Tubular Bells

Is it a masterpiece? Yes. Is it worth the goddamn year in length? Fucking no.

Obviously a classic, but different to what I remembered. It is long and repetitive, with some bits that just make no sense. Chill out music long before chill out. Would I listen to it again? Probably, but not out of anything other than intellectual curiosity.

26 minute song to open it up. At least it’s pleasant sounding haha.

Interesting at times but also very tedious

Hilarious, at times almost psychedelic, but really not my thing. Just couldn't get past the tongue and cheek feeling of the whole thing lol. I cast you out! Unclean spirit!

Great prog weaves several distinct themes into a unified whole, meaning songs that last up to 20 minutes can feel distinct yet greater than the sun of their parts. This LP takes sharp turns, abandons themes left and right, stuffs incompatible ideas into overlong tracks, and has weird growling noises on it. This is not great prog.

Why did the muppets yell at me im so confused

Mir zu krass

schon ein komischer Versuch, Symphonie und Pop zu vereinen

Imagine getting this album because you were so impressed/creeped out by its use in The Exorcist, and then winding up with a bunch of caveman gibberish and sailor music.

2nd listen. Still just an ok album.

Good background music

Honestly? I thought I'd like this album a lot more. The start is strong, and I was very excited to hear more. About 10 minutes in however, the shifts between styles become less of a exploration of music and what instruments can be composed together to more of a excercise of jarring sounds. It's quite uncharacteristic for me not to like a long-form instrumental piece such as this, but really didn't hit the right notes. Personal pet peeve of introducing things into your song and naming them in vocals was also hit.

I feel like I've stumbled into a haunted music shop. It's a lot, too much really. There are moments of this album that are genuinely lovely to listen to. There are also some incredibly annoying elements that I'll not be seeking out again. Oldfield's musical chops are for real. He's a great guitar player. But the wide swings in tone make it hard to settle into a groove listening to this. It's also hard to take a piece of music seriously that has this much growling in it. This is undoubtedly a unique musical experience. Props to Oldfield for going all in, but this would be a firm no from me. I tried. Favorites: None

Yawn...

Which came 1st? The song or the movie? Google says the album was a slow sell until the title track was used in the movie. 2.5 stars

I'm sure I would have enjoyed this much more 20 or so years ago, but now it got on my nerves very quickly.

Nice instrumentals, but not out of this world

Too weird and trippy for me

I tried to give this a chance but it was definitely a pretty rough listen for me. Ciao.

I just don’t have the stomach for this right now. I got through the first tubular bells track. Okay Mike I get it, but honestly, what the fuck is this??

Sure, Mike, I get it. Tubular bells. Well done. I get why it’s on the list and all, I just… It’s fine. Okay? Let’s all just move on shall we? Alright? Good.

Ok, it's great that he was 19 at the time and played every instrument himself... but that doesn't mean much when less than 1/4 of it really counted as music. Otherwise it felt like an excruciatingly long intro, a few minutes of plain prog rock, an outro and then some fuckin dumb pirate melody. And none of the various segments meshed - they seemed to be just pasted together. A 25min song is meant to be a statement about your songwriting, as if to say "I'm gonna show you that I can make 25min feel like 5", but that didn't happen here. And most of it was ambient/experimental, not much substance. It's a shame I didn't like this cause I love it in theory, but it's just badly executed. 2/5.

Intressant, men gud så långtråkig. Inget jag lyssnar på igen. 2/5

Not my style at all, there were some parts that I liked in Pt. 1 and 2 but most of the time I would've wished there were some lyrics also

It only stands out for the few seconds of audio used for the theme in The Exorcist. Other than that, it is ultimately forgettable.

Its just a bunch of weird instrumentals. Not totally sure why this is so big. Again, if I was a big music theory guy I'd probably like this more than I do rn.

A weird genius I guess

pt 1 is just old school youtube storytelling background music. pt 2 is a fever dream. not feeling this one other than a hint of nostalgia.

The good / famous bit is very short. Then there's a lot of quite annoying stuff. And he supports Trump and Brexit.

A blast from the past in Miss Bird’s music class. Not the most exciting thing ever and hasn’t stood the test of time too well in my opinion but a classic nonetheless. Remember being home alone and watching the exorcist when I was a kid and this still brings me right back to it.

Did listen but wasn't very keen 🙁

My first thought was “Why is the Exorcist score on this list?” I truly don’t understand why this is on here. Like, who is this for?

.

