guitar riffs, which then give way to grumbly synthesizer drone riffs, and the mix changes frequently from then on until we are given a strange interlude where Mike introduces instruments, which, when given their cue, play little sample bits for you to recognize them.

All of the music is pretty lame by today's standards, but if you're a fan of 'The Exorcist' you might be interested in hearing this whole thing for yourself. I'd say it's worth a listen anyways, at least for a few good laughs.

This record raises one more time the neverending issue: what's "electronic music"? If the definition is based upon the gear used, this record doesn't belong here. If we consider that "electronic music" brought us and is mostly defined by specific aesthetics then it belongs here. I advocate the later opinion.

This record probably has the BEST intro ever!
It lasts for about 2 minutes and then; trouble in paradise..... guitar solo's and complex structures with "too much notes...."
File under; Krautrock or 70's rock or folk maybe?
Definately not ambient if you want my opinion....
....or am I too bold here?