Image ofMike Oldfield

Mike Oldfield

Musician

English multi-instrumentalist and composer (born 1953), best known for 1973's Tubular Bells and for long instrumental suites that blended progressive rock, folk and world music.

Broke through with Tubular Bells (1973) on Virgin; known for playing many instruments and for long multi-part suites (Tubular Bells, Ommadawn, Amarok). Worked with collaborators such as Maggie Reilly and Kevin Ayers. Career spans early progressive/folk suites into later pop- and electronic-influenced albums; Return to Ommadawn (2017) is among his later releases.

DeBaser's reviews paint Mike Oldfield as a pioneering multi-instrumentalist noted for long instrumental suites (Tubular Bells, Ommadawn, Amarok) and for shifting between progressive, folk/world and pop phases. Early works receive strong praise; some later pop-oriented albums divide opinion.

For:Fans of progressive rock, instrumental and experimental music, collectors and curious listeners.

 The worst time for life is the best time for art.

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 "Ommadawn" marks the end of Mike Oldfield's most creative phase.

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 Creating a 49-minute instrumental track, even in the "progressive" early '70s, was certainly a gamble.

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 This is the real Oldfield, freed from Branson and free to follow his talent, he succeeds in everything — the Gregorian chants of "The Chamber" and the icy atmospheres of "Hibernaculum."

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