Tubular Bells

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

More like Titular Bells, am I right? Though, That Album What Has the Exorcist Song might be a more successful title. This is a great album that I will never listen to again. It's a technical masterpiece and clearly a work of passion, but I have never understood progressive rock and this gets particularly experimental, even when accounting for the genre. Standout tracks: Tubular Bells (Part I), Tubular Bells (Part II)

Buen disco instrumental para escuchar de fondo

This definitely sounded like tubular bells. It was good background music while I painted my kid's room, but not really my cup of tea.

chills....... literally chills..........

Let's be honest the album is only list because of the exorcist. Side one is pretty good but side 2 is meh.

What is this? A classicalfolkprog endurance-test novelty record? If I could, I’d give parts of this a 1, 2, 3, and 5. So I’ll average it.

When you go too far Prog do you just become Classical?

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.

I've still somehow never seen The Exorcist (who someone on here seems to think was directed by Roman Polanski). Tubular Bells II came out when I was a kid though to a big buzz so this was everywhere for a while, I believe I may have listened to this in full once or twice then, and not in fact the maligned sequel. After the famous recognisable part is over... Well it's more prog rock isn't it, but is it good prog? I'm not sure it is really. For large swathes the ideas come thick and fast and then he's done and moved on. Of course there's a Mellotron in there, which is kinda fun as usual. It's basically one big solo jam session. Not my kind of prog either, mostly. There are high points though obviously, usually when he sticks with an idea for more than one minute, who knew. So the beginning, and the end of part 1 are both obviously great. Anything redeemable about part 2? Er, well not from the first half. The second half, with the Klingon and whatnot, erm, no. The very end of the album is good - nice, noodly and chill. Which is then ruined by him launching into Barnacle Bill - whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Overall, a very mixed bag, which is an entertaining enough listen as a one off for this but can't see why I'd put it on as a whole piece again.

eh

Neat

One great song...the rest is fine but nothing great. 3/5

I avoid prog-rock, in general, and I wasn’t looking forward to anything that gets listed as both “rock” and “new age.” Still, this was interesting, and it gets an extra star just for the dwarves growling vocals at one point.

Not my cup of tea

Weird af

Still fresh and on point in 2022

Here's a very iconic album that is undeniably "of it's time". Oldfield takes elements of prog, kosmiche and crossover classical, and mixes them up in two long tracks of New Age noodling. I guess it sounded far-out and futuristic at the time, especially for a mainstream audience who maybe hadn't heard anything more experimental than Dark Side of the Moon. Now it sounds deliciously retro and evokes the analogue hi-fi era. This is an LP for inviting your friends over and sitting on beanbags in a 1970s living room. On track 1, the announcing of each instrument by a narrator is a bit too "Peter and the Wolf" for me. Otherwise, track 1 is pretty untouchable. The b-side isn't quite as good, and I object to the weird growling vocals halfway through, as well as the comical sea shanty music at the end. Overall, it's a piece of "psychedelic art rock lite", but I love all its warm, dated, spacious sounds. If 50% of prog rock or New Age music sounded this pleasant, the world would be a better place. 4*

Kinda rad. Crazy shit.

C’est un classique. C’est plein de bonnes idées, mais ça sonne comme un moodboard pour mettre des idées pour les tounes d’un album, pas comme un album.

Tout à fait en accord qu'il faut avoir écouté cet album. Cette ouverture est magistrale et ajoutée au film The Exorcist, ce mood froid a influencé le genre dont notamment John Carpenter pour ses réalisations. Une ouverture vraiment importante pour la musique de film et pourtant elle n'était même pas dédiée pour ça! Donc les 4 premières minutes de Tubular Bells (Pt. I) sont pas mal l'essentiel de cet album et auraient été suffisantes. Pour le reste, c'est un beau travail d'exploration autour d'un thème, mais ça vient long. Est-ce que son âge (19 ans!) à cette époque peut expliquer ça? Probablement.

Bassie en adriaan en de exorcist muziek, en had zo ook nog wat van de hobbit kunnen zijn. Duurt wel lang, maar zeker voor een 19-jarige leipe muziek. Zou het alleen geen tweede keer luisteren

Throwback naar 13 uur in de auto zitten naar Frankrijk en m’n broertje die dit album op repeat had staan en het djoegele bels noemde. Echt intens nostalgisch!! Weet niet zo goed of ik dit net zo leuk had gevonden als er geen jeugdherinneringen aan zat. Tevens ook nooit bassie en adriaan gekeken dus can’t relate met jullie

BASSIE EN ADRIAAN!!!!

I didn't even realize The Exorcist had any music in it, let alone a theme song. Maybe it was just overshadowed by all the head spinning and "FUCK THE BREATHING". At any rate, John Carpenter's Halloween Theme blows this shit out of the water. This dude was apparently all of 19 years when he recorded this and played most of the instruments. So, props I reckon? The phrase "not my cup of tea" constantly comes to mind.

Kinda spooky, I can see why they wanted the music for The Exorcist. Overall, a very strange album. Parts of it were very cool but ultimately in my view it wasn't enough to justify 45 minutes. Standouts: There are literally 2 tracks on this album.

No lyrics

Sometimes you have to appreciate aptly named content. This is what the name says it is.

The last two songs of the album are not my cup of tea, but I enjoy the two main ones.

crazy sounds. 3.5

Soundtrack of The Exorcist

impressed, its actually quite good while working

It's funny how the first couple of minutes of this album is so well known, but it is really just one part of a pretty amazing piece of work. I love the announcements with the instruments towards the end of part I. It's a bit tricky to go from listening to so many albums that are collections of songs to something like this, but I quite enjoyed this detour! Lovely listening today!

So this was another album that just blended into the background. Nothing to make my earholes bleed, but also nothing that grabbed my attention or interest. Very meh, for me...

This was different. Creepy and then so completely not creepy that it was kinda creepy. And then just ordinary. I appreciate having listened to it but I can't say that I really liked much of it.

Amazing album. Tubular Bells - the part everyone knows - is incredible, but for my money the crazy Pt. II is where it’s at! Love love love this album!

