The Best - and the Mediocre - of Mike Oldfield - ***1/2
B. Niedt | Cherry Hill, NJ United States | 01/06/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Mike Oldfield peaked early, producing a trilogy of ambitious, symphonically-structured rock tone poems in the early- to mid-1970's. The first and most famous, "Tubular Bells", served as the theme for the film "The Exorcist". It was a groundbreaking album, with Oldfield playing most of the instruments himself, thereby proving himself a formidable studio wizard and instrumentalist (especially on guitar). The work was beautiful, minimalist, overblown, scary, funny, and mind-blowing. The sophomore effort, "Hergest Ridge", had its great moments, too, but Oldfield's masterpiece is "Ommadawn", the third of the series. Drawing on Celtic roots (and influencing a lot of subsequent music in the process), it's a majestic and gorgeous work that wraps with a charming vocal folk tune, "On Horseback". This box set contains all of "Tubular Bells", and the first part of each of the other pieces, as well as samples of Oldfield's output from 1973 through 1991. After the first three works, though, his work was variable. "Incantations" is an interesting and hypnotic piece, a chant of Longfellow's "Song of Hiawatha" with Steeleye Span's Maddy Prior providing the vocals. And some of the shorter instrumentals, like "Woodhenge", are intriguing. But subsequent works seem to degenerate into semi-progressive 1980's rock. There's very little on the last two discs that could be called "outstanding", and some of it is downright mediocre. It's all impeccably produced, but much of it, especially the vocal tracks, leave one with a "so-what" feeling - you feel like you've just listened to the Alan Parsons Project or Styx. There are still highlights, though, like the post-modern, dissonant departure of "Evacuation" from the "Killing Fields" soundtrack; and "Aramok", a composition that's a throwback to the earlier works. In summary, the "Elements" box set is a mixed bag that will give you an accurate overview of Oldfileld's work into the early 90's, but if you want to acquire the best of the best, get the first three or four albums individually, especially "Tubular Bells" and "Ommadawn"."
Track Listings (6) - Disc #1