Reviews (page 9 of 9)
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
Great throughout. Amazing the talent shown at 19.
A fun prog odyssey! I was only familiar with the Exorcist bit previously, but largely enjoyed all the other sections. I am gleefully anticipating all the complaints about the section that sounds like it's sung in Klingon!
Yawn...
why the growling? it was good before the growling
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
A prog classic, made especially impressive by being nearly a one man show. Just great, and right up my alley.
I mean, starting off with the album's biggest contribution in the Exorcist theme, to the yelling section, this album is just damn interesting. Worth a revisit for sure.
Lange nicht gehört. Sehr geil.
had to give it up, not for me apart from the bit of nostalgia
AMAZING
To be played at loud volume.
I'm sure I would have enjoyed this much more 20 or so years ago, but now it got on my nerves very quickly.
wow that Tubular Bells Pt II was surprisingly wanted … that’s about it
A little odd, but interesting!
It wasn’t just scary music!
Nice instrumentals, but not out of this world
2.8 - Dollar Tree version of a Philip Glass movie soundtrack (e.g Koyaanisqatsi). Uninteresting electronics, linear arrangements, thin textures. I really didn’t get much off this.
grew up on this 25 minute song
Too weird and trippy for me
Strong start, tapered off a bit.
Old friend. Weird but compelling.
Luuv mike oldfield
As unique now as it was in 1973, definitely an album you must hear before you die.
Banger! Insanely wide range of sounds, fun segments, everything. Love this album.
Genius. I am blown away by the talent.
What a stroke of genius, so many instruments, so many intricate melodies and harmonies, and all of it played by an 19 year old in 1973
I can the talent and art, but not for me
Never heard this before, despite recognising the cover and name. Enjoyed the changes at the piece went on, the humour in places and the overall vibe.
Didnt like it
excellent instrumental album!
I tried to give this a chance but it was definitely a pretty rough listen for me. Ciao.
cool
Lovely noises, one of Ross's favourites
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.
"Thanks for the recording, Mike. Great tune. Love those bells! We can really do something with them... Oh sure, the whistles are cute, too... Uh-huh, and the guitar at 14 minutes... Yep, the jig at the end was, er, also amusing... Nice stuff. Sure. I'm just saying that as far as quote unquote songs, it's obvious those first four minutes do the heavy lifting, so we should run with those. Maybe work in a few of the other bits. That'll shave off a cool forty-four minutes or so. Then we'll be sitting pre... Sorry, say that again... Oh. Really? All of it?... I see... Uh-huh... I see... Mike, that's *very* long. I'm not sure peope will be able to tolerate it once the main bit is over so early... Mike?... Mike?... Shit."
6/10
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.
Not my tempo
Episkt projekt. Självklart lite ångestframkallande då Mike Oldfield endast var 19 år när han släppte denna debut, och han spelade nästan alla instrument själv. Men om jag bortser från detta är det ett mästerverk som, på grund av sin omfattning, är svår att greppa efter endast en genomlyssning. Det känns otroligt genomtänkt, varje ton är utplacerad på exakt rätt ställe. Första halvan är lite rockigare, andra mer lugn och fingerplockig, förutom delen i mitten/slutet då lyssnaren förflyttas till en stenåldersgrotta, samt sista minuten som är en mer trallig karnevalsk bit. Otroligt bra progrock. Jag ger ett högt betyg redan efter en lyssning, och tror att det kan vara ett konstverk som växer, där det går att hitta nya nyanser och skrymslen, efter fler lyssningar. Rolig trivia är att albumet blev världskänt efter att introt till Part One användes som soundtrack till filmen The Exorcist, samt att det var det första albumet som gavs ut på det då nyskapade Virgin Records. Bästa låt: Nej! Poänglöst här, ska lyssnas som en helhet.
It might be cheese but I still love it
My impression is that I had already previously heard this everywhere but didn't even know, it sounds like a typical horror movie soundtrack. hauntingly beautiful, makes you feel like you're roaming around a hall of distorted mirrors and smoke comes down..then it turns epic.
07/06/2021 Ricardo was here... This is definitely one of the best things I ever listened... Fun fact: Mike oldfield was only 19 when he made this masterpiece. And he played most of the instruments.
Classic album, never listened to it before but I get it now
29. No andar de cima, ensaia-se o cinco anos do Bowie em loop eterno. it's a god awful small affair it's a god awful it's a it's a god awful small affair to the girl with the it's a god awf it's a god awful small affair to the girl with the to the to the girl with the mousy hair but her mummy is yelling it's a god awful small affair it's it's it's a MotA: Tubular Bells - Pt. I "Tubular bells"
This was a very nice change of pace.
Album art:1
Goes from chill cool progressive album to Manic Muppet time.