Wtf is this

They were high AF when they made this

Aðeins öðruvísi kaos hérna. Mike Oldfield var 19 ára þegar hann gerði þessa plötu 😮 og hún er enn þann dag í dag algjört meistaraverk. Og ég er ekki sú eina sem hefur velt því fyrir sér hvort hann sé að growla á klingonsku þarna á tímabili skv smá gúgli.

Interesting

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"...

Don’t like to listen to an album of this kind of moviemusic

Super unique album. Instrumentals that slowly blend into each other. a little hard to add on spotify or something since the songs are 26 mins each, but I have this album on vinyl and it's a great one to just sit back and play in the background. only part I hate is the weird chanting bit in part 2.

I've been looking forward to finally giving this one a go. It's great! Some really cool moments, like when a voice suddenly starts announcing the instruments 20 mins into Pt. I, and that demented growling sound in Pt. II. The tracks are long, but for the most part Mike keeps them interesting and surprising. Strange how something like this became so mainstream but I guess, like the Nizlopis and Sandi Thoms of this world, oddities do come to the fore sometimes. It's an impressive piece of work regardless, especially given it was composed and performed largely by one teenager. Absolutely belongs on an 'albums to hear before you die' list.

This is a pleasurable piece of work, for all the bits that are now known there are still musical interludes that are interesting and challenging. That a record company was built on the back of it (and indeed the whole Virgin Branson empire) is amazing in retrospect. However, it's not going to get me to 4 or 5 as I wouldn't listen to it again and again.

Another timeless record. Love the instrumentation on this more than most other Oldfield records

Coming in all I knew about this album is that it has the theme for the Exorcist, which in hindsight created certain expectations that made the listening experience less… satisfying than it might’ve been otherwise. There is a lot of innovation and I have a ton of respect for what this 17-year old musician put together, but personally I found the album meandering and inconsistent. There are brilliant bits, but also parts that made me thing “oh yes, there is a teenager behind it”. Inconsistency aside, the first 4 minutes alone made me curious enough to want to check out more of Mike Oldfield’a catalogue and if the internet is right, I should not be disappointed.

I actually have this on the original vinyl- definitely a classic

Tosi kiva

The vocals actually breathe some life into what was a pretty underwhelming track. Decent overall, though.

LP Classifieds (1973): “Wannabe Soundtrack in search of Melodramatic Film. Should enjoy occasional rambling incoherent dialogue. Please meet me in $1 bin at the nearest used record store.”

disappointing this album came up the day after halloween for me hahah, || Very cool how long and winding the first track is, and how far away it gets from the spooky Exorcist theme melody it starts with.

Not a great fan

I was super skeptical of this to say the least. But this was way better than I was hoping for based on the description. Very cool stuff!

Kinda felt like it went on forever. Read up on it, apparently this album is pretty renowned? I recognized the Exorcist theme. Impress he made this album at 19 years old. Feel like it could've been chopped into tracks instead of being 2 crazy long pieces. Maybe I'm missing something, but just ok for me. Yet to have an instrumental album really grip me.

-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.

Haunting Exorcist theme aside, how listenable is this really? Does it transport you? Does it amaze you? I fear this is lost on me.

Absolutely love this album, I owned it on vinyl.

It struck me that the album starts like a Tool album, if Tool had only chimes to work with. I got through half of track one and just can’t spend my time on this one. I see the value but it’s not my thing.

Nope

Reputation precedes this one for sure. I can hear a VERY talented multi-instrumentalist exploring what he can do. Sort of aimless. And then once in a while the clouds part, the low end gets DEEP, I mean *DEEEEEP*, and the clouds part to expose some focused and really interesting music. Definitely deserves a spot, but would I ever return sober? Nah.

Surprisingly listenable - initially I dreading having to go through it but it’s actually fun at times and while still a little oddity - it’s still easy on the ear. Now that I know it was the brainchild of a 19 year of mid triply impressed.

Liked this one a lot. Emotion and humour and surprise. Even the instrument introduction came out as funny. Just wish that he’d learned to properly fry scream on side 2!

I will never listen to this again

“…plus tew bew lah bells”. Wonderful. However, disassociating myself from something so familiar I can hear how it is disparate and and disjointed. Musically accomplished without doubt, but actually no linking musical themes. Would have been good to have the Exorcist intro brought back a few times (I think it is almost referenced in Pt2 with the acoustic/ electro guitar section?) or the Viv Stanshall master of ceremonies backing theme. My memory has those bits plus the proggy rock guitar section (“jazz”) as the highlights, but frankly it’s all fun, beautiful and exciting with pleasant melodies. And Mike Oldfield was only 19 - makes you sick!

Iconic

This was pretty odd to find in this list. The melodies were interesting but the musicianship was bad, often the different instruments are not even playing together. It really feels over hyped due to the exorcist

dude wtf is this?

alright but somewhat of its time in a bad way

Alright I guess

por momentos me gustó, y por otros se me hizo un suplicio seguir escuchando. sería un 2.5/5 pero redondearlo a tres me parece demasiado

Iconic opening track though it changes and morphs into a glorious sound from its eerie start. Diverse.

Absolutely so weird. But I didn’t hate it?

18 year old me loved this album, and guess what? 56 year old me still loves it! Quite an amazing accomplishment for a 19 year old kid to compose this and play nearly all the instruments. Of course everyone knows the theme from The Exorcist, but there is a whole lot more to this than just that part. 4 stars.

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

meh niet gefinishd. 1/5

Fantástico

Cool concept album. Not for me

I do love this - the voice at the end of Part 1 is great!

osea ya lo sentí muy snob IGUAL soy re hincha de los instrumentales así que no me molestó tanto y lo disfruté en bastantes partes pero bueno mentiría si dijera Seee lo re escucharía de nuevo!! 6 / 10 ig no pq sea mala música pero bueno no me Copa

I'm not sure if it is brilliant or if it is the most pretentious load of twaddle I have ever heard. I'm going with the latter.

