Tubular Bells

I had never heard this album before. It was an interesting listen. Obviously neat to learn more about where the Exorcist theme came from. I doubt I’ll ever listen to it again though, just not my thing.

I think this sort of thing is why punk was made, so I can't dislike it entirely.

This was definitely unique. I don’t know if I’ll listen to it again, but I don’t regret listening to it either.

I'm certain there's something impressive about this, but it's just kinda janky noise to me.

I struggled with this one. I knew of Tubular Bells because of The Exorcist, already iconic in my mind, but never listened to the album - I was told (at the time) it was a modern classic.

Listening today, I can only assume that everyone only heard the opening 5 minutes of the title track, yes iconic, then spirals off into a prog-rock mess.

Reminded me of the first time I went to Za Za Bazaar, too much choice, you pick everything, now you got to eat with a mountain of food from every corner of the world. Vindaloo flavoured Dim sum is interesting, but regrettable. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

The rest of the album has its interesting parts, but quickly forgettable. I didn't hate it, just felt messy (as an album).

Between this, Radiohead, and all the Todd Rundgren from last couple rounds, it feels like I've been on an intense-audio-production kick with these lately. I've listened to this one before, it's excellent stuff

So much potential, but I think it ultimately fails to live up to it. While I enjoyed it I would much rather listen to modern electronic music or even classical. 3.5/5

The haunting theme from the exorcist. Impressive Mike was 19 and played all
The instruments on this album. Instrumental prog rock really isn’t my thing but this gets 4 stars on pure talent alone.

It was competing for a 5 before the random tribal grunts kicked in. But an excellent listen nonetheless.

Interesting and important, but not actually that good.
Obviously "the exorcist" blah blah blah, but the hornpipe section is weirder to me - not sure why though!

You know that certain kind of crazy person who convinces you he's not crazy (despite his former erratic behavior), you believe him because he seems so convincing, but then he ends up being crazy anyway? Well, that's this album. It's schizophrenic at its core, not knowing what it is--or rather, intensely knowing what it is in a precise moment, but then forgetting when it moves into a new moment, thus knowing itself once again anew. So many fractured pieces coming together, coalescing in a unified musical statement at the end of Side A, convincing the listener, in the quiet moments of flipping over the vinyl, that all is well. This deception continues in the calm, pastoral phrasings of the beginning of Side B, only to shock you out of your complacency with a punch of the piano keys, howling at the moon, and growling in gibberish. This insanity returns with a full-on mad carousel ride.

Ook dit is weer een verzameling geluiden. Een ander album op de lijst liet al walvissen met de band mee spelen. Hier zijn het onder andere wolven. Wat moet ik daarmee? En moet ik nu echt uitleggen dat gerochel niet het mooiste geluid is?

Natuurlijk. Je kan er niet om heen. Er staan iconische fragmenten op dit album. Die rechtvaardigen een plek op de lijst en die moet je waarderen. Ik overwoog zelfs nog een 3 (2,5 is ook een 3). Maar dan sluit het af met een nummer waar doorheen gekoekwausd wordt. Hou toch op.

I'm almost surprised how high of an average score this album has, and it's not really that high. Two nearly thirty minutes songs doesn't really seem like most people's cup of tea, but I suppose the beginning of the first song is an iconic theme in film, so perhaps that's what's bringing it up? As for me, I think it's crazy that this was written and played in its entirety by Oldfield at the age of just nineteen. That's a crazy age to be attempted to write something this influential, let alone succeeding. I'm not sure how to rate this album, however, as my usually rating system doesn't really work on an album so long yet with only two songs. I do really enjoy this album though. I don't think it's perfect, there are small parts that are either boring or a tad weird (what's up with the Korn-esque growling in the middle of the second part?), but I think the musicality of it is often very nice, and there were parts I genuinely would want to listen to over and over. The downside is I can't see myself listening to the songs anytime soon, due to the length of each song. Still, very nice. I think this would be really nice on a calm evening drive or laying in bed at night.

Not for me. Some of the bits were fine. But it sounded like listening to a movie soundtrack at best. Was glad when it was done and I can't see I'll put it on again.

dude wtf is this?

For me, this was another surprisingly fantastic album, and one that I never in 1 million years would have stumbled upon on my own. Usually, given my ADHD, long, drawn out instrumental pieces are hard for me to listen to, however Mike manages to keep your interest through the addition of instruments or background vocal stylings throughout the whole album. Since the songs are so long, I have broken them down individually to highlight the moments that moved me.

For Tubular Bells Part 1, the first roughly 5 minutes is the Exorcist theme song, so it has a dark and eerie feel to it, then Spanish guitar is added in, followed by electric guitar to pull us out of the darkness. At the 13 minute mark, there is another drastic tempo change, accompanied by background choir humming and piano which builds into another rocking guitar solo. Around the 20 minute mark there is a funky bass groove playing on loop, almost lulling you into a trance, then an announcer starts naming instruments, and they get added in layers over the bass grove until the 23 minute mark, when you have a huge symphony of sound to finish the song.

For Tubular Bell's Part 2, the first huge transition happens at around the 8 minute mark, when the song begins to picks up with backing vocal harmonies.
A huge shock at the 12 minute mark, when gutteral, almost agitated groans accompany a rocking drum beat and guitar solo. At the roughly 21 minute mark, the final breakdown starts with a nautical sounding guitar riff with constantly increasing tempo.

Favourite song: I enjoyed Tubular Bells Part 1 a bit more than Part 2, however both were very good.

The version of the album Spotify brought up for me to listen to had 2 other tracks, which were isolated excerpts from the larger 2 songs on the album. Sailor's Hornpipe had Viv Stanshall humorously talking about an old house while the final nautical breakdown from Tubular Bells Part 2 plays in the background, sounding like a maritime house party. The other additional song is called Mike Oldfield's Theme, which has an almost LOTR/Middle Earth vibe to it.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this album. It isn't something that I would sit and listen to on repeat, but it was absolutely worth a listen, and I'm glad I did.

4/5

lol

Nautin tästä yllättävänkin paljon! En oo varma mitä mieltä olin kakkososan örinöistä mut ehkä kumminkin positiivinen.

This isn't the first time I've listened to this album. I've tried to figure out why this is considered such a great album and I just don't see it. It's not bad, I just don't see why it's all that. I'm a big prog rock fan and this one just doesn't connect with me at all. I listened three times this time and still don't get it. Oh, well.

What a fucking bonkers album. Forgot how completely insane this is. I totally respect his efforts to make a big intricate piece of music with unconventional arrangements. However, although I own this on vinyl myself, I must admit I hardly ever put it on, except maybe for people who haven't ever heard it before, just to take them on the wild ride. I prefer the following album "Hergest Ridge" and feel it is a much more cohesive statement. Blows me away that this was accepted by popular culture in the 70s. Speaks to the open mindedness of the era.