Intressant, men gud så långtråkig. Inget jag lyssnar på igen. 2/5
Fun to listen
1
Not into instrumental/soundtrack stuff. G R A N D P I A N O
Tubular bells part 1 - like the start but then changes and goes a bit weird. Part 2 - also a bit strange
Rating: 8/10
started off kinda mushy but hitting pleasant highs at 12 min mark.
bad - just, really bad.
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
couple of cool instrumentals but to Long
Amazing
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.
it was really exciting at first but the fact it was a 25 minute song made it seem never ending, and the short songs were just disappointing. really loved the beginning tho!
AKA “The Exorcist Theme.” Getting over that, this is kind of awesome; the two sides form a mirror of each other and have this incredible build up. Favourite track: There are only two of them. “Part One”
It’s Tubular Bells innit! Absolute classic! Starts well, middle is good, finishes brilliantly! Who DOESNT love the bells baby! I’m biased as my dad was heavy for this, but it is a banger!
Honestly this shit rocked my fucking socks. I really enjoyed the vibe of this album and I did not expect to. Great album.
Anyone above a certain age knows the beginning theme from the first two or three notes and for some it immediately sends a chill down the back of their necks. So I'm one of those and I love that beginning part.... yet amazingly had never heard the entirety of either the album or even the full song (although to be fair it is 26 minutes long). There's so much more to it than the blood-curdling proggy-intro: ventures into heavy rock, Chuck Mangione-type light jazz, Yes-like progressions, fusion, new age major chords via synthesizer... I definitely don't know how to review this, nor how to recommend it, but I will say it's a really really interesting listen - the two lengthy tracks at least (the final two short ones are weird throwaways). I give it 3 stars for the genius mind that put this all together - it's not exactly catchy due to the fact that it kind of sounds like a very long rock opera prelude, but I could see putting this on again.
Bootleg Radiohead.
A weird genius I guess
The fact that the Exorcist theme is called 'Tubular Bells' still cracks me up a good bit. Tubular bells? Couldn't call it 'Doorway to Hell' or something? It had to sound like surfer slang? Regardless, it does fit the movie perfectly and it's a delightful bit of music to listen to.
Melodic
Ephemeral, fantastic, all-encompassing
Fucking annoying
This unique album is a hodgepodge of many different instruments, all performed by one man - Mike Oldfield, and dubbed over each other into two distinct tracks on the album. It is beautiful, ethereal, novel, haunting, and soothing. A listener can become engaged in picking out each individual instruments that is introduced, or one can simply play this album in the background to serve as a peaceful backdrop melody. This experimental album idea may go down in history as the most recent famous musical piece since the classics. Also, one will recognize the opening of the first track on the album to be the theme of the movie The Exorcist - which gives the album a haunting sound once you have seen the movie.
to sober for this
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.
Very interesting music. Had not heard the musician or album before.
weird pipes ? idk
no. this felt like pretentious just listening to it. A 25 MINUTE SONG fuck that
Очень концептуально
Instrumental album that has impacted the course of other composers and instrumental efforts such as Blue Man Group.
Just a wild & wonderful musical journey. The ending to Pt.II felt like I was ripped out of a day-dream after tipping back too far on my chair An album that has stood the test of time to still be viewed as creative & really unique almost 50 years after its recording gets a 4 from me
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.
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.
good
It does take you on a musical journey and I like the range of styles, instruments and transitions. However, it doesn't quite have the maturity or refinement I would expect from a prog rock album. If you take out the classic riff then the rest is a bit uninspiring musically.
Beautiful first part of the album. The second one is also very nice, but isn't exactly up to par with 5/5 first part.
An album that I have fond memories of, but listening now I can only appreciate more than enjoy.
Magical and amazing. Don't k is why it tooke so long to listen to this
I can see why this was special on release and impressive in parts but time has been a cruel mistress or something - still enjoyed parts of it
It's on the verge of popular music - it sounds more like philip glass or steve reich to me. I do quite like it for the same reasons I like those musicians, it's an unusual one for this list
Did listen but wasn't very keen 🙁
Fascinating story as to how this ended up as the theme to The Exorcist. Don't think I would return to this as an album, but I can appreciate the composition and the cultural impact, and actually really enjoy the music Saved: Mike Oldfield's Single
Saved Prior: None Off Rip: Tubular Bells Pt. 1 Cutting Edge: None Overall Notes: Some really cool parts, some eh parts. That'll happen when the songs are 20+ minutes long. Crazy enough, I liked those better than the shorter songs at the end.
3/5 some iconic sounds, but nothing to buy it for.
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?