The whole "exorcist" part on the bells is a nice motif at the start of the album, well-built and executed by Oldfield. Then the album drops off like a fucking bag of bricks, just bad. Computationally aimless, terrible mixing, a total mess of "prog rock". Oldfield excels when he's building on something, adding and taking away elements for the purposes of repetition. This magic is somewhat ruined in the part where he explicitly states the name of the instrument being introduced next instead of letting the music speak for itself. Man also need to learn variation during these repetitive parts; just something else, anything! I think this record was a fluke: Oldfield is a subpar songwriting and producer who stumbled onto a catchy-yet-eerie riff that got itself into one of the most acclaimed horror movies of all time. Outside of that, isn't worth a full 50 minutes worth of material. I can't believe I own this album.

Okaaaaaay then

De opening ken ik van met The Excorcist, maar hoe het stuk zich verder ontwikkelt vind ik dan lastig uit te luisteren. Ik heb op zich wel een zwak voor instrumentale synthesizers, maar hier zitten dan teveel andere invloeden in die ik moeilijk kan verhapstukken.

It's a classic but it goes on a bit. 5/10

First few bars are a classic. But after that what’s the point?

I thought it was wild, and I didn't really like it. I feel like it had a lot of cool parts but the way they were put together was just too chaotic for my taste.

This didn't need to be 56 minutes long

I'm not really sure what to make of this. I'm assuming it was an artistic endeavour. To create his vision and for it to be an unlikely and huge commercial success is quite something, especially at the age of 19. I quite enjoyed side one, and didn't even mind the cheesy introducing of instruments at the end. Side two was much harder work though. The Blue Peter theme at the end is just bizarre. Just going with my gut on score: 2/5.

Impressive feat as an album but there have been much better created since. Kind of cool and atmospheric but not worth numerous listens. 2.3

Lo siento pero no. Dos canciones bien luego ya es su fumada. El primer album que he tenido que pasar una canción porque me ponía nervioso. Lo siento pero no

Kind of flat metal. Little going on dynamically

Went bananas when he said the name of the album in the song

Tube music

Thanks but no thanks.

Not really for me. I can understand why it was popular with others. I wasn't feeling myself and maybe that had a part to play in it.

Kinda cool I guess

Impressive he was 19 and played everything but still a bit...dull

Boring

idk im not one for 20 mins songs first offf if the beginning isn’t pulling me in instantly. interesting though.

5/10. Pt. I is absolutely fantastic, but falls off a large amount in Pt. II, overall a worthwhile album, and worth returning to, but not as consistent as I'd like, perhaps to much to ask of prog

2,5

Not for me, it was nice to work while listening to, but not my style of music.

nigga me hizo escuchar el exorcista, claramente no escuche esto y me fui a escuchar toxicity y since i left you

Bloody awful. Opening track 25 minutes long? No thank you.

I don't think so.

Repetitive and annoying.

I made it through 1.5 songs

Why is this even included? Absolutely terrible.

The theme from the exorcist was bad enough, but to find out there is an entire album.. rough

I did'n understand wtf was that

Oldfield's Tubular Bells is prog rock for those who've decided they needed more of the same over & over again, which is to say that Mike must've had dreams of being mindfulness guru Philip Glass but ended up w/ the same boring antics as EL&P, Yes, King Crimson, etc. What makes this record a particular nuisance is that you can detect so much of the British folk revival shit that plagued the late 60s & early 70s, except this time it's a futuristic nostalgia that renders it unlistenable. The songs don't change direction in a pleasant way - they just fiddle around, searching for something that isn't worth our hours to begin w/. Oldfield is truly a one-man band: he has one personality, if you can call it that; one story to tell, if you'd be so generous.

Al momento de abrir Spotify y ver que este álbum tiene dos canciones de +20 minutos, ya sabía que no me esperaba nada bueno. Disfruté los primeros minutos de Tubular Bells - Pt. I, y me pareció interesante la incorporación de demás instrumentos; ya sí pasé a la confusión cuando –para un disco que se llama "Tubular Bells"– dejaron de sonar las campanas tubulares para jugar con guitarras que no agregan nada a la canción más que la probable satisfacción del artista de decir "miren qué bien puedo tocar", lo cual sucede a lo largo de esos largos 26 minutos que tiene el primer tema. Hacia el final, la voz robótica que empieza a nombrar los instrumentos que se agregan a la canción arruina la inmersión a la que uno podría llegar. Si la parte uno fue regular, la parte dos ya fue mala: se vuelve rápidamente tediosa por repetir la fórmula anterior (pero de una forma menos interesante), ¡aunque en esta al menos te sorprende el artista hablando con la voz de un animal rabioso! Con total honestidad, no entiendo cuál fue la visión al momento de crear este álbum. Lo que "Mike Oldfield's Single" pudiese mejorar de este desastre es completamente arruinado por "Sailor's Hornpipe", por lo que ni siquiera puedo apoyarme de algo para darle a este disco un puntaje mejor que un 1. ↑: Mike Olfield's Single - Theme From Tubular Bells ↓: Tubular Bells - Pt. II, Sailor's Hornpipe - Viv Stanshall Version

This is the shittest album after muse you get to listen to

Didn't hate it but certainly not something I should be giving more than a 1 for

absolute shite

This was rough. Just sounded like a collection of instruments with very little cohesion outside 2-3 minute stretches. Almost sounded like the intent was for different artists to sample the various snippets for use in their own projects. Made it through the first half but couldn’t carry on.

