Tubular Bells

Un clásico con todo merecimiento. Debut de Mike y debut de Virgin. Abbey Road. El exorcista. Soft Machine (Kevin Ayers), Terry Riley (A Rainbow in Curved Air). John Cale (de quien tomó sus campanas tubulares en el estudio). Marc Bolan (suya fue la Fender Telecaster que usó en el disco). Vivian Stanshall (Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band) que hizo de maestro de ceremonias con los instrumentos. Trevor Key autor de la icónica portada. Richard Branson, que confió ciegamente en el proyecto y comprendió que no hacía falta meterle sección vocal (más allá de la borrachera que provocó la parte Caveman). George Harrison , cuyo Bentley adquirido por Branson fue el anzuelo para poder hacer una presentación en vivo del disco. Álbum instrumental más vendido de la historia (casi 20 millones) sin contar las secuelas (solo la 2 estuvo a la altura). Es curioso que llegara al número 1 después que su segundo álbum, el también estimable Hergest Ridge (1974). Algo que solo hicieron Beatles, Michael Jackson y Bowie (estos dos de modo póstumo). El inicio de la parte I es genial, no por haberlo escuchado miles de veces deja de gustar. Luego mete un bajo espectacular y virtuosismo guitarrero tanto de guitarra española como eléctrica. coros, demás instrumentos, melodías cíclicas que se van hilvanando... Mi parte favorita es la parte final de este segundo movimiento. La segunda parte es igual de buena.

If this were the young Mike Oldfield's A-Level music coursework, I wouldn't hesitate to give it an A. But it is juvenalia. Nothing more than technical practice. We've previously discussed Kate Bush and Amy Winehouse at nineteen and the limitations of emotional expression at that age. It is hard to be a young artist. Perhaps it is because he is a nineteen year old man, but Oldfield isn't concerned with expressing any artistic idea beyond playing all the instruments. In the early seventies, that was probably enough. Now, of course, we can go on YouTube or Bandcamp or whatever and find hundreds of young men in their bedrooms, playing all the instruments themselves. None of them do it with any more taste or brio than Oldfield. Maybe some do it with more proficiency or cleverness. But now of that is really worthwhile until you tap into something worth communicating. Moonlight Shadow may be twee, but it's about more than just how it sounds - it took Oldfield ten years too learn that. He was twenty-nine, two years older than a rock star should be by rights. The only thing Tubular Bells has that the contemporary bedroom music students don't is the voice of Vivian Stanshall. I fear this may be his only appearance on the list, so I'll give him a half star here. 1.5 Twaddle. 1/5

T'was not Pazuzu, but this terrible music that launched Father Damian down the stairs. Anything to escape Tubular Bells. Side one is so boring and annoying for it's 28 minutes that if I stopped there, this would have gotten one star. Soulless and uninspired. Guitar solos that don't convey any extraordinary technique or purpose. That bit at the end where the snooty dude introduces all the instruments. Too annoyingly insistent to even work as background music. Side two is not as bad and passed the time uneventfully. Still not great, but it softened me on the record as a whole.

Loved how this album just kept building on itself.

How do you take the iconic Exorcist bells and then turn it into pretentious crap? And the growling?

Aside from the familiar snippets you hear on soundtracks, listening to this front-to-back was a hard slog. I wasn't feeling it from the jump, and to my ears, it has aged very poorly. I can't imagine putting myself through a re-listen, though I'd love to hear different perspectives from anyone who loves it.

Another album I'd heard part of but never the full thing. Really interesting as a whole work.

an absolute monster of a record from a technical and compositional perspective. it sounds fantastic, and the mixing is incredibly impressive for a pre-digital studio. musically none of it is particularly virtuosic, but the individual themes are quite good and they're arranged extremely well, particularly given the age of the composer and not-quite-solo musician.

It's an iconic technical achievement that has struggled to capture me as nothing more than novelty.

What did I do when I was 19? Certainly not playing multiple instruments and composing this level of epics. Tubular 1 is enough for me to give this a five

I truly don't know what to think about this one. Like I somewhat enjoyed it but also not really and why are the songs so long and I don't think Tubular Bells (even if it is a pun for tubular meaning groovy) really needed a feature like that.... plus the growling please what was that Mike. I read some context (which I typically don't do before I rate) because I was so confused and so yes it is more impressive that he played all the instruments and I actually liked it when he introed all the instruments. But like..... okay yes he was 19 or 22 or whatever. Still it needs some editing down and I really don't think it's mindblowing???? Who knows. I think all this being said I'm keeping it at a three because I'm still just confused by it but not in a bad way.