Wack af

You know, I don't mind this. It's a bit pretentious and a bit weird but unlike other cerebral entries on this list, it doesn't sacrifice listenability on the altar of pseudointellect.

Played this to death on cassette as an Inbetweener in the mid 70s (way before I had seen 'The Exorcist'). Glad to re-listen now, though it is interminable. Rated for the nostalgia...

Uniquely creative and it felt like a 70's rock opera. Don't know if it's just my inability to speak instrumental but, all in all, this one left me a bit empty in the end.

Not enough variation on the theme for a whole album IMO. Was this the dawn of synth-wave?

Moments of absolute brilliance in the miasma of continuous sound. At times fantastic, at times interminable. But that's art, baby.

Chilled instrumental prog. A bit silly at points but also hugely atmospheric.

This album opened up this genre by being just a big hit.

While it may be great music, it's not something I would listen to again, it gets a 2 for being important for the music scene, but not being a great listen.

You know an album is going to be good when the first song is over 20 minutes long... And is also the theme song used for the movie "The Exorcist".

An absolute classic! So glad to see this one pop up, i love super long tracks and these are some of the best! This continues to be a classic

Classic

Familiar and interesting with an unexpected (and unsatisfying) ending.

Didn't finish. Cool to hear the exorcist pulls, but I'm good on random instrumentation sporadically inserting itself throughout a 20 minute track. Not for me.

Des bouts sont excellents, d'autres plus étranges et certains sont répétitifs voir annuyant.

Weirdo wunderkind Mike Oldfield creates two long mostly instrument tracks but the smart part is though they are jam packed with different sections, none of them last longer than a minute or two so before you can get bored, it moves and keeps on moving. Best Track: Tubular Bells - Pt. I

Cool but I don’t like the grunting

Feels like it goes on forever

Le genre d'album qui fini et qu'on fait "Déjà ?" Overall très agréable, une bonne ambiance progressive et vraiment pas ennuyant pour un album instrumental.

I enjoyed every weird spacial moment of that. Iconic.

Make no mistake, *Tubular Bells* is the tree that hides the weird and sometimes wonderful forest that Mike Oldfield planted for us in first decade of his long career, from the long suites of the seventies to his catchy pop hits sung by the pristine Maggie Reilly during the early eighties (just don't bother explore anything from later periods, it's quite pointless). But like all forests, that one can be confusing at times. True, there are treasures to dig out in each and every one of those early albums. Yet there are *also* jarring moments in them, stuff so cheesy you can't believe someone able to write and play so many sublime melodies and arrangements can also stumble and fall for such stupid-sounding ideas. But as perplexing as Oldfield's music can be, it seems like the man always spontaneously follows his instincts, and this wherever they lead him. And this is exactly what makes those early records of his endearing and one-of-a-kind, even with their many flaws. At least to me. There are two exceptions to this rule of thumb that Mike Oldfield's records are always flawed to an extent, which prove the man was able to write genuine masterpieces when rightly inspired. The second exception is *Ommadawn* (1975), and if you loved *Tubular Bells*, I advise you to check it out a.s.a.p.. But the very first exception is Oldfield's debut, obviously, from its famous introduction on grand piano and sped-up glockenspiel and farfisa organ (following an off-kilter, hypnotic rhythm pattern) to the layers of instruments piling up over a catchy bassline concluding Part One. In comparison, Part Two is both dreamier (those celtic folk interludes ; that utopian, "new age" atmosphere elsewhere) and more eccentric (that mock-hard rock thing with grunting vocals coming out of nowhere), going from one extreme to the next, exploring both burlesque and breathtaking sonic landscapes. Part 2 is indeed notoriously more "difficult" than Part 1. But as disjointed as it sounds, you could still find such contrasts in the *relatively* streamlined structure of the first part. One thing's for sure, the 180-degrees turns on this LP, from heavenly female choirs to heavy guitar riffs, will have your head spinning... Yet we're not talking about Emerson, Lake and Palmer here either. *Tubular Bells* is not merely demonstrative or performative. It has a heart, too--maybe a clunky one, in keeping with the pre-DIY manner in which it was conceptualized on tape shenanigans and other sort of try-and-error measures, but a heart nonetheless. In a way, Oldfield's magnum opus sure gives another sense to the word "ridiculous", both as a negative and a positive term. This album shouldn't work, and yet, minus very short WTF moments, it does. And even the WTF moments are actually playing a key part in all this, preventing this record to fall into all the usual pitfalls of prog-rock by using an out-of-the-box philosophy about what instrumentation should do. Case in point: the electric guitar. Oldfield had found from the get-go one of the most distinct and idiosyncratic sound in the long history of that instrument, a sound that he would refine again and again in later albums. As a result, his guitar playing in not only *dumbly* virtuositic ; it is also rich, hugely harmonic, evocative, playful, both strident and lush. Another paradox many rock fans can't quite put their fingers on. Even for some coming from the usual prog-rock ilk. To put it in a nutshell, you may love *Tubular Bells* or you may hate it, but it's hard to deny its originality and importance. This record *is* indeed an essential listen, both as an example and a *counterexample* of what made people tick during the early seventies. Such paradoxes are rare, but when they become such a popular cultural artefact, the end result becomes precious. Avant-garde has never sounded so easy on the ear... or maybe novelty pieces have never sounded so avant-garde, who knows? And all it took to accomplish that trick was a 19-year-old kid following a very personal vision--not exactly a genius, but at least a wizard when it came to sound and moods. Virgin Records founder Richard Branson can be thanked a thousand times over for giving a chance to such a young man with very few credentials going for him. Later on, Branson thought he would reach the heavens with Virgin Airlines or Virgin Galactic. But maybe the only time he *really* did so, was when he greenlighted *Tubular Bells*, all things considered... Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 833 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory: 91 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 41 (including this one) Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 36

Sure! It’s good!

Phenomenal production and sounds

I used to listen to this album endlessly, I could name the instruments as Mike said them. I especially loved saying "mandolin" and "slightly distorted guitar" for some reason. And then the final "Tubular Bells"! Brilliant. Love it. Admittedly, I had forgotten just how weird things got in the second half of Side 2 but still, so good to listen to it again.