2/10

🤯 Wow. The first ten seconds were very cool because I recognized them and didn't know what this album was. The remainder eventually became grating and I did have to pause partway through. I'm glad I know what Tubular Bells is about now but this was my least favorite album of this list so far.

no

Experimental prog rock…. Not for me, the last 5 minutes of the 24 minute part 2 are relatively interesting….

Goes between sounding like music from the video game Hylics to a guy at guitar center messing around with a bunch of different foot pedals. There are some 20+ minute songs on here and I just don’t got time for that. 2/10

Just so lame

That's enough bells

Also ich Check ja dass das irgendwie krass war? I guess? Aber klingt halt leider beschissen

dont get it

this one felt like watching an episode of Law and Order.

1/1

Boring

It’s really not for me. I appreciate the craft that went into making this music as it’s obvious he’s very talented, but I still had no desire to keep listening.

2/10 - Favorite song: Tubular bells pt 2

Boringggg

مو ذوقي

Tubular Bells, more like tubular balls! This album sounds like the background of a movie I have no interest of watching. I did get a laugh when he would announce the names of the instruments because it was so absurd. How and why this was ever made is a mystery.

Не знаю для какого пользователя рассчитан этот альбом, но точно не для обычного. Слушать на протяжении 26 минут только одну композицию-сложное занятие, учитывая то что само произведение практически никак не развивается, лишь моментами добавляется и убирается басс, ну и остального по мелочи. Конечно же этот альбом не для повседневного прослушивания, а скорее для создания какой то определенной атмосферы спокойствия. У меня лично были ассоциации с рдр2. Единственное что могу вспомнить это само начала альбома, невероятно популярный мотив, но в остальном нечего сказать.

this was shit from a butt dude

album estranho, instrumental… não é pra mim 1/10

This album sucks so much butt. It was everything I don’t enjoy about prog rock and classical music all at once.

loved his dicovery , but this album was boring

Listened to most of it, definitely not for me. A mix of meandering orchestral prog pop/rock and sea shanties? I appreciate its uniqueness and The Exorcist thing is sort of fun I guess.

Starts with the theme from the Exorcist ends with the theme from Blue Peter with random passages in between. I was expecting it to be innovative but it’s not a patch on what the German’s or Italians were up to at this time. Sold tonnes to pretentious geography students who grew up to be Reform voters.

In favour of Brexit and a Trump supporter… out of the Oldfield’s, I MUCH prefer Sally.

Great jungle for a commercial or moody movie, but really long in the tooth. It gets repetitive and boring quickly, and when it does pivot and change up it is really forced, a little chaotic and uncreative. Oxygene is a much better listen.

Totally out of my interest sphere. But could play in the background without much distraction. Generally not my jam. Don't get drawn into new age soundscapes which make no sense to me--while instrumentalization is clearly proficient, composition just sounds like a toddler playing around.

Self-indulgent garbage.

I have read the phrase "Tubular Bells" so many times it's lost all meaning.

The first track is an absolute mess. “I wrote 62 riffs this year. I am going to put them all into the same key (or thereabouts) and play one after another - people will confuse my mediocrity for genius and both Richard Branson and I will become millionaires” 1/5

Confused by this album Fave track: Mike Oldfield's Singe - Theme from Tubular Bells

I was already not really in the mood to hear an album like this. But what happens around the 12th minute of the second track had me so baffled, I had to end the listening experience right then and there. Yikes. 1/5

Just really bad. It’s long and boring. The instrumentations are cool sometimes I guess. But not enough to save this clusterfuck of an album

Not for me.

I'm never sure if my hatred for prog is snobbery or reverse snobbery, but this is crap regardless of that. I tried to give it a chance but it was super-noodly. THEN the guy started announcing the names of instruments. THEN, in Pt. II some guy started growling? Get me the fuck outta here.

Reminds me of an amalgam of cheesy Christmas music and Celtic Muzak.

Prefer more updated instrumental albums. Besides, the first track is theme song for the movie the Exorcist…so no thanks.

Not for me

Way too long of an album for my attention span

1/5

I have never watched The Exorcist.

Extra star for being 19 when he made this. Extra star for The Exorcist. Title song was on that Pure Moods compilation.