Tubular bells, bro! 🤙

An artist that can be found in any pile of records if crate digging. But never this record - was this his only good album? Well it starts off really strong! But then The guitar kicks in and I’m drawn away - but then we’re back again at the tenth minute and actually for the rest of the two parts. I might revisit

Well - not sure what to do with this one. I get the guy was only 19 and played all the instruments, but can’t say it is a listen I’d return to. I appreciate the work and its inclusion, but it’s all a little weird. Do you suppose if Christopher Walken heard the album, he’d say “I need more Tubular bells!”?

Not bad — I can see why shorter versions of the songs would be a hit in a major movie, but it’s not as good as a part of a 20 minute song that changes in tone and rhythm too much. However, I felt Mike Oldfield’s Single - Theme from Tubular Bells was a triumph.

Had some cool moments but could have been a lot shorter.

Favourite moment: When he says “Tubular Bells” it’s like when Doc Brown says “We’ve got to go back to the future!” in Back to the Future. Second favourite: Random growling. Third: The end of the record when he admits that he’s just having a laugh. Can I recommend this album? No. But was there something weird and magical about it that I enjoyed anyway? Also, no.

Classic

Track By Track Tubular Bells, Pt. I - I can’t un-see/imagine (I’ve never seen the film) The Exorcist now after reading that! Have for sure heard of this and know the riff I think. Funny, spooky, hypnotic. Some of it feels like video game music for an early Microsoft video game. Others feel like an experimental minimalist piece. Prog rock as well. Impressive, not all of it was really my thing. The announcements of the instruments at the end remind me of Benjamin Britten’s ‘A Young Person’s Guide To The Orchestra’. Like it’s introducing the instruments in an ‘80s instructional video. Kind of sweet and comical. Liked the acoustic ending. Tubular Bells, Pt. II - Quieter, sweeter opening. Still similar vibe though. I preferred the first half of this to the first one. The grunt-singing is interesting! It’s sort of bizarre and weird and comical. Got a Pink Floyd vibe near the end. Lovely guitar work. And what a joyous ending, so much fun! Mike Oldfield’s Single (Theme From “Tubular Bells”) - very nice, like Greensleeves almost. Medieval vibes. Quite nice. Sailor’s Hornpipe (Viv Stanshall Version) - This was a lot of fun, must say. I’m deep into the world at this point so that does help! Good British nonsense humour. Overall Review: This grew on me a lot as it went on. What a piece! So vast in its breadth and scope. Lots of references to various genres. Almost like an odyssey. I had heard of this before but again, never dived in for the whole thing. I enjoyed quite a bit of it actually. Get the feeling he has a sense of humour as well. Shown in the last couple of tracks. 3.5/5 Favourite Songs: Tubular Bells, Pt. II, Sailor’s Hornpipe (Viv Stanshall Version)

Seriously, it's probably a good album, analyzed but someone with music studies, but for me, just the part from the Exorcist film and a part with electric guitars. The rest is just too random and not something I would choose. 2,5/5 out of respect for the composer.

Really? This is the Halloween theme, and while it’s great for a horror movie, top album? Hardly.

Super appropriate to get this as "spooky season" gets underway. I had, of course, heard the intro that's featured in "The Exorcist," but I'd never listened to the full album that veers into prog-rock and, at times, sounds like The Doors. I effing hate the Doors; so I effing hated these parts. The story behind the production of this album and the fact that it was pretty much just one kid playing all the instruments is incredibly impressive. Still, despite it's ambition and importance - it 100% belongs on this list - it's not a terribly enjoyable listening experience. I'm torn. 2 stars seems unfair, but 3 stars seems too generous. I'll go with what my ears tell me, though: 2 stars.

This may be a hot take, but it's like a better Mannheim Steamroller.

Could easily give this a 2…but gotta give props on him unknowingly creating one of or maybe the best horror themes of all time. Plus, rounding up to show props for clearly being a musical genius. 2.75/5

It occurs to me that without Tubular Bells, we might not have the huge collection of Virgin companies like Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Money and Virgin Media. I wonder what other albums can boast that! Anyway, this seems to me to be an important album - parts of it I like, parts not so much - but at the time, this was something of a recording tour de force.

