Mike Oldfield fans: do you still listen to Tubular Bells?

[NickInMesa]

I played Tubular Bells tonight and it sounded just as good as it did the first time I listened to it decades ago...

I thought it would sound totally over the top outdated but it did not. Still sounds really modern.

And the dude was SEVENTEEN?!?

[FailOutBoy]

Woah, he was 17?? I just wiki'd it, it says he was 20 when it was released, though I'm sure it took a while for him to get an album like that made at that time. Now I feel that much less accomplished...

And answering your question, I think I'll go ahead and give it a listen right now...

[NickInMesa]

Originally Posted by FailOutBoy

Woah, he was 17?? I just wiki'd it, it says he was 20 when it was released, though I'm sure it took a while for him to get an album like that made at that time. Now I feel that much less accomplished...

And answering your question, I think I'll go ahead and give it a listen right now...

He composed Tubular Bells at 17 and the first full demo, identical but with different instruments and with a poor sound came out in1971.

He alone is responsible for Richard Branson's success, because Oldfield's 3 first records sold millions each and was the biggest seller at Virgin. His fans are usually very dedicated.

Branson had him release singles, which are ok (Moonlight Shadows, To France, ...), but not what he liked to do.

When Oldfield was released out of his contract, his first record was again a long instrumental and it sold pretty well. It included morse codes that meant "F.U.R.B."

I will let you make it out.

[Phalex]

That's a great album!

[Lazylion]

I still listen to Tubular Bells once in a while. It's a monumental work IMHO.

[dje31]

Part 1 is fun to play on bass...and I've always felt like the bass line introduced/foreshadowed the next melody/section, if that makes sense.

He kind of lost me with the Piltdown section of Part 2.

Still an awfully impressive, mature composition and execution, esp. for his age.

[addylewis]

YEAH man...thats GOTTA be in my top 10 classic albums (or failng that - top 20)

That bass groove finishing side one is brill...I STILL have a few problems playing along when it goes up to F# though...

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by NickInMesa

I played Tubular Bells tonight and it sounded just as good as it did the first time I listened to it decades ago...

I thought it would sound totally over the top outdated but it did not. Still sounds really modern.

And the dude was SEVENTEEN?!?

i think that one is the album everyone has but never plays

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

I have the original LP and "The Exorcist" soundtrack CD. To me, Mike Oldfield, Jean Michel Jarre and Vangelis are sort of a "sacred trio" in the modern electronic/ambient music world.

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by Alvaro Martín Gómez A.

To me, Mike Oldfield, Jean Michel Jarre and Vangelis are sort of a "sacred trio" in the modern electronic/ambient music world.

+3 for sure. I used to have the Tubular Bells picture disc. I haven't listened to my own copy of it in years, but whenever a segment gets played on the radio or in a movie, I dig it completely.

[Fassa Albrecht]

Mike Oldfield is awesome! I love Tubular Bells and I listen to it regularly.

[NickInMesa]

Originally Posted by Alvaro Martín Gómez A.

I have the original LP and "The Exorcist" soundtrack CD. To me, Mike Oldfield, Jean Michel Jarre and Vangelis are sort of a "sacred trio" in the modern electronic/ambient music world.

Growing in France I had my share of Jarre. He is very egotistic and I don't think as talented as Oldfield or Vangelis.

Vangelis I love his movie soundtracks, especially the one for Blade Runner and for that Japanese movie about the snow dogs lost in Antarctica (which was remade so-so by Disney not too long ago).

[jason1980's]

Try Amarok, very good piece, Me and a pianist friend of mine are doing a whole Mike Oldfield show playing over 3 hours of his music, so far we are playing Tubular Bells I and II, Taurus II and III, Ommadawn, Amarok, and possibly the entire Platinum Suite along with that.

[Kink Rimson]

I listen to Tubular Bells alot, I have some other Oldfield stuff but to me nothing else has the same vibe or atmosphere as TB. As Lazylion said, a monumental work.

I love the 'roughness' of it all, the occasional slight out of tune moment and the primitive guitar distortion effects.

I first heard TB when I was about six, my Dad had decided it was time to expose me to some of the classics. He jokingly told me the voice on side 2 was that of Satan himself. Not an advisable thing to say to an impressionable young boy.

Here's a stunning live performance from the time. Look out for Oldfield on bass.

Part 1
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells live - Part 1 - YouTube

Part 2
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells live - Part 2 - YouTube

Part 3
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells live - Part 3 - YouTube

[ExaltBass]

WOW! I haven't even thought of Mike Oldfield for 40 years! It does bring back a LOT of memories though (some could be classified as X-rated). I'll have to dig up my LP and give it a spin! ^ Nice YouTube link!!!

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Originally Posted by Kink Rimson

Here's a stunning live performance from the time. Look out for Oldfield on bass.

Part 1
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells live - Part 1 - YouTube

Part 2
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells live - Part 2 - YouTube

Part 3
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells live - Part 3 - YouTube

Thank you so much for sharing this! "Tubular Bells" is one of my all-time favorite music works and it's the first time that I get to see it performed live (and such a great performance!).

[maxgrant]

I just listened to that the other day. I found it on Slacker.

What sticks out to me now (as it did then) was the rawness of it all. It sounds like Oldfield was teaching himself studio technique while he was recording this, and there's an intensity to the sounds that feels very youthful, as if he fought to saturate every moment of the recording with the brilliance of what he was doing, and that every track he laid down was a fresh experience to be maximized.

Kind of like watching a young Mozart first grasp his powers conducting . . . it just feels like he had a tiger by the tail and knew it, and was loving the ride. So much incredible detail in that music.

[N.F.A.]

Back in those days, he made an appearance on Tom Snyder's late night program. He had some sort of wild instrument he had created. IIRC it used earth's magnetic field to drone or something like that. The instrument looked like a railroad tie with a cable on it or something. Kind of hazy on it now, but it made a neat noise. Went out and bought his album after that. Have to go get the cd and listen to it for the first time in years.

[BaditudeDude]

Along a similar vein, take a look/listen to Cast in Bronze. There are only two mobile carillons in the US. I caught this guy at the Ohio Renfestival last summer; when he started playing you could pratically hear him over half a mile away. He was playing Tubular Bells and quickly drew a large crowd. A very unique act, he adds some drama to his act with his costume and exagerated movements. You can find other videos of him performing TB on YouTube.

Cast in Bronze at Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival (1) - YouTube

[winston]

Originally Posted by BaditudeDude

Along a similar vein, take a look/listen to Cast in Bronze. There are only two mobile carillons in the US. I caught this guy at the Ohio Renfestival last summer; when he started playing you could pratically hear him over half a mile away. He was playing Tubular Bells and quickly drew a large crowd. A very unique act, he adds some drama to his act with his costume and exagerated movements. You can find other videos of him performing TB on YouTube.

Cast in Bronze at Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival (1) - YouTube

Wow, and we bass players grumble about the size and weight of our rigs!
I love people like this guy who just get an idea and run with it!

I listen to Tubular Bells on occasion, and always find new surprises in it.
I bought Oldfield's "Music of the Spheres" a few years back and thought it was pretty cheesy.