If a friend recommended this album to me, that person would no longer be my friend. I guess it’s somewhat noteworthy for Oldfield playing most of the instruments himself and melding the instrumental layers into a cohesive final product, but sweet Jesus is it boring. It’s difficult to comprehend the fact that this album has sold around 16 million copies worldwide and occupied a major position on the UK and US music charts for quite some time. The immediate questions that come to mind are “How”? What was the fascination? After seeing ‘The Exorcist’ did people walk out of the theater going “Man, it would be really great to have an entire album of those bells?” It’s pointless to ask these questions because I am not the audience for this album and will never understand its appeal. The random growling. The verbal introductions of the instruments. Call it prog rock, avant-garde, whatever. For me, this is what plays on continuous loop in Hell. It was a novelty that wore off before the record even ended.

Boring

Oh cool The Exorcist theme! Oh no 50 minutes for two songs that could have been shortened to one 2-3 minutes song.

“We got Pink Floyd at home.”

Mike... Mike, Mike, Mike! Mike? Mike. Mike! Mike?! Mike! MIKE!! Yeah, ok hi Mike, I think we got it, the bells, they're tubular, yeah, no I get it, tubular, Mike, yeah. Thanks.

if i wanted to listen to bells i would watch season 1 ep 9 of new girl

Gave it a try didn't make it through the first 23 minute song

Langweilif 2 richtige songs die beide 20+ gehen , nur indtrumental was nicht schlecht war aber gibt viele dinge die ich lieber hören würde

Que es esta poronga

My ex husband use to try to torment me with this album!

Meh. I almost gave a second star because it reminded me of The Exorist;; I lived in the Georgetown neighborhood when it was filmed, but no. One star only.

This album is the epitome of an identity crisis- felt like 20 musical genres mashed together.

Really 1.5… I made it through the album and parts were pretty. And then there was the caveman grunting parts…

Not a fan

Still freaks me out. Can't listen, the movie scared me as a kid. So no go on this. Silly I know.

weird

Shocker, another British album that really has no reason being on this list. As a horror fan, I certainly can respect that the music was used in The Exorcist...but this doesn't even seem like an album - it's essentially just a long progressive-instrumental recording. And one that gets weirder (and worse) the longer it goes on, mind you.

Wtf this is not acceptable

I think the only redeeming quality of this record is the fact that it has the song from the exorcist on it. I can’t think of anything else nice to say here. This is a perfect example of “weird for the sake of weird” and I did not enjoy it at all. The bizarre rambling on the last track really sealed this albums 1* fate.

This is a really bizarre album, which is usually something that I don't mind or even enjoy, but not in this case. Wanders all over the place without ever arriving anywhere. There's no clear reason for each side to be presented as one long composition, as there's no feeling that the disjointed sections of each part are at all unified into a greater, cohesive piece. Each part ends in a spectacularly annoying way: part one with someone calling out each instrument as they're added back into the soundscape, and part two with horrible guttural grunt-screaming interludes. Disastrous.

Parts are nice to listen to while working. But then some random voice comes on and sounds like they are hocking a loogie and you wonder what the hell is music anyway? Unfortunately that just ruined it for me

This is an album i feel i should enjoy. An album equivalent of an eighties coffee table book that all middle class households own and say they like. But I didn’t grow up in a working class household so the only nostalgia i have is for its use in soundtracks, but that exposure tender to be fleeting and therefore this just feels unnecessarily overblown pretentiousness of the highest class. This is not a classical work, an instrumental (i dont care it had a short burst of speaking toward the end) does not need to be 25 minutes long. It comes to something when the theme from Blue Peter is a highlight, given the programme itself was a dull patronising affair I assume Mike Oldfield’s single is named that as if he played this on his dates that would certainly be the end result. Although give it it’s due mercifully short. The final track is frankly pointless why anyone would want to listen to that i’m not sure.

what a crazy first album on the list. this sounds like a soundtrack to an 80s thriller lost to time. I have no idea why it's on a list of albums you MUST hear.

Not my type of music

I was going to write something witty, like: It's no wonder it was chosen for a horror movie; it's horrific. But in the end, all I really want to say is: No thanks.

Didn’t care for

No, thanks.

go away

This might be one of the most irritating albums I’ve ever listened to. It’s like an annoying kid poking you and you tell them to stop so they leave their pointer finger a centimeter away from your arm and scream BUT I’M NOT EVEN TOUCHING YOU. Introducing the instruments was really painful to listen. The last minute of part 2 made me want to rip my ears out. Like we get it. Shut up. The single is fine. It’s not offensive. Sailors hornpipe is.. idk i was so done with the album by this point Overall, it wasn’t the worst thing ever but I would much prefer to never listen to this again.

Nope

Gtfoh

41/1001 Made so popular by its inclusion on The Exorcist soundtrack, there is now a copy of the LP in every single charity shop in the UK. Anyone who has bought it since then on any other format is probably a woodwork teacher. As with so many other albums on this list, I can maybe see why it was seen as ground-breaking at the time, and I can see why people might like it... but it has not aged well and it says nothing to me about my life. Inoffensive, pompous, prog wankery. Two tracks and nearly 50 minutes later, I'm not sure I understand anything more about "bells that are tubular" than I did before I started.

