Customer Reviews

The Killing Fields

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For those folks who think that Mike Oldfield is nothing more than one more way to play "Tubular Bells" have a surprise in store if they get this album. It is a truely different sort of Mike Oldfield than we have been exposed to of recent. In many ways, it is a shame that he did not continue to fully develop this side of himself in his later work. Make no mistake, I own and enjoy everything he has produced on disc, but this album is special.

This album is an emotional experience -- and a work of audio art. From beginning to the finale, Etude, is the theme of the war in sound, with all of its emotional impact. War has been done so many times you'd think (hope!!) it would get old, but Mike Oldfield's music is as new and wonderful as ever. With Mike Oldfield's always-original music, you're always taking a chance -- but I'd place my money on this one!

I have just finished listening to this album in it's entirety, on a snowy night in Nova Scotia, Canada. It has been years since I listened to this, but have to agree with the reviewer that called this a "diamond" in Oldfield's long list of albums. When placed in the context of the movie, the music on this cd could not be more on the mark of the emotions that the movie evokes. When you consider the horrors and sadness that the main character of the movie lived through, the music Oldfield composed for this film fits these two themes almost as if he had lived through it himself. The title of my review seems to be the two main themes that the tracks bring out in the listener, and sort of vary back and forth within the cd. It takes a while for this album to grow on you, but once it does, it is with you for good.

And if you are a perceptive listener, you will notice that the album ends on a note of hope and of better things to come, even though the cut itself starts out with the sadness theme.

Also, for those who know a bit about the context and the main character of the movie, how ironic is it that he was to live through all that he did only to be murdered by a mugger in a major American city? Defies logic..still, his memory and his story survive as an inspiration for those who would take the time to examine it.

Highly recommended, but do not expect typical Mike Oldfield. You're not going to get it. And depending on what album you are talking about..(Guitars, the Millenium Bell, and some others), that's a good thing. It's really too bad that he hadn't done more soundtracks, if this one is any indicator of his potential for them.

it is a music to "Killing fields" - a tale about cambodian civil war and terror brought by red khmers in eigthies and seventies.Mike did a great job and made a really moving soundtrack that brings to life whole film without watching it in the moment.with a use of massive choir,strings,lots of synths and slightly hidden guitar he creates a specific claustrofobic atmosphere ("Evacuation","Execution") but also he brings some more hope into whole music ("Etude","Good news").
a great,moving music to a great moving movie.Get movie and the music as well - they both deserve it.

this is oldfield's most visually evocative album ever. the music was so brilliantly matched to the action that every track brings a scene vividly to mind. a helicopter landing in a bombed out street, a cow being airlifted, the sweep of the cambodian fainforest, the horror of the killing fields. not so sure it won't sound weird if you haven't seen the movie, though. there's some serious sound experimentation going on here.

It's sad that Mike Oldfield composed only one movie soundtrack. It's a breath-taking work of art that fits to the atmosphere in the movie perfectly. It's a brilliant piece of music to a brilliant movie.

One of my five "perfect albums". There's is not a single track out of place here. A wide range of emotions and moods are covered, from the brutal, violent "Evacuation", monumental and gothic "Requiem for a City" , sorrow-filled "Pran's departure" to the joyful and triumphant "Pran finds the Red Cross". It can be a dark trip through your subconscious and admittedly some parts can be very, very eerie. It is an extraordinary contribution to a extraordinary movie.

From the first time I heard this album around 1987, I always heard it disregarding a bit it was a soundtrack. In fact, it is synthesiser music in some of its proportion and although it has classical sections it has a certain city feel. As a huge fan of Mike Oldfield I have to say it's not one of his best albums, but it has remarkable moments, from which I would collect:

1- The eerie surreal sound collage 'Evacuation'.
2- The beautiful orchestral moment of 'Pran's Departure'.
3- Strange and emotional 'Bad News' (my favourite track from the album).
4- The nice melody of 'The Trek'.
5- The haunting synthesiser short passages all over the album.
6- Refreshing 'Good News', an optimistic Oriental melody sooothing from the loaded atmosphere of the album.
7- Of course, nice and sad (but hopeful) Fernando Tárrega's 'Recuerdos de la Alhambra' Oriental rendition, 'Etude'.


It is a nice album that works either as a soundtrack and as a normal album. The pity is I'm not really happy with the treatment it received in the movie. Some of the best moments are played in a really low volume. I suppose it counts that I'm a dedicated Mike Oldfield fan!!!

la última canción "Étude" no es original del gran Mike, sino que es la pieza "Recuerdos de la Alhambra" del compositor español Francisco Tárrega. La versión es excelente, pero en ninguno de los créditos sale el compositor verdadero, así que en esto un cero para Mike.

As somebody who isn't a huge Mike Oldfield fan I was incredibly moved by this album. I also think what makes it even better is its excellent fit with the movie for which it was written. The film details the trauma of Cambodia's descent into the horrors and madness of the Khmer Rouge tyranny of the 1970s, which left two million people dead through famine and genocide. It is mainly told through the eyes of Dith Pran, a Cambodian interpreter for reporter Sydney Schanberg who was unable to get out of the country when the Khmer Rouge took over.

The film doesn't shy away from the darkness of the period and neither does Oldfield's soundtrack which uses heavy synth effects (this was the 80s after all) to create disturbing and unnerving pieces of music. And yet among these dark and ominous tracks such as Evacuation, Requiem For A City and Pran's Escape/The Killing Fields are the multiple variations of Pran's Theme (Pran's Theme 2, Pran's Departure, The Boy's Burial/Pran Sees The Red Cross) which beautifully captures the simple dignity of the man who lived through this horror. In fact I defy anybody not to be moved the culmination of the track The Boy's Burial/Pran Sees The Red Cross where the theme surges joyfully to a powerful conclusion to celebrate the freedom of a most remarkable man. It brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it.

Finally the simple beuaty of the last two tracks Good News and Etude (based on the piece for solo classical guitar, 'Recuerdos de la Alhambra' (Memories of the Alhambra), by Spanish composer Francisco Tárrega) bring the album to a moving and uplifting ending.

An absolute gem.