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...

Such an amazing bell song , of course it will always make me shiver with its link to horror flick! Dont even need to list movie….we all know which one

LETS GO!!! Tubular bells first track out the gate is Exorcist, this is awesome. Also noticing some guttural growls on the second track. There's only a few on this album but what a wild experience. And an even more wild album cover! Finishing the album up, I think the first track is the best, there's some talking on the next few tracks that takes you out of the music a little bit but overall this was a really fun album.

Totally tubular! I knew I'd heard this title before, but couldn't remember where until I pressed play. The opening theme became that of the Exorcist, and Mom and Dad would often refer to that Exorcist theme as "tubular bells" and I didn't know why until now. Wild that this was made by a 19 year old. The version I listened to had a whopping four tracks, which is two more than the proper album. I quite dug it, especially that first track and one of the bonus ones. What a weird, wild departure this is from the usual fare. Give me more quirked up stuff like this. Favorite tracks: Tubular Bells Pt. 1, Sailor's Hornpipe bonus. Album art: Love that this twisty tube is just suspended over an ocean view of a completely different picture grain and quality. Very cool effect. Kudos on this one, seems ahead of its time. 4/5

This was my first real listen to this record. I feel like it commanded more discussion than it warranted. It was music from the future, like the year 2000 or something. I bet it wrestled with the robots from the Flight of the Conchords song...

Creepy once you realise this was the Exorcist theme... some impressive instrumentals but I'm not entirely sure what all the original fuss was about.

Heard before: yes I enjoyed it more this time round.

Me ha gustado bastante aunque hay algunas cosas que quitaría. En la primera parte cuando enuncia cada instrumento, creo que se podría presentar cada uno musicalmente solos y en la segunda parte algunas de las partes vocales, el final también me ha rallado un poco, pero me ha gustado :)

27th July 2022 Started in the morning and finished the morning after. Went to Joyeuse market, swam and got pizza. From the exorcist theme to a sailors jig and everything in between. Did not expect the funny news report at the end.

Immediately recognized the exorcist theme in the beginning. The song evolved and I'm impressed on how good the composition is. Not really something I would listen to frequently.

"Tubular Bells" is the debut album from then19-year-old Mike Oldfield who played almost all the instruments of this mostly instrumental album. This music is classified as progressive rock but in today's world would be called ambient, new age or probably even experimental. The instruments used were a series of guitars, keyboards, percussion and of course tubular bells which were played with a claw hammer. The bells eventually cracked. Oldfield used overdubs which were unusual at that time and recorded on a 16-track recorder. This album did not do well upon its initial release but the the first part of the first song was used in "The Exorcist" and oh, you know that music with that creepy piano/keyboard. Well, after that, this album spent over a year in the UK top ten and hit No. 1 and hit No. 3 on the US Billboard chart. This album was also the first album on Virgin Records. The album contains two songs , one on each side. Side 1 "Tubular Bells, Part One" was recorded in one week at The Manor in the village of Shipton-on-Cherwell north of Oxford, England. The song starts out with that creepy "Exorcist" part, about six minutes in comes a very 70's progressive-sounding guitar, at 13 minutes a hockey-tonk piano, more heavy guitar at 14 minutes and finishes off with a guy, Vivian Stanshall, introducing each of the instruments which are then played. Side 2, "Tubular Bells, Part Two" continues the trend of a song with multiple parts and more layered guitar. This side sounds more of the experimental and ambient style of music. The most interesting thing on this side is the recording of an extremely drunk Oldfield screaming which was recorded at high speed and it sounds like a stuttering, stammering, low-putch drunk. Welcome to my Saturday Nights. The vocal is listed as "Piltdown Man." LOL. "Piltdown Man" was a paleoanthropological fossil fraud of an early human. Who came up with that? Side 2 was recorded over three months at The Manor due to limited availability. This album is quite the achievement for a 19-year old and, of course nowadays, Mike Oldfield is considered one of the great musicians of all time. I guess you can't really argue with that since this had to be one of the first ambient and/or new age style albums or at least a huge influence in those genres. And if you're into those genres this is the album for you but I'm sure you're already familiar with it. I have to be honest, I appreciate some of the ambient music out there today...much more than I used to. New Age has eluded me except for select cases and artists. I did like this album for its originality and technicality. It held my interest.

Incredible album! I remember listening to pt 1 so many times in college stoned as hell captivated by the many sounds that are present here. It always blew me away that it was one guy that did almost all of this alone. To be honest, though, I had only listened to part 1 before today, and while part 2 is brilliant in its own right, It doesn't carry the same wonder. I will certainly come back to this in the future!

Great background music for work

Weird but interesting

Well this... this was certainly something. If you crammed EVERY genre of music into some psychedelic form of music this would be it. I just picture people tripping their balls off and listening to this. It doesn't really seem to make sense to me, but I am obviously not the intended audience here, though who really is? How did this wind up in this list? I will never know.

I had been hoping for something wildly different and boy did we get it. I listened to the full album twice and still don't know if I enjoyed it. I appreciate the groovy sounds, luscious tones and jam feeling over most the album. The spoken word and growling caught me off guard. Overall it felt completely unique and oddly beautiful.

Who? Okay. Interesting. I am kind of liking it but it takes some weird turns from time to time. Ahhh, it's music used for The Exorcist, which makes a lot more sense. So I am back in. Context matters. The instrumentation is crazy. So much going on. Pretty cool. I think accompanied with visuals (and/or drugs), even basic, this album could be an amazing experience, but without them, the tone changes end up feeling strange on a first listen. Sailor's Hornpipe... wut? This might have been the difference between 4 and 3 stars. How does this fit in the context of the album? I am clearly missing something on that one.

Really interesting. I've been listening to a lot of meditation tracks on Spotify and this pushed a lot of those buttons. The electric guitar threw me off but I enjoyed this listen.