Well ... starts out quite nicely, but not crazy about the ending. And that's just the first song! The second song wasn't as good, and then there were two short songs that should not have been included.

Today I learned that the RuneScape soundtrack is considered an all time influential album

3/10 I like an instrumental but this just does nothing for me. Favorite Song: Tubular Bells pt. W

A lot of noodling, probably best enjoyed high

Very monotonous

It is a hard listen this album. Musically it is incredible, but it is not enjoyable to put yourself through 1/5

exceedingly boring with nice baselines

Sounds like glam hip hop. Like Lin-Manuel Miranda created a rap persona. Hot garbage

why am I getting only albums that are before 1980, what is this biased bs

Dreary and repetitive

Nope.

I heard this way back in college and it was completely different from everything else at the time. Trying to listen to it now is just tedious

First five minutes at five star. The rest is too random for me. I didn’t hate the industrial clunking but the voice was freaky.

Ok, there’s no disputing the capabilities of Mike Oldfield, the fact he was only 19 years old when he produced this album and the fact he played every musical instrument known to man! However to me, it’s too background type music…too soundtrack, for me, it doesn’t lead to anything. No melodies- just a clever guy experimenting the same tune using different instruments. Bah!

This album is on this list because it was the theme to The Exorcist. If you want to include an album that's only famous because of its association with the film it was featured in and was on the pop charts, make it John Williams' Star Wars. This is an insufferable inclusion on this list. Music critics have to love things that make them sound smarter than everyone, it's part of their DNA apparently. Now we've reached the Peter and Wolf narrated part of the album, telling me which instrument is which. The music during the lecture is at this point is actually the best part of this album so far. Part II is much worse than Part I. The changes between styles within each side of this album make the compositions sound disjointed. Without The Exorcist, this album would not be remembered today. All of the grunting just adds to the stupidity of this album. Now part of this sounds like some themes from the first track. The transition to the Sailor's Hornpipe is just a hard stop and start to end the album. It's including nonsense like this that makes me question why I'm participating in this project.

is anyone going to listen to this? who would listen to this whole record?

Couldn’t get into it

Annoying, pretentious, boring twaddle. Suffocating.

Who let the werewolves in?

Waste of time.

Nothing Tubular about this.

Really not my thing

Ok I get it, the Psycho music is an excellent atmospheric piece. But 25 minutes?? For one song?? This album is 4 songs and takes over an hour to listen to. That’s way too long! I recognised parts of tracks 1 and 3. Track 4 was absolutely ridiculous! I imagine it related to some popular cultural reference back in the 70’s but now it’s just a random Pythonesque rambling of a crazy man! Who put this album on the list? There must be other albums more worthy!

Wish I could give it 0 stars for taking up the space of a decent album.

I did not like, I started it but couldn’t finish it because I didn’t like it that much