It was impressive that he could play this many instruments. Also a bit odd that the opening song was used in a horror movie , but I can think of better albums to be on this list.

He was trying to fuse several genres together and it didn’t work. One minute it sounds like halloween music and the next a sea shanty

What a steaming pile of bs. Thought it was just kinda fun vibey stuff, and it was for the first 26 minute song, but then it went off the rails after that. The random moaning/gurgling or whatever it was combined with the weird spoken word nonsense and the fact this album is so stupidly long. Has no business being on this list or in my ears.

Felt like I was stuck on hold for a customer service rep…..why was this on the list???

TUBULAR BELLS

It had no obnoxious singer, no nonsense lyrics, pure music. Quite nice

This gets boring far before it gets finished.

boring to death

Part 1 - 89 Part 2 - 87 Tubular Bells - 88

Pleasant.

this was a bonkers album to be on this list.

This was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. It started out almost sounding like something for Christmas or a kid's show, but ended up having some really fun and unique music.

fucking longgggg and boring lowkey gave up

Well it was not as bad as expected, but still far from good. I thought this album was just a long monotonous drag, but it was a long, slightly monotonous drag. Just a bit better than I thought brings it to a two star rating. 2/5

Don't lie to me and tell me I have to listen to it. Come on now. Best Song: N/A Rating: 3/10 Stars: 2

The caveman bit really came out of nowhere

it was ok ig. just a couple really long songs.

I liked meeting all the instruments.

GLOCKENSPIEL A phenomenal transcendent first track is let down by the rest of the album but what a first track it is.

It’s an interestingly sounding album, with a first half that is much stronger thab the second half (where the howling and the human sounds start). I thought the first song sounded familiar until I read that it indeed was the song of The Exorcist.

It's interesting, but it's all atmosphere. Sure, it should be on this list, but that doesn't mean it's enjoyable. I thought I was halfway through the album only to realize I still had 8:30 left on the very first song. WHY? This is a nightmare.

Tubular Bells was an interesting musical experiment in mostly instrumental prog rock from Mike Oldfield. The biggest problem I had with it is that it’s almost impossible to separate the opening of “Tubular Bells, Part 1” from the immediate thought of, “Isn’t this from The Exorcist?” I can see exactly why William Friedkin chose to use it, but that association is so strong that it’s difficult to hear the song entirely on its own without the movie creeping into your head. For the most part, I enjoyed it, at least until the middle of “Tubular Bells, Part 2,” when some guttural chanting suddenly gets thrown into the mix, sounding like Klingon or something similar. I suppose that’s one way to keep things interesting. Ending Part 2 with “The Sailor’s Hornpipe” was definitely a choice, and now all I want to do is sit down in front of the TV and watch some Popeye cartoons like I’m seven years old again, eating a bowl of sugary cereal, tuned into KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles and "Popeye and His Friends," waiting to see if Tom Hatten pulls my postcard from the viewer mailbag—which he never did, by the way. Overall, I’m glad I gave it a spin. It was an interesting listen and definitely something different, but I’m not entirely sure how often I’ll actually find myself coming back to it.

This came out at a time when mainstream music didn't have an unending number of genres intertwined in the public consciousness. I'm not surprised that it was received as some sort of amazing, new music that captivated everyone. While it's cemented itself in popular culture for being the main theme for The Exorcist, it's really an odd composition that winds into the strange at times. I'm content in having listened to it once, but it's not something I find groundbreaking.

weird weird weird. starting with a melody most 30+ers will recognize one way or another (maybe without completely able to put it to anything specific, adding even more mystery to this prog behemoth). continuing with bells, weird synths, growling, wolf howling, electric guitars and what not. i sort of like it because i like weird prog, i sort of hate it because even for its genre, it's annoyingly weird. it's definitely an experience... the only question that remains in my head is, how the hell could this be released???

