# Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells



## Glaliraha (May 2, 2010)

I just discovered this work a few days ago and have quickly become obsessed with it. I haven't been able to stop listening to it!

I was curious to know what others thought of this masterpiece, and whether in your opinion it helps to bridge the gap between rock and classical music?


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## Argus (Oct 16, 2009)

It's a good album. I particularly like the distorted/fuzzy heavier section and the harmony guitar parts in the middle.

That live performance is full of quality musicians as well. Steve Hillage and Pierre Moerlen from Gong, Fred Frith from Henry Cow, Mike Ratledge and Karl Jenkins from Soft Machine, Mick Taylor from the Stones. Check out their stuff if you haven't already.

I don't know what you mean about bridging the gap between rock and classical. That'd only matter to people who actually care about genre boundaries.


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## Glaliraha (May 2, 2010)

Argus said:


> I don't know what you mean about bridging the gap between rock and classical. That'd only matter to people who actually care about genre boundaries.


That's what I mean. I don't care about genre boundaries, but for those who do this might possibly be something that lies on the fence.


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

I don't consider it a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a good effort. The minimalistic first three or four minutes were used in the Exorcist movie. For me all the best bits happen in the first half of the piece really. 6,5/10


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

If you like _Tubular Bells_, give _Ommadawn_ a try if you can find it. In many ways it's more epic. It is of course lacking the great comedic breaks of Tubular Bells, such as the pompous announcer on one "side" (boy does that date me?) and the Piltdown man on the other.

I'm an old codger. I had the album when it first came out. Among my fellow prog rock fans of the time it was a five star apotheosis of an album.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Can you believe it, they just played it live here in Sydney as part of the Fringe Festival. I missed it, but it was a seminal work of the time. I haven't heard it, but Andrew Ford mentioned it in his book on C20th music _Illegal Harmonies _& he concurred with jhar - the first 5 minutes are considered to be the best part of the whole album. I'll have to get it at some stage...


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## Glaliraha (May 2, 2010)

Weston said:


> I'm an old codger. I had the album when it first came out. Among my fellow prog rock fans of the time it was a five star apotheosis of an album.


Don't feel old. I'm 20 and ever since I discovered this album a few days ago and shown it to all my similarly-aged fellow prog-rock fans it has become a cornerstone for our musical development, and yes we all also consider it a five-star apotheosis of an album. 

I believe the last 6 minutes of Part One can be considered as being among the most triumphant endings in music history. For me, it's up there with the endings of *Bolero*, *Pines Of Rome*, *1812 Overture* and *The Firebird* as far as pure adrenaline-fuelled happiness in music goes.

I would kill to see _*Tubular Bells*_ performed live.


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

I have always found _Tubular Bells_ to be one of those musical examples of the 'emperor's new clothes'. There has always been a lot of hype about this piece since it appeared in the 1970s, but this doesn't seem to be backed up by any musical substance. I have always found it cheap and too repetitive and lacking in any worthwhile musical ideas. The orchestration, one of the best things about the album, isn't even done by Oldfield himself, but by composer David Bedford.

It's a sham for me, I'm afraid.


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

Delicious Manager said:


> The orchestration, one of the best things about the album, isn't even done by Oldfield himself, but by composer David Bedford.


I think you're confusing _Tubular Bells_ (the original album, made entirely by Mike Oldfied, in which there is no orchestra involved) with _The Orchestral Tubular Bells_ - an inferior effort, in which the essential spark of the original is almost completely lost. The latter was indeed arranged by Bedford.

I've always felt that the idea of _Tubular Bells_ outstripped the execution, though the story of its origins is fascinating (one of the legends of rock music history), and it remains a ground-breaking achievement from a rock musician. But the _sound_ of it has always troubled me - the rubbery bass guitar, the loss of 'sparkle' presumably due to all the overdubbing, and so on. By contrast, I feel more comfortable with the later _Tubular Bells II_, a kind of parallel composition, executed with far more dash and polish - or even _Tubular Bells 2003_, which was a note-by-note re-recording of the original Tubular Bells, but with modern recording facilities. Indeed, there are some gems scattered throughout MO's extensive catalogue of recordings, and some exciting alternative live performances too.


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