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

Segurament, el clàssic instrumental més important de la història del rock. Les primeres notes formen part ja de la cultura pop universal, molt lligades a la BSO de "The Exorcist". La resta, un bon exemple de rock progressiu fet des de la ment i técnica d'un artista de veritat, com és Oldfield. Molta elegància i savoir faire, tot i la juventut que encara tenia en aquella época

A bit repetitive.

Made writing an ethic application seem slightly more epic in parts.

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.

Really weird and wild!

Just not my sound. It was well done but didn’t appeal to me

I won’t have time to listen to this all but I do like it on the surface. Trancelike, focussed, comforting.

Excited to finally listen to this whole album. Kind of psychedelic, experimental rock and folk. Reminded me of when I fell in love with the London Olympic Games opening ceremony music - I miss that soundtrack/playlist.

It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting.

A Bizarre and fantastic journey

While I’m not a huge fan of the genre, this is one of my favorite pieces of prog rock. Not only was it used in the exorcist but just the obsession of making it is super interesting. Idk what the other two tracks on the album are and I don’t really care either

Without this, there'd be no Richard Branson ballooning. I guess that's a tolerable price.

What a ride! I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. It started off on a deeply eerie note with the actual theme music used for The Exorcist. Those opening tones carried so much menace I wasn't sure I could listen to a full album of it. As it progressed to the midway point of the first track it leaned into a more triumphant rock groove. And it just kept shifting and changing tonally countless other times from there. It was an oddball record that charmed my way through to the end.

lol

Very nice, easy-listening prog. It's not perfect but just the fact that Mike Oldfield made this almost completely by himself at 19 is incredible. Also I'm a sucker for folk music which this featured a lot of.

Tubular!

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.

What an interesting album. Of course the classic theme from Halloween is the highlight, but there is some nice work throughout. It has plenty of oddities and strange bits, yet it takes you on a journey. And that's what music is about.

This album is okay for what it is, but I found it a bit dull. The part where he is just announcing the instruments as they come in sounds like an old Disney documentary about sound. It's cool that he was so young when he did this, and that he played all the instruments. It's one of those examples of an album concept that was produced with a huge amount of talent and effort, but still doesn't work that well in the end. Also, I've never really understood why people like the movie The Exorcist so much. I just figured while I'm tossing out unpopular opinions related to this album I might as well air that one out as well 3/5

Jazzy

Interesting instrumental music again

The music was ok, but a bit too experimental for my tastes. Wouldn't listen to this again. Normally I'm a fan of longer songs, but it was tough getting through parts of the first two songs.

Listened to this long before. Better than I remembered.

Sweeping and cinematic but also psychedelic and strange. It took a few minutes to grow on me but I got into it, especially once musical motifs started reprising. Very satisfying to hear melodies come back in a long-form piece of music. I do think it requires your full attention though. It was perfect for a long car ride. A few moments that stood out to me (I took screenshots on my phone to remember them): Pt. 1: 12:30 - When the bass joins in. Such a cool, kinda creepy vibe. Pt. 1: 14:25 - A guitar riff! This surprised me. Pt. 1: 17:20 - The music gets quiet but there's tension and drama. You can tell something big is coming. Pt. 1: 20:15 - Haha when he starts listing all the instruments! It's kinda silly but also helpful for me to appreciate everything that's going on here. Pt. 2: 8:40 - After a slow burn, that guitar (?) ripping into the song is a cool effect. Pt. 2: 11:45 - After the narration of musical instruments in Pt. 1, I was wondering if there would be vocals in Pt. 2. Well, here they are! Haha wow I did not expect this insane monster growl gibberish! Mike Oldfield is one weird dude. I love how often this album surprised me.

This was used in the exorcist! I thought it sounded familiar. Nice album, probably ahead of it's time with modern world music / new age-y sort of feel to it as it came out in 1973. Many of the transitions are kind of blunt in my opinion and don't have much finesse which weakens the overall experience. A good example is halfway into the first track, about at the 13 minute mark it goes from a computer-y dual clean guitar part - to a groovy distorted guitar chunker section for a total of 20 seconds- then immediately into a humming piano part. and it kind of lacks panache. To me it comes across as a million ideas all stitched together without a lot of development.

good

Shite

Best Song: Tubular Bells Pt 1. Particularly the spot around 12:30 where the instruments harmonize together. Worst Song: Tubular Bells Pt II. The part where he begins to sing(?). I'm not certain that what this album needed was traditional rock drumming and non-traditional vocal shouting. It doesn't sound bad, necessarily, but it deviates so heavily from the musical themes set up in part one that I feel it ought to have been placed on another album entirely. Overall: Tremendously weird. The instrumentation is fantastic, and all of Part 1 is engrossing and interesting, genre-defying music. It is only in Part 2, when the weird gets turned up a bit too high, when the progressive elements take over and the album feels like it starts to lose its mind a bit, even if it retains its soul.

so the record that started Richard Bransons Billionaire Journey. Mike Oldfield was a 19 year old prodigy\Genius. This is his Magnum Opus and has some delightful compositions, who doesn't love Viv Stanshalls Majestic voice on "Introducing". Love the whole album really and absolutely rightfully on this list (Top Ten for me)

This is the definitive Prog Rock album- as it shows prog at its best and at its worst. The instrumentation and composition are excellently crafted and very well preformed, but at the same time theirs still this feeling of bloated presence with the entire album- and the incredibly extended runtime to the one and only title tracks movements is, at some times unbearable. It would make sense if more prog people broke up the actual song tracks into movements instead of just having one long 18 minute piece- it can still be epic. Side note I lost my shit when the Bri’ish guy said “glockenspiel”

Loved it all apart from the Blue Peter bit at the end 🤣

Yeah ok the first 10 mins and the bit with Viv Stanishall are great, but you're not telling me there's not filler on side 2. And the hornpipe. Grrr.

Fun, quirky, tubular dude.

