Mike Oldfield's "Ommadawn"

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

Loved it when it came out and just reheard it again for the first time in years.

One of the most emotionally shattering pieces of music I have ever heard, and I have heard it all from Buxtehude to Ligeti.

Genius.

Your thoughts?

[vixengrl]

1. It's very different--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNaZmX-NmQo

I youtubed it, and the odd thing is, my husband was just youtubing Oldfield, like "Tubular Bells" and familiar stuff like that. This *isn't* my kind of music. (Oh no--I was all Motley Crue and such in the 80's.) This is a very sincere trip. I wouldn't call it "emotionally shattering", but it does create the kind of disconnect I get from seeing a Fellini film. Like, I get the pieces in play, but I'm not sure anymore just how the game is played.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

2. The African drumming at the end of Ommadawn Pt 1

is so visceral and real, with that soaring melody above it; for me it just goes places other composers don't reach.. I love classical music and only a handful of pieces (mostly by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Philip Glass (principally his brilliant opera Akhenaten, in my experience)) equal the impact. It really isn't music than can be analyzed or categorized. One must surrender to the flow, like a roller coaster.

[mrbill]

3. strange you bring up mike oldfield......

A few nights ago i was prowling on youtube for footage from the mid-1970's era Renaissance and their most amazing vocalist, Annie Haslam.

The nice bots at youtube pointed me in the direction of a song Annie released around 1990 or so named "Moonlight Shadow".

Wow. The lyrics were totally haunting and ate their way into my tiny brain. Quick research told me that the song was written and originally done by Mike Oldfield. WTF? He's that Tubular Bells guy who made weird sounds on a keyboard.

The next click totally changed my opinion of Mike Oldfield. It was an MTV video from 1983 of "Moonlight Shadow" with Maggie O'Reilly singing the lead. The Annie Halslam version had left me sockless. The original Oldfield/O'Reilly was transendental. Nobody ever told me that Mike Oldfield could play guitar and take it to a higher level than Thin Lizzy's "Cowboy Song."

Color me impressed.

edit-bad spelling

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

4. Ahh Annie....

There is no one quite like Annie Haslam. One in a billion, that gel. The most beautiful voice on earth when she was in her prime. Met her back in the day and she was as sweet and natural as the sunshine on a field of Kentish flowers. As pretty as she was vocally stunning.

[edbermac]

5. Big fan of Mike Oldfield!

Tubular Bells, Ommadawn, Amarok, Hergest Ridge, Incantations, Five Miles Out, all big favorites.