Mike Oldfield
The Songs Of Distant Earth

THE REVIEW

Here it is, the true masterpiece of Mike Oldfield, "The Songs Of Distant Earth" twenty-one years after the first approaches of "Tubular Bells," the first example of this artist's polyhedral talent and extraordinarily rich musical visions. With this work, Oldfield translates Clarke's eponymous novel into music, creating a unique and grand symphony masterfully executed and produced.

The artificial music of the keyboards and the programmed rhythms blends suggestively and successfully with the whale songs that open the album, Oldfield introduces the work by including a small excerpt from the "Genesis" read by Anders aboard Apollo 8 in 1968. The development of the sound paths occurs amid tribal chants, guitars, and percussion in a crescendo that transports the listener far away, listen to "Supernova" and "Oceania," and you will understand why this is Oldfield's best work. Here lies all his love for nature, the vast spaces, the silences, and the sounds, the songs, and the cries. There isn't a moment that doesn't work; the music and the most diverse sounds unite in a single song, and it truly seems like you can hear it singing, the earth between the passages of piano and acoustic guitar that open towards Mike's powerful guitar in "Lament For Atlantis."

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." If you don't own this album, get it, because a space journey with Mike is a must, and it is truly worth it. Thank you, Mike.