Tubular Bells

Mike Oldfield | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 29, 1992)
• Original Release Date: 1973
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Virgin Records Us
• ASIN: B000000WG4
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (124 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,143 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Part One - Mike Oldfield

2. Part Two - Mike Oldfield

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The opening bars of this classic album by Mike Oldfield were heard by audiences that packed theaters to witness one of the scariest films of all time--The Exorcist. And it wasn't long before this debut release, not only from Oldfield but also from Richard Branson's new record label, Virgin, found itself in the upper echelons of pop charts around the world. Primarily an instrumental album, with performances on almost every instrument credited to Oldfield, it takes the listener into widely varying musical territories, ending as Viv Stanshall formally announces each instrument as it joins the mix. --Paul Clark

Product Description

Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells UK CD album

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 59 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Excellent Multichannel SACD September 2, 2001

By ALK

Format:Audio CD

When it was released, Tubular Bells brought a lot of critical acclaim to Mike Oldfield. Virgin Records has recently re-released the album on multichannel SACD. The results are outstanding.

The multichannel SACD mix is presented in 4.0 channel sound (rather than the usual 5.1). This is because the original multichannel track was developed for 1970s quad. While usually transfering a quad track to modern multichannel is bad, in this case it works very well. There is no LFE or center channel included in the recording.

There is a very detailed description of the history of Tubular Bells in the CD booklet that accompanies the disc. The disc also contains the original two track Tubular Bells as an SACD layer and a CD layer. Interrestingly enough, some of the original Tubular Bells was re-recorded in the 1970s for the multichannel version. So the stereo and 4.0 mixes truly are different.

While I would normally not recommend taking a quad recording and releasing it in any modern format (see Paul McCartney's "Venus and Mars" on DTS CD as an example of what not to do), Tubular Bells sounds fresh and clean.

For those who have not heard the album before, it really defies categorization. While very "listenable", it is also very experimental in the use of instrumentation and creating an environment of interesting sounds. There are only two tracks on the SACD.

The SACD is playable on CD and SACD players. For high definition sound, you'll need an SACD player. For multichannel high definition sound you'll need a multichannel SACD player, such as Sony's SCD-CE775.

Overall this is very enjoyable music that luckily is now available in 4.0 channel surround sound.

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great. Just like I remembered it. April 5, 2000

By Eric V. Moye

Format:Audio CD

Back in college, one of the guys in the dorm used to play this VERY LOUD, so that it echoed all through the Quad. Somehow, I rather enjoyed it more in the solitude and exclusivity of a pair of headphones, the sounds just traversing throughout through my head.

This was a thick piece of music. It throbbed, in a rather sensual way. It rose into peaks and dove into valleys. Mike Oldfield took a bunch of instruments, (some electronically created, some all the way live), and melded them together. The last third of the title cut starts with a bass guitar, and starts an inexorable, growing orchestra. He introduces and adds one instrument at a time to create a huge wave of sound.

I love it.

39 of 44 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost perfect September 16, 2004

By mathew VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

The remastering of this classic makes a huge improvement. My only gripe is that they kept the ending of the first album release, and didn't restore Mike Oldfield's original intended ending.

The album was supposed to end with a drunken version of the Sailor's Hornpipe recorded live one morning, with semi-coherent commentary by Vivian Stanshall. That's the version on "Boxed", and I so wish it was the version on this release--so much so that I edited my own version by combining the two.

This elderly recording has an earnestness and heart that shines through the limited recording technology available; warts and all, it's a better album than the 2003 re-recording.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic, Improved March 25, 2005

By Jay L. Rudko

Format:Audio CD

When I think of albums which have retained their popularity over the years, two come to mind. Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" is one; "Tubular Bells" is the other. And the fact that both have been released on hybrid SACD attests to their popularity. In the case of "Tubular Bells", this was not the first quad mix of the album to be released. The first, which was released as a CD-4 "Quadradisc" in the US, and as both SQ and QS in most of the rest of the world, pretty much mimicked the stereo version, except for the slow fade-in of the beginning and a few music-spins-around-you effects. The mix on this SACD features one that was originally created to convince Mike Oldfield to allow this recording to be released in multichannel. In addition, the original stereo mix is included on both the CD layer and the SACD stereo track. The 4.0 mix on the SACD multichannel track is cleaner and less cluttered sounding than that first released quad mix, and is more straight-forward. This mix was also released as a quad LP as part of a box set (now available on CD, and despite claims to the contrary, is the SQ version). That set, "Mike Oldfield Boxed", is worth seeking out. It also includes quad mixes of "Ommadawn", "Hergest Ridge", and "Collaborations".Now, if only they could release this box set in SACD... I digress. I highly recommend this SACD for those who want to hear what this system can do, and for MO fans, to finally hear everything he wanted you to hear.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A pop-classical masterpiece... October 28, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Audio CD

I first heard the 4-minute (Highly edited) cut of the beginning of "Tubular Bells Part 1" on the "Pure Moods" compilation. I later saw "The Exorcist" and found that the movie used the song as well. When I got the CD I didn't realize that the whole thing (parts 1 and 2) was almost 50 minutes long. And I LOVED it!!! This is one of the most eclectic musical masterpieces of all time. Covering the range from rock to classical to funk to ambient and back like a frantic marathon runner, this is a true original piece of music. Mike Oldfield has melded the genres of rock and classical unlike any other. Only the progressive greats like Yes, King Crimson, Emerson Lake & Palmer, and Pink Floyd have succeeded at such eccentricity and even then, this truly a different and original musical masterpiece! A classic!!!