The Orchestral Tubular Bells

Mike Oldfield (Composer), David Bedford (Conductor), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: David Bedford
• Composer: Mike Oldfield
• Audio CD (June 29, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Virgin Records Us
• ASIN: B00000DR57
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #441,897 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfectly Orchestrated, December 28, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Orchestral Tubular Bells (Audio CD)

I actually tried to arrange this piece as a project in high school, and even if you don't have an appreciation for orchestral music, this recording is so true to the original composition, and I think it's a great version of the electrified original. Really uses all of the voices of the orchestra well, and as a classically trained bassoon player, I've always loved this performance.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A disappointment, August 14, 2001

By 

Bill R. Moore (New York, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Orchestral Tubular Bells (Audio CD)

This album is of marginal interest to hard-core Mike Oldfield fans (who already have TB in it's multidious other incarnations), and of no interest whatsoever to anyone else. If you loved the original TB, then this will be of interest to you, in it's expansion and contrast to the original, as it offers a somewhat different shade of perception on the music. However, I must say, this album is nowhere near as good as it could have been. It's a very intriguing idea-TB is one of my favorite pieces of music, ever-and orchestras can always, if applied correctly, make the music just that much better. It doesn't come across perfectly here, though, unfortunately. There were two ideal approaches for the arrangement on this album: re-writing and re-arranging the whole TB piece, with the orchestra in mind; and more or less re-playing the original with orchestral backing. Neither of these approaches were taken. Instead, the music is merely transferred from the original instruments to orchestration. This makes for a predictable, somewhat tedious affair that offers few surprises. Also, the album is poorly produced. The noise dynamics are off, and it's too quiet at times. Perhaps remastering would help. In synthesis: get this if you are a total Mike-addict who loves TB, and just has to hear this slant on it... otherwise get his better albums and forget about this one.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great music, poor performance, March 16, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Orchestral Tubular Bells (Audio CD)

I agree to a certain extent on the comments about the performance of the orchestra. The performance itself sounds kind of amateurish; but it's sort of like listening to a mediocre orchestra performing an outstanding piece -- you can still enjoy the music itself even though its performance isn't top-notch.

Despite the poor performance, this is my favorite Oldfield record.