Tubular Bells
Mike Oldfield

So I had listened to this album a few times in the past, due to my deep prog roots – combined with how much buzz the album had gotten over the years, and I have to say that after today’s listen – my thoughts haven’t changed… #1 – It is an impressive work for a 19-year old who played all of the instruments at the time of its release… Most albums where the artist plays every instrument typically suffer from lack of diversity, but that was not a problem on this album – so that was good… #2 – There are sections of the music that I truly enjoyed, as there is no denying that… #3 – Why in the world he felt the need to “introduce” each of the instruments in “Part I” is beyond me, as that TOTALLY ruined whatever vibe he had going with me on that track… #4 – Same kinda thing on “Part II”, as I was sorta beginning to dig a section, and then he starts grunting for lack of a better word – and AGAIN, totally ruined whatever vibe he had going – I mean like WTF??? #5 – The “Single” track – which is what I’m guessing was the short-version released back in the day for radio, was fairly well-done – and again as I was enjoying the track, I half-expected something odd to jump out at me, but turns out that was the only unflawed track… Nothing amazing mind you, but certainly pleasant… #6 – The last song is a complete throwaway, and have no idea why he included it on this album, or what its purpose was… “Tubular Bells” still doesn’t do much for me overall, and saddened by the fact that A LOT of outstanding prog-rock albums that SHOULD be on this list – probably aren’t due to albums like this… Nothing but a 2 from me…

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