Mike Oldfield – Incantations

Possibly my favorite Mike Oldfield release, but it is too long. The second part of Part 2 (so-called) "Song of Hiawatha" comes across as a stodgy recital, which should have been dropped. It being featured at the end of Part 4 is more than enough.

All in all the album is a joyous release of uplifting minimalism. But In the CD age I would have wanted the album recast, as a trim 60 minute one track release.

Why a new cover? Hmmm. The original 1978 cover is "uncool" now and needed an update! Same as Hergest Ridge, but the original cover art does look a bit cheesy. Incantations looks like something from a holiday brochure now! The music is brilliant though.

Is this still valid? The emails do not seem to work when I try contact them.

Is Incantations a masterpiece? Definitely. It's a new direction from the first trilogy and also totally unique. Nothing else sounds like this. Then again nothing else sounds like Tubular Bells and nobody even tried to mimic it, because they could't I guess! I remember hearing Incantations in 1991 and it's forever made an impression on me and as years go by it's just getting better and better with every listen. How did he conceive this brilliant music? Who knows, but we don't care as we love it!

I picked up a copy of this amazing-sounding German 2xLP today, at an excellent record store in Novato, CA. It came with the poster as described above, but also included an oddity that appeared to have been inside one of the sleeves since it left the factory: a 45rpm Virgin single by Julie Covington on coral-colored vinyl. The A-side is "Only Women Bleed," with "Easy to Slip" on the B-side. It's possible Virgin was "slipping" these inside as a promo, or maybe just trying to get rid of them. (They probably didn't sell well, due to the comically lurid song titles.) Virgin VS 196, (c) 1977, produced by Joe Boyd & John Wood. Nothing in runouts.

Both LPs start off sounding quite good, but roughly after the first third, there is an increasingly pronounced distortion in the higher frequencies. The recording contains a significant amount of these high frequencies, and due to this distortion, it's not at all pleasant to listen to.

I play it on Technics SL1200GR with Audio-Technica VM540ML.

I'm not sure if this issue is unique to this 2021 release or if it's present in other versions as well. I'll try to get the old Japanese edition to see if there's any difference.

The RSD version is missing any kind of Musician credits. It should be pointed out Oldfield does not do EVERYTHING you hear, Pierre Moerlin (Gong) plays a lot of Percussion, Vibraphone, Marimba, etc, and Maddy Prior from Steeleye Span sings the centerpiece of Hiawatha.

Amazing album! A masterpiece of Mike Oldfield musical career. This is a good and a nice looking pressing, too.

I agree with others over the missing matrix/runout. Mine reads:
Side A: VDT 101 A5 (Lyre symbol)
Side B: VDT 101 B5 (Lyre symbol)
Side C: VDT 101 C8 (Lyre symbol)
Side D: VDT 101 D7 (Lyre symbol(
In addition, sides C and D have "Made in France" etched into the deadwax despite both labels saying "Made in England"

Got a new sealed copy recently and it's amazing. Surprising amount of detail, clarity and dynamics. The cyclical, hypnotic nature of the music goes very well with the vinyl format. It fills the room with wide soundstage, the instrumentation is nicely defined and the mix breathes with open spaces. Like the landscapes conjured up in the music itself. I'd definitely recommend it.