2 fuckin song’s and mostly instrumental I already know I won’t be a fan… Well technically you could just consider it one track being a part 1 part 2 scenario… Part 1 is quite cool it lives and breathes through multiple instrumental parts, much more interesting than any instrumental by tortoise. The song is very diverse, my favourite bit is the rock section around 14 minutes in it’s quite cool to be fair. At the end of the song there’s a tiny bit of speaking but no vocals as such so yeah a shame on that front. The second part is slower and calmer,like an album closer should be there’s cool elements scattered throughout this to be fair and the middle section is essentially a song in it’s own right being this weird way energetic track backed by inaudible noise! I mean at least it was easy to review. To be fair it’s great background music but other than that the chance of a revisit is very, very low.

Loved parts of it. But just because it's interesting, doesen't mean it's good. 2.5

Musically proficient and rumour has it that it paid for the Sex Pistols but this is so not my thing.

I loved this as a teenager - the soundtrack to many a ZX Spectrum gaming session - but listening now, it just feels a bit limp and odd and the opposite of what I find compelling in music

weird

As a fan of early Genesis, Yes, ELP and Pink Floyd, I'm surprised that I was unaware of this album until about 4 years ago (2018). Seeing that the album was recommended, I listened to part of the album, and the 'Mike Oldfield 'Tubular Bells' Live at the BBC 1973' concert. Apparently I have only heard Part I. The weird grunts and growls in Part II were an unpleasant surprise. The album is worth a listen, but I may not get to Part II again.

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?

It starts really well, but it seems like it runs out of steam after about 15 minutes and then it seems like a kitchen sink approach... "what if we throw in THIS next!" begins to seem like a random collection of styles glued into the same song. Also what is going on at 12 minutes on track 2?.... it made me think "what would it sound like if Meddle was bad?"

Exorcist theme.

Good, but slightly silly. Very groundbreaking I suppose; but is one to listen in that mind frame?

An experience. Don't know if it was a good one or not.

What an album. I knew of Tubular Bells but had never listened to it. Since Friday I have had it on constant play. Just absolutely brilliant!!

New age. Progressive rock. An interesting listen. Wasn't a huge fan of whatever the growling was partway through, but the whole album is unconventional enough that it was like "well that's odd... ok." Can't hear anything but The Exorcist during the first song haha.

Oh hey, it's Poltergeist...And then a bunch of prog-rock with plenty of variety the whole way through. The 2nd act is way more prog-rock, but for some reason about halfway through the 26 minute track, they decided to add unintelligible grunts and dry-heave noises that would have been better left out. Overall...fine? I don't have the attention span for these extended journeys through musical exploration that might have ingenious bits scattered about...It's not my job to edit your album, buddy.

L'album démarre par une angoissante mélodie nous faisant pressentir l'arrivée imminente d'un ou plusieurs extraterrestres. L'un d'eux s'emparera du microphone dans les derniers instants et grommellera des idioties qui ne méritent pas vraiment qu'on s'y attarde.

Je tenais dans ce review à remettre au clair un point qui a été mal compris de la part de nos confrères américains. Dans mon derneir review de Dusty Springfield, je fais référence au pet de fouffe monumental exécuté par une Dusty des plus vulgaires. Il se trouve que la terminologie du mot "pet de fouffe" a été assez mal comprise outre Atlantique. En effet, lorsque l'on entre l'expression "pet de fouffe" dans Google Translate, ce dernier nous renvoie la traduction "fart", passant totalement outre tout l'aspect fouffe de ce pet. Avis à nos amis américains, ne vous méprennez pas, je fais bien ici référence à un pet de fouffe, et non à un pet classique. Maintenant cette clarification faite, place à la suite.

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

"Tubular Bells" is an hour of pretentious, self-indulgent trash. But, most damning of all, it's boring. Prog absolutely isn't my genre but even I know it should be complex, edgy, and challenging. The few times "Tubular Bells" broke away from being vanilla, it was to do something cringey. And don't get me started on that last track. Utter trash. Why's that on the album? Buggered if I know.

Not bad. A little boring but not entirely uninteresting. Not sure what situations I'd listen to this in.

Solid prog rock but felt somewhat directionless. 7/10

7/10. For the most part quite enjoyable, but the vocals always felt rather unwelcome and unnecessary.

Technically impressive? Yes. Fun to listen to? At times. A bit of a slog? Of course. British music in a nutshell. 6/10

Some interesting bits, some strange bits and some very daggy bits. Somehow I've escaped listening to this until now - good to check it off the list I suppose.

cool

This is wonder and magical and such an experience. LOVE ITTT

Not sure I've listened to this in full - its just so mad isn't it!? But I love it for its epicness and happy memories of Lakey D

What can you say? It's a masterpiece, I love it.

illað shit

I thought the whole thing would be the theme from The Exorcist, but it was so much more. Some very melodic playing, stellar guitar work, some spoken word stuff even a little country honky tonk stuff. A varied and interesting album that held my attention from beginning to end. 4 🌟

Not my thing

Well, I liked the bit from The Exorcist.

Really enjoyed this. It's weird but good

The motif used in The Exorcist overshadows everything else.

Part 1 is decent but part 2 drags

Well, this was interesting. 2 25-minute suites that stopped being good 5 minutes in. Then they added growls at the 45 minute mark. Why? Also, was this where the Halloween theme came from?

I wish I had liner notes to follow along with the music, picking out all the instruments, but I guess that's what the extended outro is for. I hear Pacific island instruments at 11 minutes, East Asian instruments at 15 minutes... there's a ton of crazy sounds going on here. Insane amount of talent. First 10 minutes are intrinsically beautiful with wonderful transitions, then moves a bit more rough and exotic before a momentary silence. The next few minutes serve as a mild break, low in volume and simple on the guitar, Oldfield credits all his instruments. A bit of an anticlimatic ending, but those first 17 minutes are worth it. The second part is where things get really interesting. First third feels like medieval British folk, before we get some lovely back chorus. I adore the grunts; some love it and some hate it, but I think it adds a nice twist to keep you on your toes, picking up the pace. Apparently the dude got pissed they wanted lyrics so he drank half a bottle of whiskey and screamed into a mic for 10 minutes. Overall it's a really accessible experimental album. Doesn't do anything too groundbreaking once you break it all down, but it's one of the most enjoyable tracks I've heard that last more than half an hour.

