Mike Oldfield
Tubular Bells III

Amidst Arab-influenced vocals, electronic bursts alternating with moments of calm and relaxation, and nods to the original, "Tubular Bells III" unfolds, a second attempt by Mike Oldfield to re-interpret his first glorious album. Well, for many long-time fans and not only, this record understandably raised eyebrows (by the way: platinum blonde Oldfield looks horrendous), because few understood what it contains, filled with prejudices by the title.

It's 1998 when, after facing a personal crisis between alcohol excesses (and not only) and club nights dancing with his new girlfriend, Oldfield releases "Tubular Bells III". Six years earlier, the release of "TBII" caused a stir and sparked much curiosity, climbing to the top of the UK sales charts. Personally, I was disappointed that time: "TBII" seemed to me (and still little has changed) a dull re-execution of the previous one, with some melodies modified but keeping the structure intact. In short, like taking the Mona Lisa and changing her expression and colors. So, upon the release of the third chapter of a saga that in my opinion has no reason to exist and to be so (TB is one and should have remained one), I bought this record purely for collection spirit, and listened to it almost begrudgingly. In 2009, that is today, I still occasionally play it, and it continues to please me. Why? Because the record and the production are excellent, the problem is one only: this record has NOTHING to do with the original TB!

Few are the common points with TB, represented by the initial theme, once again obtained by modifying that of The Exorcist, the rock guitars of the track "Outcast" and the sweet melody of "Jewel In The Crown", which so much recalls the first part of the second side of TB. For the rest, the highest points of the album are represented by the already mentioned "Outcast", by "The Inner Child" (with the powerful voice of singer Ama) which so much recalls some works of Morricone and by the glorious finale of "Far Above the Clouds", with the entrance of the tubular bells (which, in the sound explosion dictate the rhythm in a masterful way).

The only way, however, to listen to TBIII and understand how much (a lot) good there is in it, is to forget its name. The title "Tubular Bells" evokes memories of a record that, as far as I'm concerned, remains unique. As already mentioned, Oldfield was in a period of crisis and to profit from it regardless of the music, he decided to give this title to the record, exploiting its notoriety: this was the rumor at the time, and it probably is so. And by doing so, Oldfield made a serious mistake, not only because he earned the prejudices of those who, listening to TBIII, inevitably thought back to the masterpiece of '74, but because he dealt another strong blow to the historic name, which should have remained unique unto itself like the work it titled.

A special mention goes to the track "Man In The Rain": it is evident here (also because Oldfield admitted that he sampled the drum from MS) that the track is a sort of variation of "Moonlight Shadow", Oldfield's biggest commercial success. An ill-fated attempt, but this remains the lowest point of the entire record, and the track itself isn't even bad, if not for the evident (self)plagiarism.

A record with excellent production, meticulously arranged, varied, but unfortunately penalized by the author's choice to give it a title that does not belong to it. A wasted opportunity by Mike because this could have been another great piece of work, like "The Songs of Distant Earth" (1994) and "Voyager" (1996) were. Oldfield will make a big mess even with the successor to this record, "The Millennium Bell" (also 1998), where the lack of inspiration is evident, and the umpteenth (although this time less pronounced, given that the record is not presented as a sequel or reinterpretation) reference to TB will make it even more insipid.

I don't even contemplate telling Oldfield purists to listen to this album, as I'm already preparing to be crucified in the comments; but those who feel capable of making an effort should at least try to listen to it by attempting to ignore any reference to Tubular Bells: they won't discover a masterpiece, because it's not, but a great work, worthy of 4 stars, lowered to 3 by the title, the real ruin of it all.