With this Deluxe Edition, Oldfield includes versions of Ommadawn previously lost, carefully selected bonus tracks, and DVD material to accompany specific tracks. Sharing the format of its two predecessors - Tubular Bells and Hergest Ridge, Oldfield stays loyal to his conceptual roots in Ommadawn, but incorporates musical styles from a far greater range of influences including folk, Celtic, and middle eastern sounds. As a result, Oldfield channels greater scope for musical development, defining Ommadawn as a creative peak in Oldfield's wide-ranging career.
Elements is a beautifully packaged four-CD box set that essentially covers every aspect of Mike Oldfield's 20-year span as a multi-instrumentalist. The discs are housed in a sturdy, oversized slip case with an extensive booklet containing biographical information, as well as a breakdown of each of the instruments used throughout the 15 albums represented…
In 1973, Mike Oldfield burst onto the British music scene with his debut album Tubular Bells, two long instrumental suites in which Oldfield stitched together a series of melodies into a grandly scaled work in which he played the many instruments himself. The album was an audacious beginning to a career than saw him become one of the most respected artists in progressive rock, as well as a successful film composer. The Complete Mike Oldfield is a collection released in 1985 which features selections from his first ten solo albums, as well as highlights from his score for the film The Killing Fields.
In 1973, Mike Oldfield burst onto the British music scene with his debut album Tubular Bells, two long instrumental suites in which Oldfield stitched together a series of melodies into a grandly scaled work in which he played the many instruments himself. The album was an audacious beginning to a career than saw him become one of the most respected artists in progressive rock, as well as a successful film composer. The Complete Mike Oldfield is a collection released in 1985 which features selections from his first ten solo albums, as well as highlights from his score for the film The Killing Fields.
Crack all the jokes you want about Mike Oldfield and his Tubular Bells becoming the hit theme song for The Exorcist. While Oldfield is an amazing guitarist who could play with the best of them, with a lithe synth touch that became a trademark, the bottom line is that the man is a serious composer. All the proof one needs apart from his own records like Incantations and Hergest Ridge is this killer movie score…
Crack all the jokes you want about Mike Oldfield and his Tubular Bells becoming the hit theme song for The Exorcist. While Oldfield is an amazing guitarist who could play with the best of them, with a lithe synth touch that became a trademark, the bottom line is that the man is a serious composer…
Elements Box is a 4CD box set by Mike Oldfield released in 1993.
Composer Mike Oldfield rose to fame on the success of Tubular Bells, an eerie, album-length conceptual piece employed to stunning effect in the film The Exorcist. Born May 15, 1953, in Reading, England, Oldfield began his professional career at the age of 14, forming the Sallyangie folk duo with his sister Sally; a year later, the siblings issued their debut LP, Children of the Sun. By the age of 16, he was playing bass with Soft Machine founder Kevin Ayers' group the Whole World alongside experimental classical arranger David Bedford and avant-garde jazz saxophonist Lol Coxhill; within months, Oldfield was tapped to become the band's lead guitarist prior to recording the 1971 LP Shooting at the Moon.