Aujourd'hui, je m'attaque à un monument. Le genre de disque qui a pesé si lourd dans l'histoire de la musique qu'il a probablement modifié l'axe de rotation de la Terre. J'exagère à peine. On parle de "Tubular Bells" de Mike Oldfield. Pour beaucoup, cet album est indissociable d'une chose : la bande originale du film L'Exorciste. Ce petit piano angoissant, simple, répétitif, qui a fait pisser dans leur froc des générations entières de spectateurs. C'est le thème qui, dès les premières notes, te fait vérifier si la tête de ta grand-mère ne commence pas à tourner à 360 degrés. Et c'est là que réside tout le paradoxe de ce disque, sa plus grande force et sa plus terrible faiblesse. Ce disque est d'abord une bénédiction, c'est le parpaing fondateur de l'empire Virgin. Richard Branson, avant de s'envoyer en l'air dans ses fusées, a vendu des millions de cette galette. "Tubular Bells" était partout. Dans chaque collection de disques de parents qui se voulaient un peu branchés, entre un Pink Floyd et un Simon & Garfunkel. Le succès a été tellement colossal, tellement planétaire, que Mike Oldfield est passé du statut de jeune prodige inconnu à celui de superstar multi-instrumentiste en l'espace d'un film d'horreur. Un coup de génie marketing involontaire, le jackpot absolu. Et, une véritable malédiction. Le revers de la médaille, la face B du succès. Pour le commun des mortels, Mike Oldfield, c'est L'Exorciste. Point. Le reste de sa carrière, aussi riche soit-elle, est éclipsé par ces quelques minutes hypnotiques. C'est comme si on ne retenait de Picasso que le fait qu'il dessinait des femmes avec les deux yeux du même côté du nez. C'est réducteur, et pour l'artiste, ça a dû être une purge absolue. Mais, parlons du disque en lui-même… "Tubular Bells", c'est l'archétype même de ce que je supporte le moins dans une certaine frange du rock des années 70. Cette manie de vouloir transformer la musique en démonstration technique, en performance olympique. Deux pistes, deux faces de vinyle, de plus de vingt minutes chacune. Vingt putains de minutes ! T'as le temps de te faire un café, de le boire, de faire une sieste et de te réveiller avant que le morceau ne soit fini. On est à des années-lumière de l'urgence, du "trois accords et la vérité" qui fait la sève du rock'n'roll. Ici, on est dans la masturbation instrumentale. Tout est parfaitement joué, millimétré, orchestré. Oldfield est un musicien exceptionnel, on ne peut pas lui enlever ça. Le type a joué de presque tous les instruments sur ce disque, c'est une prouesse, un tour de force. Je salue l'athlète, absolument. Mais la musique, dans tout ça ? L'émotion ? L'âme ? Pour moi, c'est une coquille vide. C'est brillant, mais froid comme une salle d'opération. C'est une succession de thèmes, de nappes de synthés, de guitares acoustiques délicates, de montées en puissance, de cloches tubulaires (évidemment), mais ça ne me parle pas. Ça ne me prend pas aux tripes. Ça caresse l'oreille, mais ça laisse le coeur de marbre. J'entends déjà les puristes crier au scandale. "Tu ne comprends rien à la complexité de l'oeuvre ! À la richesse des arrangements !". Peut-être. Ou peut-être que je suis juste un vieux con de 54 ans qui a besoin d'une basse qui gronde, d'une batterie qui cogne et d'un chanteur qui a quelque chose à cracher. Peut-être que je préfère la sueur à la propreté clinique. Ce disque est un objet musical fascinant, une curiosité, le témoignage d'une époque où on avait le temps, où on pouvait se permettre de construire des cathédrales sonores sans se soucier du format radio. C'est un album qu'il faut entendre, ne serait-ce que pour son impact culturel monumental. Mais l'aimer, c'est une autre paire de manches car au final, ça reste de la musique de décoration. C'est beau, c'est chiadé, mais ça manque cruellement de ce qui fait pour moi l'essence même de la musique qui compte : le feeling, le brut, le vrai. Alors oui, respect à l'artiste, respect pour l'ambition démesurée du projet. Mais pour le plaisir d'écoute, on repassera. C'est un monument, certes, mais un monument devant lequel je passe sans m'arrêter. Un tout petit, mais alors tout petit, 1 sur 5.

really boring 1/5

could i write poetry to this? n

Aimlessly meandering and dull, switching genres every two minutes. The weird vocal noises about fifteen minutes into the second part were just...weird. I imagine that this album was an asset to movie and television Music Supervisors looking for bits of background music. Hence, the whole "Exorcist" thing. I don't see myself ever listening to this whole thing again. One and one-half stars. The half-star is for the iconic album cover, which held my attention longer than any part of the music.

Leprechaun music. Not terrible but I wouldn’t listen to it on purpose.

Starting to wonder where they picked these 1001 albums from; perhaps the discount or “free” bin?

its too much going on for background music and theres no way im going back to this for any other reason. oh yeah let me go listen to that passage i like from 17:40-18:25 in tubular bells part 1. yeah let me announce ever instrument thats coming in like they’re walking across the stage graduating. obviously this guy is very talented just wtf 😂

There was not a single interesting passage in this shit. A Mel Bay cd for practicing arpeggios would be better.

Chato hein

This album feels like eternity. Get to the point already. Ugh

Super weird instrumentals. Exorcist theme though.

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

please no... not another album with songs longer than twenty fucking minutes... why is he announcing each instrument mfs will really sit there going "wow this is so abstract!!" stfu NOBODY and i mean nobody is sitting down and listening to this for 26 minutes straight and the thing is it doesnt sound bad, but then he says some dumb shit like "introducing two trombones muffled and shoved up my asshole!" and i hate it again and then he starts doing this weird growling and howling shit and its like he just hit his emo wolf boy phase mid way through making the track im physically uncomfortable listening to these noises "I am the alpha.. 🐺🐺🐺😡😡😡" ass shit sure, mike oldfield is talented, and sure, he played all the instruments well, but the execution was just so poor.. if he had like someone with a level mind to just say maybe no dont do it all in 2 massive tracks i'd be 100x happier with this album 0.5/5 and the .5 is only there for the few moments during listening that actually flow nicely... also cut the growls next time..

Приятная музыка, но в моей системе оценивания должен быть вокал.....

I had no idea what this was when I saw it then it started playing and I went "Oh, I do know this!" This album definitely came out of left field for me. It's a great listen for background music but I don't believe that I would listen to it again.

