How does it compare to the artist's other releases
Outstanding
Value for Money
Excellent
Advantages:
A scorching piece of work, no fillers here
Disadvantages:
None
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Tubular Bells is without question the best selling album of all time FACT ; not only did it serve Mike Oldfield well, but it turned Richard Branson into a Millionaire as he was the only person who would take Oldfield on. When Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells 2 was launched in 1992 he was expecting it to be a runaway success like the original. It flew into the charts took the number one position for a couple of weeks then left without a trace. Having sunk a lot of investment into this project in the respect of time, money and his personal health and relationships Tubular Bells came in at a loss. With his financial difficulties mounting up, his relationship in chaos Oldfield fled the UK; his choice of location an up and coming island known as Ibiza.
Once in Ibiza Oldfield fell into the same routine as everyone else; drink, drunks and illicit sex. With a Cocaine habit that would bankrupt a Millionaire Oldfield would head out into Ibiza's clubland. A regular at the notorious Manumission Oldfield noticed a weak chink in the whole club culture. One drug fuelled night he spoke to co-founder Andy and expressed his passion for what he saw as Ibiza's missing link; Andy listened enthusiastically to Olfield's plan and was won over by Olfields plan. Fully aware of Oldfield's financial position he offered Oldfield a set the 4am slot.
Oldfields first set went phenomenally well; and a new phenomena was born "Chilled Ibiza". The work and the interest were not enough and Oldfield spiralled deeper out of control; until one drunken night he staggered out into the mountains where he sat on a giant rock just outside San Antonio. As it began to pour down with rain he states he had a revelation. This revelation which he cannot define took him to a new spiritual plane. He immediately locked himself away from the outside world going "Cold Turkey". While under this intense time of emotional turmoil he wrote several pieces of music.
As soon as his body was de-toxified Oldfield headed out onto the streets of Ibiza embracing the cultures and the unique religious beliefs of the varying cultures that had settled here. In a search for knowledge he spent 2 years embracing every religion he could in search of fulfilment. During this time he wrote several other pieces of work.
In June 1997 he returned to the UK and immediately approached WEA with rough drafts of his work; they showed interest and offered to help him back his latest work. But he was on his own; having left a financial rift with his previous company WEA made it very clear that he would need to put a financial investment in. Oldfield signed over his entire back catalogue to WEA who in turn released this as the album "The Essential". On this album was a rough draft taster of his future work Tubular Bells 3.
The success of "The Essential" showed there was still interest in Oldfield; people who had never heard of Oldfield on his initial rise to fame, but remembered him from Holidaying in Ibiza bought the album opening themselves to his style of music. And with that his back catalogue was picking up too, and for the first time since 1975 his original Tubular Bells entered the charts. Now a more financially and emotionally stable soul Oldfield prepared his musicians for work.
The mix of Tubular Bells 3 needed to be a mix of four forms in order to succeed in Oldfield's eyes. And so the initial focus of Tubular Bells, religion, life on the edge and of course the chilled out vibes of dance music that he had single handedly created and had now become an style of music all on its own.
Each track from Tubular Bells 3 is a message and part of Oldfield's spiritual journey.
The story I have just portrayed to you explains the essence of the music; most of the works on this album are musical pieces.
The source of Secrets tells the story in music of something that Oldfield could vision; and this was the basis for the taster for "The Essential" album the track is a combination of thudding music that one may associate with the typical Ibiza lifestyle and the chilled out tunes that now Ibiza has become more associated with; in the background you can clearly here the clanging sounds of Oldfield's Tubular Bells.
The Watchful Eye is a very Vangelis inspired spiritual piece with electric synthesizers, this is the epitome of chilled out music. This tells the tale of Oldfield's return to sanity, and the attention that was focused on him during this time.
Jewel In The Crown is mainly a guitar showcase, Oldfield shows his guitar skills while a slow thudding beat plays off in the background. He sees this as the point in which his old style met his new style. It features an Indian style mix to illustrate the interest he has developed for other cultures religions.
Outcast is a loud clanging electrical piece; this is a reflection of how Oldfield felt when trying to get his message out. It is an angry piece that was written at the time of his de-tox from alcohol and drugs.
Serpent Dream is a reflection of the day that his body become pure and he headed out onto the streets of Ibiza, the guitar music contained herein reflects a feeling of calmness he felt. He states at this time he felt his most pure, and relaxed possibly of his entire life. As the piece progresses it becomes louder this is an indication of the fact that he met someone from his old life who tried to encourage him to a night of alcohol and drug taking.
The Inner Child is mainly a vocal piece; this features Rosa Cedron. Olfield defines this as a cleansing of the spirit piece. And personally this is the most chilled piece of the album; an ideal piece of music for releasing a stressful situation. By the time the piece has ended you are feeling free of tension as Oldfield states he was, this piece sits at the centre of the album to separate and allow the musicians time to break from what has followed before, and better still what is to come.
Man In The Rain is the only piece of music from the album that is a stand alone piece; its also the only piece released as a single. This is the most in depth piece of music from the album telling the full story of Oldfield's fall and his potential rise again. It tells you that there is still time to change, and providing you move you can still catch that train of opportunity. It also tells how Oldfield had all the chances and threw them all away; but despite this it was not too late to change. He apparently heard amongst other things this song as he sat on a rock in the rain the night he decided to put his life back on track. Old fans of Olfield relished this particular piece as musically sounding it's a sequel to his 80's smash hit Moonlight Shadow; features the vocal talents of Heather Burnett.
The Top Of The Morning is a piano piece that symbolises the joy Oldfield has of being awake to the world and most importantly alive. Something about the piece reminds me of horse racing as the speed picks up as the horse makes its way to the final furlong, which really is what this piece does it transports you to a time in which Oldfield builds into the final three tracks.
Moonwatch is a simple electric meets piano piece; it's another calming area before the big storm of the final two tracks.
Secrets builds on two things it's a remix of the first track, and a combination of Oldfields original Tubular Bells (for those of you that have no idea what the piece of music Tubular Bells is; its best remembered as being the music from the movie The Exorcist). Secrets is a slow progressive piece that starts as a solo piano piece and slowly building up one instrument at a time. As the piece continues you can almost envisage Oldfield travelling up the mountain with increased speed as he approaches that rock. Again there is a strong Indian sounding culture to this piece.
Far Above The Clouds is ultimately the tale of Mike Oldfield and sits as a companion piece to Secrets; they fit together like they are the same piece of work. Lyrics entertain the fact that Oldfield has made a journey up a very tall mountain. The singer states "Far above the clouds" at the top of the mountain Oldfield reaches his journeys end; the words reflect the fact that if he just went (disappeared) all he could be remembered for was Tubular Bells. Oldfield then fires back with all instruments in his orchestra from guitars to vocals to of course tubular bells. This final piece of music builds up in to a thumping vibrant piece and was used for much of 1999 in the clubs of Ibiza as a segway to the chilled music area.
Tubular Bells was first fully performed at Horse Guards Parade, London on a cold and wet winter's night in 1998. The following day the album was released and sold out everywhere within hours.
Tubular Bells 3 proved that Oldfield still had what it took to succeed and followed the album up with a series of best sellers Voyager in which he mixed the Celt culture and the sounds of Ibiza, The Millennium Bell which signified the new century well not forgetting the passed and Tres Lunas in which Oldfield tells us to look to the skies.
You can purchase Tubular Bells 3 from Amazon for just £4.42. It's a must for anyone that enjoys music.
TUBULAR BELLS VOL 3
Personnel includes: Mike Oldfield (various instruments); Vivian Stanshall (vocals); Sally
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