Intriguing, musical and corny in equal measure

I had no idea what to expect from this album going into it, but about 5 minutes in I knew it was going to be special. Amazing guitar tones, superb instrumentation, brilliant melodies. This is perfect. An absolute masterpiece.

This is wicked cool and dynamic. Those are some TUBULAR bells.

Side One 5/5 Side Two 3/5

I liked this, I was honestly not really expecting to like this but I really did. I liked the varieties and the sounds that reappeared throughout the record. I think at the first listen I liked Part 1 more than Part 2, but I appreciate how it all connects together. I ended up giving the big like to the 2003 version, as it has sections as separate tracks, and as much as I liked the thing as a whole, it's much easier to integrate it with the rest of my daily listening music as individual tracks. I ended up listening to The Sailor's Hornpipe over and over again, which occurs at the very last part of Part 2.

The first 10 minutes are a fascinating idea, and so groundbreaking for the time, but it loses steam pretty quick.

The Beginning

3, NICE

Kept oscillating between thinking it sucked and thinking it was genius, so will go in the middle. Would be good music to study to. 5/10

Instrumental con referencias a toda una película clásica. Agradable de escuchar y con diferentes melodías.

Certain parts remind me of Sufjan Stevens, mmmm , I wonder how that works. Maybe it is the other way around, separated by 40 years. Ahead of it's time is clearly an understatement. The lyric 'vocals' on side 2 undermine it a little for me. Cover art: 5/5 iconic

This is a very different album. With only two tracks (originally...) it makes a statement about how music should be marketed. These two tracks each have subsongs of music. Some bits are better than others. Overall I enjoyed this album because of how different and bold it was.

Good for a nap

Great!

EXORCIST!

Before he was pushed in a more commercial - and very successful - direction by his record label, Mike Oldfield produced mainly long instrumental and - for the time highly experimental - pieces. This is Oldfield's earliest outing as a recording artist. It shows, in that it sounds a bit dated soundwise and limited regarding his skills a s musician. Very frequentliy, there is much meandering over one idea or the other without going anywhere melodically for quite some time. For example the guitar solo after about 6 Minutes in Part 1 is very not very exciting. Some other parts are in the same vein, sometimes even cringy - Oldfield still was to come into his own as a musician. But in spite of this, this is a classic worth knowing. 3.5/5.

Melkosen pitkiä biisejä. Välillä soundi oli oikein mielekästä eikä edes vituttanut kuunnella. Kolmonen yläkanttiin.

Manaajastako toi oli? Erikoinen setti

This was fine until the werewolf showed up. Best track: Tubular Bells, Part One

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

En oo koskaan pystynyt katsomaan Manaaja -elokuvaa koska pelkään niin perkeleesti kauhuelokuvia. Se lieneekin syy siihen miksi oon tykästynyt tähän levyyn niin paljon. En oo ikinä muodostanut sitä kappale-elokuva -yhteyttä näiden kahden välille. Oon aina käsitellyt tätä vaan tosi mageena biisinä. Rakastan sitä että täs on muutama super hookki teema joka varioi ja joihin palataan. Sielu lepää. 4/5

Hm, kai tää on ihan hyvä proge. Pitäis varmaan kuunnella vielä useemman kerran niinkun pitkien progebiisien kanssa yleensä että sais jotain kunnolla irti, mutta ihan hyvä tunnelma vaikutti olevan ensikuuntelemalla, ja ihan ok siirtymiä. Ei ehkä kuitenkaan säväyttänyt niin paljoa että ansaitsis nelosta.

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.

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

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.

I really liked this, I just wish the tracks were broken up a bit instead of two 24 minutes long songs.

8,5

A very cool experimental prog-rock album. Has its oddities, but was enjoyable the whole way through. I especially liked the cameo from the Uruk-Hai from Lord of the Rings. Favorite song: Tubular Bells - Pt. II

Prog as fuck I feel like. I liked it a lot.

Liked it! Very much an album of ambient music for me

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

Interesting at times but also very tedious

Having been acquainted with the opening notes of the first part of Tubular Bells, I was quite surprised by the twists and turns the songs undertake. And the bonus tracks are rather special as well. Favorites: Tubular Bells (Pt. 2), Mike Oldfield's Single.

Booooo!

4.0

Very odd to hear the iconic, familiar opening with its absolute association with The Exorcist, then have it unfold into the much different context of the overall composition. I admire the inventiveness, technological experimentation, and boldness of the composer in putting such a thing out there. It doesn't all hold together however, and the vocalization on side two in particular struck me as truly pointless and actually detracted from the whole.

What a completely and utterly weird album. Inventive, swinging wildly from one melodic line to a dissonant section in less than a blink. I can't say this is my favorite album ever but I have to give it points for being creatively bizarre. And enough things in here are enjoyable that I would consider a re-listen. Fave track: Tubular bells part I.

Instrumentally, this was fascinating and pleasant. I'd like to have this on in the background at all times if it weren't for the vocal interruptions.

WOW.

totally tubular mannn. nah but I listened driving through the Colorado mountains and I'm really happy it worked out like that. not my usual but it's really nice

I remember a buddy in high school putting on this album and realising that The Exorcist song actually wound up having a pleasant ending. And then hearing that Hornpipe ditty at the end. What a weird album. I’ll boost it a star for the memories.

I liked it, an interesting album. Some parts were stranger than others (particularly in the last song). It was nice to listen to as background. Favorite Song: Tubular Bells, Pt. I

I love it

Fantastic. Musicians today truly don't strive as high as they used to, huh. So much truly magical music from the 60s/70s that makes me feel a way no music from this century ever has. Prog music has such an effect on me. This one genre contains a large chunk of the most spiritual and magical music I have ever found. Side note: I love this album, I really do. But after listening to his 2003 re-recording I can never go back to this version. I wish everyone who rated this album low would've gotten to listen to that version instead. Mike Oldfield himself felt the original version had a lot of flaws that bothered him. Mike Oldfield is fantastic. If you liked or even kind of liked this album, you HAVE to listen to Ommadawn. I like it more than Tubular Bells; it feels more ethereal and magical. People who dismiss this album as "tedious musical wankery" lack imagination and heart. This album is grand.