There's one good part, and you already know what it is. After that I wanted to drive a nail into my skull. That one little good part cannot save this album from suck. It's like if I put one drop of honey into a cup of ditch water before drinking it; it's SOMETHING but it might as well be nothing. 4 1 stars in a row! Save me!

Why?

I did not enjoy this album

Odd and hard to overcome the creepy Exorcist vibes that are associated with it.

How many ways are there of saying self indulgent? My biggest problem with Progressive Rock in general is summed up by one of the most upvoted reviews of this album: ‘there is a complete lack of cohesion—a random mixture of moods that are missing a symphonic theme. It’s composed and arranged as if it were a high tech hobby’ There is what I see as a lack of passion for the craft of composition and songwriting in Prog Rock. It seems so impressed at it’s own ability to produce music as an abstract idea, a Platonic ideal of music as a complex mix of melody and rhythm, that it seems to forget great art is not bouyed by complexity alone. It becomes about showing off how sophisticated and musically literate you are, rather than about how well the music goes together. Tubular Bells is one of the worst examples of this sort of excess. Yes, it’s musically complex, yes it’s impressive that he played all of the instruments himself. But it doesn’t feel as if there’s anything more substantial, no theme or idea, which just devolves into an exercise of how noodly can I make my guitar playing? The best part is the Sailor’s Hornpipe, but he also ruins that by trying to impress everyone by playing it too fast. So to sum up by stealing a joke from my parents: Tubular Bells? More like Tubular Balls

Didn’t love it.

Uggggh. I’m not looking forward to this. I feel like I tried listening to this before and just couldn’t. Isn’t it a 50 minute song? Let’s see the track listing …. 1. Tubular Bells, Pt I 2. Tubular Bells, Pt II Oh for fuck’s sake. Ok, let’s do it. Pt 1 - The Exorcist. Does this album become as popular without The Exorcist? I dunno. 1/5 Pt 2 - seems to be a distinct lack of flipping bells. They had enough time. 1/5 Well that was exciting. 1/5

Sakrileg, das Album geht mir Voll auf den Sack. ich weiß nicht warum das so gehypt ist.

The end of this album felt like the end of a jail sentence...I imagine

I've encountered this album once before, attracted most likely by the cover art. It's weird and the songs are too long. And weird. Just can't get in the groove on this one at all.

So here's what happened. Mike Oldfield was a music supervisor for indy films and never got paid. In retaliation, he pulled some of the scores for the low-budge, B movies up off the floor, put them on a record and evidently got the album to the right people, because somehow it ended up on this list. Sure, Titular Bells has that one song from the horror movie, but the balance of the album is pure mish-mash ... Track two is from the untitled Rocky Horror Picture Show spinoff movie. That film had a monster in the dungeon and a fair maiden who fell in love with it but of course that film was never released. Track 3 is also a salvaged score, evidently from an Irish immigrant period-film set somewhere on a wooden- hulled boat in the Atlantic Ocean. And finally, there's the track from the knockoff Monty Python film that is somehow connected to the aforementioned Irish migrant film (?). I didn't see any of these films, I'm just surmising. Evidently, his plan worked and eventually got paid. But, I'm not sure how Mike pulled it off. It's a mystery to me how this album wound up on this list. I'm pretty sure he's shifted careers from the days of being a music supervisor and gone into marketing. He's probably responsible for all the Mother's of Invention albums on the list too.

Real stinker, 1/5

What a mess. Like someone's practice session that someone accidentally recorded. "What style shall we try next..?".

lol

I love progressive rock... but this? i know its for a film but i only rate the music and the music alone did not much for me. its a 2 star album but in relation to what kinda caliber of album already got a 2 star raiting should speak for itself.

This album has it all: Richard Branson funding, a teenage instrumental musician, a horror movie soundtrack, and the Olympics opening ceremony. I really am not sure how this thing got so popular, something about it feels super British to me. It's fine instrumental rock that is occasionally interesting and more frequently mediocre. It seems like this blew up after it was used in "The Exorcist", which I guess I get but it still surprises me. Maybe I'm missing something here, but I just don't quite get this one. There's two 25 minute songs which also doesn't help. I'm adding the "single" version to my playlist because I know I'll probably just skip the full version otherwise. Favorite song: Mike Oldfield's Single - Theme From Tubular Bells

Not my style

Well I didnt really really listen tbh yesterday was not a day for this album so maybe some other time Edit: nope still cant do it

Why is this here?

Ku ik li

dreck

fuck me this is boring.

Mike Oldfield and I once owned a race horse called Pregnant Debbie. It won the Derby one year and Mike celebrated so hard that his dick fell out of his arse.