7/10, appreciate the craftsmanship

adoro um progressivo e achei muito bom, ainda que não esperasse ouvir um álbum instrumental aqui. achei a primeira faixa (pt. I) icônica, mas fica uma estrela a menos pros grunhidos na pt. II que quebram total o clima (e o prazer de ouvir).

música instrumental pra mim só rola de trilha de filme ou de fundo pra qualquer coisa, escuta ativa fica difícil. dentro do possível até achei legal.

nice, long as fuuuuuuck tho. Ale taki nice music, co prawda raczej nie coś co bym sobie sama z siebie puściła

Jedan od rijetkih artsy fartsy čudnih albuma koje cijenim ne samo na muzičkom nivou. Ovo je jedna od prekretnica muzike od dosadnih popastih stvari prema eksperimentaciji. Jedva punoljetan frajer svira milion instrumenata i uspijeva napraviti mega hit od albuma. A nekim čudom i ne zvuči toliko loše. Svaki put se iznenadim koliko stvarno nije dosadno. New age na vrhuncu otprilike što se mene tiče. I legendarno je bilo kad je Del Boy kupio ovu ploču Raquel umjesto "Bruce Oldfielda". Morala sam i ja sebi nabaviti to i Rio zbog Mućki čim sam krenula skupljati ploče.

Good if you’re in the mood for this.

Le fait qu'une de ces chansons soit utilisée comme générique pour un film d'horreur annonce la couleur. Après, à 19 ans c'est la classe quand même d'avoir joué de tous les instruments. Est-ce que je suis dans un film ou quoi ? C'est pas si rock que ça je trouve. Pas mal. On dirait que c'est une chanson que tu ne peux qu'écouter dans un film. Par contre, la partie 2, ça commence bien, mais avec les cris étranges qui sont apparus, je n'aime pas du tout. 3.5

En vrai pas mal, juste le chant gutural ça surprend.

Why make an album when you can make one or two long tracks? Great tracks though

Epic byrjun en fer út í ansi mikla sýru og progg.

Gott stöff.

I know I should be more open-minded but I don't have the patience from 20+ min instrumentals.

Uninspired

This is a unique record in many ways. For one thing, it was a mostly instrumental record that hit big on both sides of the Atlantic. For another, the way he recorded it is a story in and-of itself. Overdubs and cut-ins were used extensively. The opening theme was used in The Exorcist, which I'm certain helped with the sales. It's also only two rather long tracks, which wasn't common in pop music at the time. It's a varied and interesting piece of music and surely belongs on the list of 1001 albums you must hear before you die.

Unbelievably boring.

1.0/5

Boring, accomplished yes but it bored

It's a pretty sick (mostly) instrumental album. It goes hard, opening with the theme from The Excorcist, then part two concludes with the shanty used for Popeye the Sailor Man's theme.

Correcto

I can’t help but think of my poor son who, in his first year of band pursuing percussion, was learning on the xylophone. He came across Tubular Bells and spent a whole evening learning it and was so thrilled at his progress. Went to school the next day and showed off to his band teacher who told him it was “not appropriate to play at school”, I assume because of its association with the Exorcist. He basically gave up on playing an instrument afterwards. What an awful educator and a ridiculous thing to say. This was quite interesting to listen to, I had no idea it was such a complex and layered song/album. Impressive that this kid wrote it all and played all the instruments himself. Felt a little long; I found the instrument “announcing” at the end of the first track curious. What was up with the growling on the second track?!? The last track was weird too. That was a wild ride. (3)

Cool❤️

An entire album consisting of one long song. It better be good, then. Thankfully, it is pretty good. It's not my favorite listen of the list, or even of the era, but it does flow very naturally and stay decently engaging throughout. It is completely instrumental and features a section where Oldfield just throws random instruments on the record for the sake of doing so, therefore seeming more like a passion piece for its creator rather than a full-fledged album intended for listeners. It's not for everyone, but it's not the worst thing I've ever listened to. This album is ranked #20 of 30 albums for 1973. Other 1973 albums rated by me: The Dark Side of the Moon(1/30)-5 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road(2/30)-4 Let's Get It On(4/30)-5 (Pronounced 'Leh-'Nerd 'Skin-'Nerd)(5/30)-5 Band On The Run(6/30)-5 Catch a Fire(8/30)-4 Head Hunters(10/30)-4 Tres Hombres(11/30)-4 Raw Power(12/30)-4 Countdown to Ecstasy(13/30)-3 Selling England by the Pound(15/30)-4 Paris 1919(25/30)-3

It's the Exorcist theme and some track with a random brit talking about art. This was a wasted space and this list keeps disappointing.