What an interesting ride that was. Thanks 1001 for providing the motivation to listen to this whole album with no skips or breaks. Thanks Mike for taking some big risks. This thing went all over the spectrum from motononous repetition to straight up weird human growling. Pretty in many spots. Very moving in two spots. "TUBULAR BELLS". Mike, you're no Beethoven but I respect your modular experimental soul. B
At first I was like, “what?” Then I was like, “whoa!” Sometimes I like long winded instrumentals, sometimes not. This one I liked, trancelike, fun, weird, cool guitar. Good for driving through a snow storm on the way to Reno in a Carrolla.
This went from spooky to weird to spoken word to god knows where else. What an entirely unexpected journey. Could certainly have benefited from some editing, the rest of the album just doesn't quite live up to the opening minutes of track 1. A weird little mystical prog rock adventure that led to an enjoyable Friday morning.
Another one my brother bought but I don’t know where this vinyl ended up. I remembered the music was widely known since it was in a popular movie. The wiki notes reminded me it was The Exorcist. It’s quite impressive that he was still a teenager when he wrote and played all the instruments. One thing I didn't remember is how good he was at playing guitar.He lays down some good shit The end of side 1 is priceless when the introduction of the instruments builds to a climax as we eagerly await the introduction of the tubular bells. The timing of this release could not have been better since the use of Hallucinogenics was reaching new heights. I have to call this a masterpiece.
.
Production: 15/20 Songwriting: 12/20 Innovation: 13/20 Bangers: 10/20 Emotional response: 8/20 =58 Interesting stuff. Some bit's were banging. Some bits were well annoying.
Havnt listened to it for years, brilliant
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
Gewoon kut
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.
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
At its best, it reminds me of things I would rather be listening to; at its worst, it reminds me how bad of a decision it was to listen to this instead of those other things. Maybe Oldfield didn't understand that announcing instruments doesn't make the theme they're riffing on sound any better, it only makes me regret that I have to listen to another round of it before I can finally finish the album. I only two things notable: the sequence in Tubular Bells Pt. II with the grunted vocals and the fact that a child-rapist used the first minute as a theme for his movie about demon possession. The former only happened because Oldfield got himself drunk enough to accidentally do something interesting. The latter's what brought us here, listening to an album that makes me wish some priest could exorcise the memory of this bland music out of my fucking head.
It's a classic but it goes on a bit. 5/10
More physical theatre soundtrack nonsense.
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.
Exceptional album. Grew up with this, he took music in a completely different direction when this album was made.
interesting
Dawg whaatttttt It could've been organized into songs but no just gonna continuously put random sounds in for an hour...
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.
I was going to give it a 4 from memory. Then I listened and remembered that MO played all those instruments plus so many great guitar solos. It was tempting to score higher, but I found some of the more raucous sections grating.
Bueno, pero la verdad es que no me atrapó
I know I'm late to the party here but I've got a lot of regard for Mike Oldfield - a weird guy but someone who determinedly made music his way. 'Tubular Bells' is still a very interesting record; for me, its ubiquity hasn't dulled its impact.
“Tubular Bells” by Mike Oldfield (1973) Autobiographical review: I bought this album when it came out in 1973, chiefly because of the brilliance of the single release (used as theme music for the movie “The Exorcist”), but I’m pretty sure I never listened to the whole album. I lacked the patience. This morning, I don’t know if I have the patience, but I do have the time. Almost entirely instrumental, it’s basically an experimental composition with a wide variety of keyboard and guitar sounds, woven together in a richly textured pastiche of tones. A dubbing picnic. On the plus side, this work is extraordinarily innovative (for 1973), with some very creative instrumentation, recording techniques, time signatures, and chord progressions. It’s very interesting to listen to this album and ask oneself how he’s making this or that particular sound. Definitely cool. On the minus side, there is little percussion (none on side one), and 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. Some pitch problems on the backing vocals and lower end fretted string instruments. And the gimmicky voiceover naming added instruments is pedantic. When it finally gets to what one might call prog rock at 14:00 on side two, it’s substandard. Remember, we’d already heard Emerson, Lake & Palmer and early Pink Floyd. Most of the album doesn’t rise to the quality of the first four minutes. Very disappointing. So while the album is definitely good, it’s finally unsatisfying. Now on the other hand, if I were high . . . 3/5
Why
The Wiki for this ground-breaking album is interesting. I knew that this was the 19 year old Oldfield's debut album but I didn't realize that it put Virgin Records on the map. Also Branson wanted vocals so that he could release a single, Oldfield was pissed at this so he got drunk and started to grunting nonsense which explains the Piltdown Man garble on side 2. If I heard this album today I would think it was gimmicky and silly, but back in 73 it was a tour-de-force and hugely innovative. This is another album that I must have listened to a thousand times.
It’s fine as background music in a show or a video game. Is it terrible like some other reviews make it appear? No. The guy is certainly talented playing most of these instruments himself at 19. The final track really brings this down though. Short attention spans aren’t going to let a lot of people tolerate this album though. Maybe if he just split the tracks up they’d have liked it better. It’s good music. I just don’t have a desire to listen to background music much these days.