Tracks are far too long

Um. So somehow something got fucked up and they put the music from the exorcist on this list. Just figure someone should know that they made a mistake, because theres no earthly way this would be an album that anyone should listen to, much less everyone should listen to. 1/5

Sure, it's a clever album with good musicianship, but my god is it a chore to get through.. I'd be more than happy to not spin this one again

Very prog

Weird instrumental music

Tubular Hell.

A 15 million selling 2 bar riff. Little else here of interest. Next.

With context, being a solo album at a young age, it's highly virtuosic. However, outside the few minutes used for The Exorcist, it was too much to enjoy. Random instrumental wankery above anything else.

I've never heard this past the first minute or so that's in the exorcist. I had no idea it got so annoying

Heard it before?: No Enjoy it?: Nope, not a lot to love about 30 minute ambience tracks Favourite song: didn’t have one

Was genuinely so confused upon seeing this. I guess the name of the album is pretty fitting. Not my thing, and I got bored of it pretty quickly. No fave track.

Halloween theme

Hippy nonsense.

It sounds like I’m about to get the best massage of my life, but then I realize I’m not, and I am upset.

This is an affront to Man, God, and all that is capable of the creative act. Fuck this album and fuck Mike Oldfield

No lyrics

At first I was thinking 2 stars, because I could deal with the bells while I was working, but then it got to the last "song"...

-Reminds me of "Interstellar" for some reason. -This shits lame. -Long ass song, god damn. -Mf just listing instruments now. -Finally fucking ended. 1/10 -Couldn't get through the album. Ill try again some other time.

Nope

meh niet gefinishd. 1/5

Cool concept album. Not for me

Previously I've only listened to about a minute of Tubular Bells and I can now see why. This is awful stuff. Pretentious drivel... I possibly blame my punk upbringing and some of that stuff was bad. Just never as bad as this...

Is the album good or is the Exorcist a good film? Bored after 30 seconds and I like instrumental albums.

Listening to this while walking around feels like being the protagonist in a bad 70s fantastical sci-fi movie. I can understand the significance of it, but I’m alright never listening to it again.

New age is not my thing. I recognized the Exorcist soundtrack and didn't make it through the whole thing. Interesting? Maybe. Tolerable? Barely. Re-listen? Probably not.

Shite

What an odd album. I mean kudos for the guy that can play all these instruments but it doesn’t make the music more enjoyable. This was pretty dull. 1.7/10

Is "totally tubular" a thing? If so, this is a tubular album. I'm not halfway through it, yet, and I feel that I should give it more time... OK. I've given it 10 more minutes. There are lyrics... which I think he's saying what the instruments are... I've made this analogy before... I could put together an album with all the sounds from a NYC traffic policeman's whistle from an entire year... but would it be compelling enough to listen to?

WTF is this nonsense? Not sure this even counts as music.

Not my thing

Juuh, moni progelevy on kestänyt huonosti aikaa ja tää onkin hyvä esimerkki siitä. Manaaja-themen verran oli ihan jees, mutta kaikki sen jälkeen suht rasauttavaa settiä. Ja vaikka siellä oli ehkä kaksi hyvää melodiaa, niin ne on aika arvottomia, kun kokemus on muuten näin etäännyttävä ja tylsä.

Booooo!

No no no

1.5 / 5 Overall boring, the last two tracks were a bit more interesting.

No thank you

This is the kind of album I want to respect but can't. Mike Oldfield is skilled as hell, but this is too pretentious, even if that was the point.

Sea shanties.

Prog rock from a very conservative douche (loves Trump and Brexit). Nothing else you need to know.

Folk prog? This really isn't for me.

had to give it up, not for me apart from the bit of nostalgia

Didnt like it

Not my tempo

1

Not into instrumental/soundtrack stuff. G R A N D P I A N O

bad - just, really bad.

to sober for this

no. this felt like pretentious just listening to it. A 25 MINUTE SONG fuck that

There's a reason that this is on the key stage 2 music curriculum and the exorcist only used the first bit where there were barely any instruments for him to ruin the riff with. A wankfest of pretentiousness and uninteresting anything.

Gewoon kut

Dit is echt dramatisch! Hoezo is dit geneuzel een album wat je gehoord moet hebben? Misschien helpt het mensen die geconstipeerd zijn?

Echt huilen met de pet op dit. Maar, het heeft me ook plezier bezorgd: hard gelachen om het onverwachte gegrunt in het tweede nummer.

Not my thing at all

Terrible

More physical theatre soundtrack nonsense.

Dawg whaatttttt It could've been organized into songs but no just gonna continuously put random sounds in for an hour...

Why

ok until the pirate song

The opening song on the album is the theme to The Exorcist lol. The rest is just random music. 2/10.

Couldnt do it - when the first song didnt turn into Evernessence (they obv sample it) I had to give up :D

hated. Listened in the car and while folding laundry.

Thanks I hate it

Did not vibe with the bells

no...no...shit no man

1.5

1/19/21

ew