When fresh-from-the-folk-clubs prodigy Mike Oldfield first presented his epic Tubular Bells concept to Virgin label owner Richard Branson, he was slightly intimidated by the social gulf he perceived between the permagrinning ex-prep school entrepreneur and himself. This fueled a determination that can be heard to this day behind every note of this most misused album, which today finds itself as much the fodder for dinner-table background muzak as it is the hallowed listening material for progressive rock freaks.
Musically, Tubular Bells is a fantastic mish-mash of rock guitar, (both rhythm guitar grind, with all the primitive overdrive the early Seventies could muster, and blues-tinged lead), soupy bass, and a whole slew of instruments centered on the ethereal chime of the bells themselves. Oldfield sits at the hub of the melodic chaos, orchestrating proceedings with a degree of precocious confidence that is surprising, given how little he has chosen to deviate from this route in subsequent decades.
The caveman grunts in "Part 2" may become irritating after a few listens, but the madcap humor Oldfield injects into the project makes such excesses forgivable.
Listen out for the fantastically inebriated Bonzo Dog frontman Viv Stanshall, who introduces each instrument as they enter the main theme and the volume spikes that reveal the young Oldfield's inexperience-but also serve to accentuate the organic composition.
Less exciting sequels overlabored the Tubular Bells point somewhat, but Oldfield stuck stubbornly to the ambient, experimental template he had pioneered so memorably and the album is still a '70s essential.
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