The Exorcist theme but not atmospheric. This was not an album

I gasped when I heard a song that was featured on Pure Moods. It was downhill from there

Ooooh a Taurus artist I don’t see great reviews but I’m tryna keep an open mind Not terrible but don’t know if I can listen to 25 mins of this Lowkey the last song was the best? It was really the only one that went anywhere

Accidentally wrote this review for the Led Zepplin album LOL. My neighbor used to blast this on Halloween.

Started kinda spooky soundtrack-ey, ended kinda pop-ey

Starts as the Exorcist then becomes .... very much not that, then a bunch of grunting or growing and eventually launches into the theme from Popeyes. Feels like any ranking of this is irrelevant - I sort of want to give it 5 or at least 4 stars just because it's so insane, but at the end of the day I can't ever see myself listening to it again, so it's just a 3. A much admired 3.

I understand the analogue single person album importance at the time of this. That's a plus mark in it's favour. I heard this many many years ago. The initial start, the famous bit from the movie, thought would enjoy the whole but instead found myself frowning through it. On the positive as listening experience, there are the odd bits of music that are pleasant and grab your attention and genuinely good unfortunately a lot of that is in the slow burn first few minutes. But, and it appears to be a big but what follows it actually appears to be a fairly non cohesive collection of musical ideas, of varying interest to me the listener, which may or may not be self indulgence depending on your view of 70s prog rock. So while can admire the application, as listening it meanders to much for my taste,with good editing could be a decent 10 to 15 minutes. It sounded better all those years ago, 2 Star

Owned A bit over experimental at times but that opening track, wow

my type of shit

This starts strong but then goes on and on. Although I had never registered that Vivian Stanshall appears on the recording, so that's a plus.

Rating thing is not working

The king is naked. This album is a tedious, annoying, self-indulgent and boring wankery.

Interesting to hear some instruments I typically associate with Christmas used in a different way. Felt like a holiday Celtic fantasy treat.

Well that was a journey.

Would have been a chant, but the weird throat guttural chanting for 1/4 of the album really knocked it out of me

I was enjoying this album and vibing with the groove up until the instrument introductions. I thought it was weird but I went right back into the groove. Then I got to the grunting part and was really shook, what the hell is the point of that. I was thinking this was a four star album, but it needs to drop the grunting to be that high.

Hey it the theme to The Exorcist! Hmm I probably should have just turned it off after hearing the first bit.

This was chill. I like the part where they just start naming instruments. The album I saw on apple music was just different versions of the same thing, so for that it gets 3* Highlights: p1 (because movie)

At least I didnt hate it as much as I thought i would.

Any record with 26 minute tracks should be scolded in my opinion - it comes across as pretentious, over-engineered nonsense 90% of the time. This is slightly different though - the tracks are complex & intricate, but Tubular Bells #1 flows well through each of its chapters. The guitar & bass work are excellent at points, and Oldfield clearly has a real talent for creating an ambient atmosphere with his music. I still stand by the point that the tracks are too long and laboured though, and by the time you get mid way through #2 it feels like you've slogged through the record.

What a magical album.

The spooky Christmas music at the beginning is cool, but almost everything that follows is a random mess

not bad but not good

I liked the parts that sounded like they were building into a Peter Gabriel song. I disliked the parts where it didn’t quite get there.

The first song was quite enjoyable, although there was no need to “Peter and the Wolf” the instruments near the end. The other song was more electric and less satisfying, especially when the “monster” started singing. Perhaps Oldfield was trying to give people two types of trips.

The 70s were messed up. This has a few minutes of great stuff and a lot of nonsense.

Chimes.

Man what a surreal experience I really liked this album a lot; I’ve never heard anything quite like it. Technically everyone’s been exposed to the opening segment and main motif thanks to a certain horror movie but the way this album ebbs and flows is just so cool. The way that the main motif vanishes and then shows up in a new instrument 5 mins later is really nice. I think the atmospheric bell heavy parts are just as good as the harder rock parts and it’s a miracle he’s able to balance everything I have just a couple complaints; I do think the extra tracks on this absolutely bring it down. I usually don’t complain about bonus tracks on rereleases since it’s just free music but I think Tubular Bells as a whole is pretty much immutable where you kinda have to listen to the full thing and the extra tracks don’t do much. I do think it’s a bit sloppy at times, which is kinda to be expected from a 19 year old making his debut, but it’s noticeable at times Regardless, this is right up my alley and I greatly enjoyed this one. I think it’s super close to a 5 but I don’t think it’s quite there. I will absolutely listen to this one again though if I got a free hour or so