Customer Reviews

Changeling

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Since I was eighteen and was blown away on my first listen to Ommadawn, I've discovered and rediscovered Mike Oldfield's music for twenty years. I enjoy different styles of music and various artists, but - at this point in my life - I could be quite happy stranded on an island with only Mike's albums.

He goes into a lot of detail in regards to his childhood, teen years, and early adulthood. In overcoming a good deal of his angst, he reveals that he lost the force that "turbocharged" his music. This isn't a 'look at what a great guy I am' kind of book. Mike shares his insecurities and regrets. This may not please some who see Mike as a 'god', but - in these acknowledgments - he shows a lot of maturity and courage. There are accounts of drug use and alcohol dependency, and I was glad to see that he treated his love life decorously. In fact, I don't recall sex being mentioned at all. Although I was fascinated throughout, my favorite part is the last chapter where we hear Mike's take on where he stands now, on life, on music, and on the future.

I never expected to see an autobiography. I figured Mike would just remain a mystery to me, and that was fine. After reading this book, however, I am very grateful. The main focus of the book is on the pre-1980s, and there are still mysteries, but it's satisfying to know a little more about the motivations behind the man who makes such amazing music.

I really wasn't sure what to expect when I purchased this, but I found it very enjoyable. Mr. Oldfield's writing is very conversational and he appears not to be a bitter person despite personal difficulties. I agree with much of what the prior reviewer stated, I would only include that much of the book is devoted to his childhood through the first three albums. He seems to gloss over everything from Incantations on. Compared to most "rock star" biographies, Mr. Oldfield places a heavy emphasis on influences and the creative process. Quick enjoyable read.

Oldfield's music has been a big part of my life since 1973, and although I've been vaguely aware of his various psychological difficulties -- shyness, panic attacks, borderline autism -- I never thought much about them. His autobiography deals frankly with them in illuminating detail, more than it deals with his music or musical inspiration. He is a singular artist and these insights into his psyche make for fascinating reading.

Unfortunately (as another reviewer noted) Michael has chosen to write without a ghost writer. Surprisingly for someone so capable of weaving musical lines together, his writing is scattershot and ill-organized. Incidents from his childhood and adulthood collide, without common themes, and he frequently takes off on tangents which interrupt the flow. It's a stream-of-consciousness style with odd weight given to minor incidents and major sections of his life -- wives, kids, music -- barely mentioned. Understandably prose is not his area of expertise, but he has done everything else he's attempted so extremely, extremely well that the bar was higher here. Even Mick Fleetwood's autobiography was better written than Changeling.

Oh well, it's still nice to add it to my Oldfield library.

I didn't expect such a good book. Oldfield opens his hart to the reader, in a humble, and very conversational stile. You can almost hear him speaking to you like a friend. You will discover the complexities of his psychology and understand the high price that Oldfield has paid for his talent. The book is mainly centered in his first three records and his childhood. I wish the book would have another 100 pages and cover his thirties and forties a little bit more in depth.

I'm halfway through the book and I agree with others here that it's a book that is more about his life experiences than it is about his music. I've followed Mike's great music since the advent of Tubular Bells in '74 and I've always wondered what he must be like. Now I know. That's why I like the book. Mike is very candid and seems very humble. The book is a bit scattered and unorganized but who cares...such is life. To me, reading the book seems to recreate what it must be to just sit around a coffee table and listen as Mike just chit-chats about whatever crosses his mind at the moment. It's intimate like that. I feel drawn to him as I read it because our childhoods were apparently very similar. There are some glimpses into his music. And I am enjoying reading about what musicians influenced him. I like learning his likes and dislikes. So, I think the book delivers - but what it delivers is a little unexpected. I feel that any Mike Oldfield fan will find the book enjoyable so I recommend it.

UPDATE: I have completed the book and I like it even more now than I did when I started this review. As I progressed through the rest of the book there was more shared about his composing than I origanally thought there might be from having read the first few chapters - so that delighted me. There wasn't the depth in his discussions about his music that I had hoped for - but there was enough to make me happy.

Oldfield has written this without a collaborator, which is a shame -- a skilled author might have extracted more details about things we really care about, particularly his music. Most of his works pass by in this book with only scant mention about how and when they were recorded, and he actually gets a few out of sequence. Such small matters as musical partners, and even wives and children, are barely mentioned at all -- perhaps to protect their privacy, but you would at least expect a few words about them.

Still, it's likely as close a look inside his head as his fans will ever get.

If you were obsessed with "Tubular Bells" as I was in the '70s, and enjoy stories about the creation of music and albums, this is a good read. Not a weighty tome, just a nice visit to 1970s UK and the recording scene while hearing the backstory on an album I still listen to.