Tubular Bells

Artist: Mike Oldfield
Label: Virgin Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: SACD
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 724385073328
EAN: 0724385073328
ASIN: B000057NVH

Release Date: 1992-06-29

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Progressive Albums You Must Have

Tracks:

Tubular Bells, Pt. 1
Tubular Bells, Pt. 2

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Customer Reviews:

Still a masterpiece.......2005-09-30

Mike Oldfield's first solo album, leading to a string of distinctive works spanning a decade before he drifted towards commercial mediocrity, remains a masterpiece.
As progressive instrumental progressive rock gets.
We've all heard the opening piano-and-bells sequence in The Exorcist, but surprisingly few have listened to the equally-remarkable remaining 20 minutes of Part 1, much less Part 2.
Oldfield specializes in complex, overlapping, syncopated melodies and polyrhythms, foreshadowing the nouveau-classical works of Vangelis, Jean Michel Jarre, Steve Reich and many others.

Original Tubular Quad Mix!!!! .......2005-08-23

So much has already been written about this title musing and pondering over this "format" and that "remaster" so I'll keep my words brief.I don't claim to be an audiofile nor am I an expert on the works of Mr.Oldfield but I do know a good recording when I hear one and this particular reissue of "Tubular Bells" sounds incredible.I am not old enough to have heard this recording in it's original Quad vinyl pressing and cannot see the need to spend money on a Quad Turntable(record player) so I can hear a few recordings from the seventies the way they were meant to be heard.Therefore,I'm more than happy to be offered the chance to hear these four channel mixes of some of the greatest albums of our time on SACD(check out Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon").Besides,I don't care how expensive your turntable is,you will still get surface noise and rumble coming through your speakers.Something you don't hear off a digital disc!So,if you are not too pedantic about how you listen to "Tubular Bells",this is the closest you can get to true Quad Sound in 2005!!! Fantastic!!!!

Forget about "Part Two" and just listen to "Part One" Twice.......2005-06-05

One thing about having the CD of Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" is that you end up listening to "Part Two" a lot more often than you ever did when this was a record. I never really thought of this album as having two parts, because they really do not fit together the same way as, say, Jethro Tull's "Thick As a Brick" or "A Passion Play." I think that most people who remember the radio play edit or the use of the theme in "The Exorcist" are impressed when they hear all of "Part One," where Oldfield adds instrument after instrument to a simple theme until it climaxes with the titular Tubular Bells. There is a sense in which the final section of "Part One" is sort of the Seventies version of Ravel's "Bolero." It is the same thing over and over again, but it still grows on you. It is even fun to hear someone naming all of the instruments that Oldfield is playing. He does not play every instrument on the album, just organ, Hammond organ, Farfisa organ, piano, grand piano, honky tonk piano, keyboards, guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, fuzz guitar, Spanish guitar, Mando-guitar, bass guitar, bass, mandolin, bagpipes, flageolet, glockenspiel, timpani, and tubular bells (I might have missed some).

However, on "Part Two," by the time we get to the "Sailor's Hornpipe" bit, you are ready to flip the record over, um, I mean, click on the magic button, and hear "Part One" again, especially the part with the Nasal Choir. This is one of those cases where you get a rating of 4 stars by splitting the difference between the 5 stars for "Part One" and the 3 stars for "Part Two." This album has the distinction of being the first released on Virgin Records, started by Richard Branson when Oldfield could not get any existing label to pick up the album. "Tubular Bells" made it to #3 on the Billboard album charts and won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition (other than Jazz).

A Classic, Improved.......2005-03-25

When I think of albums which have retained their popularity over the years, two come to mind. Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" is one; "Tubular Bells" is the other. And the fact that both have been released on hybrid SACD attests to their popularity. In the case of "Tubular Bells", this was not the first quad mix of the album to be released. The first, which was released as a CD-4 "Quadradisc" in the US, and as both SQ and QS in most of the rest of the world, pretty much mimicked the stereo version, except for the slow fade-in of the beginning and a few music-spins-around-you effects. The mix on this SACD features one that was originally created to convince Mike Oldfield to allow this recording to be released in multichannel. In addition, the original stereo mix is included on both the CD layer and the SACD stereo track. The 4.0 mix on the SACD multichannel track is cleaner and less cluttered sounding than that first released quad mix, and is more straight-forward. This mix was also released as a quad LP as part of a box set (now available on CD, and despite claims to the contrary, is the SQ version). That set, "Mike Oldfield Boxed", is worth seeking out. It also includes quad mixes of "Ommadawn", "Hergest Ridge", and "Collaborations".Now, if only they could release this box set in SACD... I digress. I highly recommend this SACD for those who want to hear what this system can do, and for MO fans, to finally hear everything he wanted you to hear.

Great SACD!.......2003-08-14

This is a very impressive SACD, my only regret is that it didn't use the GAIN 2 mastering system for DSD by Mobile Fidelity Sound LAB. Overall it's a great choice for SACD & sounds good.

Music CD:

Music CD

Music CD

Music CD

De Salsa Machine ~ Willie Rosario

Los Tres Ases, los Tres Caballeros Y los TresSantos ~ Los Tres Ases, Los Tres Caballeros, Los Santos

Tubular Bells ~ Mike Oldfield

Love Survives ~ Various Artists

Green Rooftops

Very Best of ~ Lee Andrews , and Hearts

Siempre En Tu Corazon ~ Various Artists

Cuidado ~ Jose Jose

Recordando Viejos Temas ~ Banda la Coste%C3%B1a

Los Mejores Corridos del Cinco de Mayo ~ Various Artists