MIKE OLDFIELD - TUBULAR
BELLS
(1973)
'Tubular Bells' launched
the career of musical prodigy Mike Oldfield (who was just
19 years old when this album was made) and Richard
Branson's Virgin Empire - so if this album had bombed,
who knows...
If this had been a conventional album, with conventional
instruments, it would still have worked, as indeed it
does with the electric guitar parts, but the unearthly
quality of the music is immediate and the hook. It's a
mix of old, current and futuristic sounds all melded into
an incredible whole. Some irritaing moments for sure, and
it gets a bit silly with 'Piltdown Man', but this album
was made in an era when teenagers were supposed to be
singing appealing songs for grandmothers, not
concentrating on making, effectively, modern classical
music.
Nice to see Viv Stanshall as MC, and the 'Blue Peter'
theme, or 'The Sailor's Hornpipe', end things!
- Paul Rance/booksmusicfilmstv.com.
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