In high places (Mike Oldfield) (LP 3389 - 3394)

Mike Oldfield  Tubular Bells (CD, Virgin Records, 1973) ***  

Mike Oldfield  Hergest Ridge (Vinyl, Virgin Records, 1974) ****

Mike Oldfield  Ommadawn  (Vinyl/CD, Virgin Records, 1975) *****

Mike Oldfield  Crises  (CD, Virgin Records, 1983) ***

Mike Oldfield  Tubular Bells II (CD, WEA Records, 1992) ****

Mike Oldfield  Return To Ommadawn (CD, Virgin/EMI Records, 2017) ****

Genre: Prog rock

Places I remember: Fives, Second hand shops in Caterham, The Warehouse, Real Groovy, HMV, Fopp

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Ommadawn (yes - all of it)

Gear costume: Moonlight Shadow (Crises)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: Long ago and far away, in 1973, I was in the fifth form at school and a football mate gave me a copy of Tubular Bells. I suspect he procured it illegally, and although I was grateful for the gift, I also gave it away soon after. I liked it well enough, mainly for the first section, that finishes with the introduction of the instruments by Vivian Stanshall, but not enough to keep it.

Fast forward many years later and I'd bought and enjoyed a number of his other albums. So, buying a CD copy seemed sensible given you can listen to the whole thing on one disc. 

I haven't really changed my opinion of it that much, after all this time. I am much more likely to play his other albums. Still, it is nice to have it in the collection.

Hergest Ridge was his second album and I only bought this on vinyl from a charity shop while living in the UK a few years ago. It holds together well and doesn't have the confusing addition of Vivian to change the mood. At he time of release, it was overshadowed by the massive seller that was Tubular Bells, but I think it's a better piece of music all round.

Third album, Ommadawn, is for me his best album. I just love the more Celtic leaning sounds, the choral sections, and the unfolding themes and rhythms on Ommadawn. It needs to be heard as a piece, hence me adding a link to the whole album above. I never get tired of listening to Ommadawn as it reveals different things each time.

Crises is his eighth album in ten years - which makes him quite a prolific artist. It starts with the lengthy title track that weaves together some synth ambience with edgier rock bits to good effect. 

The liner notes indicate his desire for some shorter, poppier songs that could even be singles, and there is nothing better in his catalogue along those lines than Moonlight Shadow. Maggie Reilly's vocals and Mike's guitar solos are superb. The 12 inch version on the expanded edition is the best one IMHO.

He returned to Tubular Bells in 1992. Tubular Bells II was again wildly successful commercially and I think it's far superior to the original album. The themes loop around in very pleasing fashion and Mike's playing is beautiful throughout. Alan Rickman takes on Vivian Stanshall's MC role brilliantly.

The final album in this pile is what's turned out to be his latest, from 2017: Return To Ommadawn.

I really love his long form albums, which is how he started out (Incantations is in that extended format, as well as the first three reviewed above. It's an album I don't own but reviewed for MNAC).

Return To Ommadawn takes the first Ommadawn as a launching off point. While I do prefer the first album, it is a fitting way to finish his career, if it indeed becomes his final album.

Where do they all belong? He's made a great body of work that is mostly true to his singular artistic vision. He's also not above considering carefully what kind of music his fans love as well.