It's The Exorcist music! Your Mother darns socks in hell! The power of Christ compels you! It is nice. Mostly just showing off the advancements in studio technology I think, but an engaging tech demo. And one which features the dulcet tones of Viv Stanshall, one of the greatest rock madmen to ever exist. His job is to list instruments, oddly enough. Part 2 is less exciting, possibly due to the lack of connection to one of the greatest horror films ever made. It's also just a bit more meandering, lacking the urgency of part one. It improves (by which I mean gets very odd) about halfway through. Fans of four minutes of weird guttural growls (well hello Mike Patton fans) will like it. Then it gets dull again. Then it goes all last night of the proms. Overall it's pretty good. Occasionally too drawn out, but when it's good it's great. When it's not, it's background noise. Can at least see why it's on the list. One of the weirder multimillion selling albums!

A lot of talent to write, play, record, produce, release this at 19. Not very “listenable” though. I did enjoy the unexpected Klingon remix of The Joker.

No no no

Saw this performed live (not Mike Oldfield, but approved by him). Very atmospheric.

Different but good

This album is purely instrumental and that is not a thing bad. I enjoyed it. The main song is recognizable because it is the theme song to The Exorcist.

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

Actually pretty good. Different.

but its definitely a unique way to go about an album and the music isn't -that- bad...probably like 2.5 or so out of 5 and when you factor in its nearly 50 years old to still be unique now is impressive

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!

It has it all. The Exorcist theme. A see-and-say passage. The fact that it ends in a sea shanty is hilarious. One of the 4 stars is just for the sea shanty.

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.

It would be 5 if it wasn’t for the annoying horn pipe at the end.

I have never heard any of Oldfield's stuff before. I am familiar with the riff from Tubular Bells, as any prog-head should. When I first sat down to listen to this, I hit play, and then I looked at the length. I did not realize this was going to be one of those "Thick As A Brick" type of affairs. Worse yet, there's no real lyrics on the album. It gets very... meander-y. The worst part of it was when he was naming the parts that came in. I wonder if that is what non-prog fans think of some of progressive rock music. I was impressed by his musicality, but as a whole I don't imagine me listening to this again.

From the opening sound I thought "was this from Halloween?" Clearly too early for that, but apparently it was used in the Exorcist. So right genre, wrong film. Cool stuff, I definitely wouldn't have turned to it on my own. Amazing that Oldfield played pretty much every instrument himself (and there were a ton of instruments). The first song started off strong but got weird in the latter half. The "singing" didn't seem to fit; ditto for some of the instrument mixes. Second song was more of the same - some really cool stuff mixed in with some weird.

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.

No thank you

This is amazing, truly a masterpiece, I love the first track

Deze was leuk!

Wow wat een vibe. Dit was echt een ervaring!

Quirky and pretentious. I enjoyed it.

Rock progresivo de Mike Oldfield.

No lo quiero para vinilo. Igual la canción Tubular Bells sí, pero el resto no.

Why did the muppets yell at me im so confused

Enjoyed this one. Lots of cool sounds. Pretty experimental - drags at times.

6/10

Mir zu krass

schon ein komischer Versuch, Symphonie und Pop zu vereinen

I like that something this unusual achieved such mainstream success. I enjoy thinking about 19 year old Mike recording this weird masterpiece not knowing it would soon give him international fame. There were parts I didn't like but by and large really enjoyed this musical adventure.

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.

Fascinating read about this album and the production/artist. To produce this at 19 is pretty impressive, especially back in the 70s. In terms of execution it feels a bit too polished for me though, I would have preferred a more minimal piece, which apparently the original demos were according to Wikipedia. Not my type of instrumental music (sans the Tom Waits-lite screaming), but I respect it.

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.

experimental ambient collides with an absurdist radio station. everything seems lightly out of tune...

Would've been a big old shock to the system during its time in 1973's space. The Monster's demonic dialogue appearing 15 minutes into Pt II was hilarious, very Tenacious D styles.

An absolute classic. 4*

Liked it. Which was a surprise to me

Awesome

While dated, this was a ground breaking album with some brilliant moments. Good bit of nostalgia for me...

Can't really assess, though definitely appreciate the work for this period of time

Tubular

Knew the theme from \"The Exorcist,\" but wondered how Mike would fill 50 minutes of record. But he does and it works well, with surprising range and depth.

I greatly prefer the 2003 remake, possibly because it is the first version I heard and possibly because it does sound much better from a pure sound quality perspective. Anyway, this album is a milestone in my musical journey because it was one of the first ones where I would concentrate on the sounds and on the sensations they gave me more than on words (of course, they're basically not there here) or other aspects. It's still one of my go-to albums to test audio stuff and I enjoy it greatly.

This album was not spectacular but it was not bad. Just took some getting used to.

Good shit, 20+ minute songs are where it's at. Favorite track is Tubular Bells lol

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.

2nd listen. Still just an ok album.

Mjaaaa.. 2 lange numre Egentligt lidt imponerede. Men også meeeget lange

Good background music

10/10, I love weird prog that was just such a cool album, I really loved it

Fun and interesting music. Will listen again

Loved reading the other reviews for this. I can fully see both sides that this is (a) a slice of prog rock genius and (b) the reason why punk needed to come along and shake things up a bit. Wonderful nonsense.

This was boring

This album is wild as fuck and does so many vastly different things

Speciaal album die niet goed weet waar het heen wil. Er zitten wel een paar leuke stukken in, en een paar hele vreemde. Het voordeel van de twijfel en 4 sterren

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.

Erg gave experimentele muziek met een bijzondere keuze aan instrumenten.

Obviously everyone loves this. I thought it was fine but not something I would want to listen to again.

Great album not just my style of music but now iconic for that time.

Just great, in regular rotation.

7/10 good music