I know the intro from pop culture. This is a killer album. Amazing guitar work. I am very glad I heard this before I died. I can find influences all over modern and experimental music. Thoroughly enjoyed the listen.
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.
Nice one, instrumental
Me gustó mucho es una música muy relajante
Oh man, I was drawn into Oldfield's Tubular Bells. Both epic sides of this record really were mesmerizing and instrumentally beautiful. The growling on Side B was even acceptable :) The single that followed on Spotify was a nice bonus that connected me to my Irish/English ancestors. The other additional song, Sailor's Hornpipe, is bloody hilarious! I am grateful to have been invited to discover Mike Oldfield and look forward to checking out his catalogue. I have a feeling I'll be doing the jig!
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
A solid variety of different genres mashed together to make a distinguished soundtrack. Not sure if there is much replayability for me personally though
nice minimalism. Hard to separate from the exorcist. Immediately got chills listening to it. nice guitar work.
Bizarrement bon. Me fait penser a kraftwerk des fois 4.25
has a lot of hype but its very meh
Oh shit, this is the opening from the Exorcist. No wonder this is rad. Prog rock as all get out. The album is quite ethereal and gutsy. Like a lot of early 70s prog, this skirts the line between playful and far too self serious. Still quite enjoyable. Even if I'd like more defined song structure. It's a full symphony made by a single young man.
This album was, to put it in layman's terms, "blinking well baffling". I love it.
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
Ni fu, ni fa.
When the drums kick in during Bells pt. 2 and that guy starts grunt-singing and howling in whatever language that was… I finally had my first genuine WTF moment with this entire list. And I liked it! This album really runs the gamut of the ridiculous and the sublime, and the whole time I kept thinking of A) The Exorcist B) that Oldfield should make a record with Tortoise and C) that Oldfield should make a record with Mike Patton. All enjoyable thoughts in my book.
Recommend
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
Instrumental but cool. Funny little ending too
bro what are there any individual songs on this album lmao? Ok, so it looks like this album is actually two big songs? This album is alright. Has some cool parts to it.
Killer soundscape, fantastic album to put on while working. Will definitely be looking into the rest of Oldfield's work.
Goofy 70s prog noodling. Not my thing at all. I can’t even judge if it is good or not.
Really dug this.
First rating, personal scale may change
Aparte de ser un disco de progresivo bien interesante creo que merece muchísimo respeto porque tiene esas melodías que todos identificamos y ni sabíamos de quién eran.
Did not vibe with the bells
2 words, rock flute. Big Jethro Tull fan and this is obviously their biggest album. I'm always on the lookout it when shopping for second hand vinyl. Would love this guy in my collection.
Manheim steamroller presents!
Better than I was expecting but still all I could think about was the Exorcist.
no...no...shit no man
Amazing. I had no idea the famous instrumental piece is from this album.
Kind of flat metal. Little going on dynamically
weird but good
false
Totally surprising. A musical journey
Nostalgia é uma droga pesada
This feels like a quest soundtrack + 80s (although released in 1973). Feels like there's 10 different movie soundtracks in here... Part II is a wild ride
It's a different album. It's not something good all of the time, but it's really well made.
Went bananas when he said the name of the album in the song
Very interesting. Has the exorcist theme.
Tube music
Thanks but no thanks.
1.5
I had an ex who considered this the pinnacle of musical achievement. He turned out to be about as tedious as this album is. I get why it's on the list, it was sort of groundbreaking in its day. I just never got it, it rouses nothing in me. I hear a bunch of boring musical wankery, and just want to yawn and push it aside.
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.
Liked quite a bit, even though mostly instrumental! Classic bell tune
A bit of a weird vibe but pleasant background listening.
1/19/21
Tubular Bells aka The Exorcist theme (plus a whole lot more). Some neato 70s-era prog rock. Swanky
Kinda cool I guess
It was quite weird in the beginning, but it was pretty trippy by the end. Quite awesome.
ew
Interesting and fun but bit weird
Impressive he was 19 and played everything but still a bit...dull
Stunning. A prefect work of art. The man was 19 when he composed the album and it took him 6 months. An absolute masterpiece
Very talented guy! The exorcist theme is so much cooler now!
Boring
It was wild.
idk im not one for 20 mins songs first offf if the beginning isn’t pulling me in instantly. interesting though.
Is there any instrument this guy can’t play??
Interesting, love the different instruments used. Prefer the second part of the movement when everything comes together and kicks in. Theme is good too.
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
Stunning piece of progressive rock
3.75/5. Interesting stuff here. I liked the sounds on this album, and I liked the format. Pretty experimental.
2,5
GREAT!
It was fine