Search - Mike Oldfield :: Elements: The Best of Mike Oldfield 1973-1991

A missed opportunity...

garyhyland@avvaganda.co.uk | Hungerford, England | 09/05/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Given the amount of unreleased and otherwise rare tracks from Oldfield out there, this collection could have been Virgin's opportunity to lay the ghosts to rest and to finally do justice to the artist with whom the label was launched, back in 1973. In the event however, the collection was a major disappointment to his legions of established fans.I think the biggest problem with it, is that it concentrates on trying to act as a 'primer' for new fans seeking an elaborate 'best of' compilation, rather than as a neat loose-ends exercise for collectors. The accompanying booklet is poorly written and is riddled with a multitude of typos and actual errors of fact, and the track listing itself is predictable, unimaginative and plays safe - all in the aforesaid attempt of acting as a primer.For those of us who can boast complete collections however, the odd snippets of new material here are not sufficient reason to buy. For that reason then, I offer 5 stars for the music (if you're new to Mike's material), but only 1 star if you're already a fan. Buy TBIII instead - possibly as good as Amarok and certainly as emotionally charged. A return to form."

The largest Oldfield's collection avaible

Mike Chadwick | Gdynia,Poland | 08/23/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Definitly this 4 discs set is the Biggest Oldfield's Best of album.it contains most of his biggest hits,even whole "tubular bells".the addition of singles not avaible alesewhere like the disco dancefloor hit "guilty", lovely instrumentals "Path" or "Legend" (one of my favourites songs).
But hte compilation is missing many of his hits that were released only on Vinyls and were not officially released on Cd like the phenomenal "pictures in the dark","shine" (with jon anderson","Music from video wall","In the pool","bones"...there are many of songs that are wanting to be released and are hiding somwhere in Internet, but Virgin never really thought of Releasing the Complete b-sides and rare tracks set.That kind of compilation is a definitive wanted addition to Mike's Oldfield collection - so if you are an advanced Oldfield fan "Elements box set" is not good for you because propably you have already most of Rare songs from Internet.if you are a begginer Oldfield Fan, there never was a better way to get into the music of this great musican.and of ocurse whole Box set is looking lovely - big book inside with nice photos and biography,the package is beautifull too."

I need more stars!

Miguel Poo Pantoja | Mexico, DF Mexico | 11/27/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This hard-to-find box is something really special for all music aficionados, not only Oldfield's fans.
It covers a wide landscape of Mike's long and successful career. It is not a "Greatest Hits" collection, it is more of a set of different "pictures" of Mike's career until previous recording of Tubular Bells II. Of course, it includes the whole original Tubular Bells (the only complete record included).
It includes a nice quality booklet, with a short biography as well as lots of photos. The box itself is really nice.
Buy it!"