Mike Oldfield:Hergest Ridge Pt.1(excerpt)

[olli7776]

This was always one of may favourite Oldfiled albums and I have just listened to it again (in its entirety) for the first time in nearly 30yrs, some of the moods invoked by this are almost painfully moving at times -- for me. The only down side are the overly circuitous routes taken from one point of beauty to another. I think these albums are very much a thing of their time so to speak.

[triffiks]

All Mikes recordings are in a league of their own this is beautiful Thanks for upload )0( J

[Marta19971000]

Me encanta!!!, soy una de las mayores fans de Mike Oldfield, es el mejor guitarrista y músico de la historia.

[WeTheStrange]

I always preferred this to Tubular Bells. Sensational.

[steuk63]

never actually listened to this album but i am now and love it perhaps for those of us who are not music performers but more listeners how do you follow on from Bells as a musician and the sucess of Bells was what everybody expected on this album and maybe thats where we as listeners should perhaps take on board when you have to rack your brain for inspiration after the first album i play and know its to keep the same vain on other works but a good album

[JackAngelBlue]

Simply...amazing...Mike is...genious...no words

Jack, from Brazil Mike's fan eternal...

[ElAullidoDeLaNada]

Precioso. Beautiful.

[Bohem401]

mike oldfield's older stuff such as Tubular Bells,Ommadawn and HR is incomparable,after that it gets tricky:Crisis good,Earth moving terrible,Amarok headscratchingly confusing.I personally closed the book on MO after Voyager:it appears that on that disc he got all the latent celtic influences out with a bang and after that he doesn't know where to go with his music.Pity,really

[Simon0]

ommadawn, incantations and hergest ridge are masterpieces. i also love songs of distant earth, but it is a totally different sound.

[angleseychap]

mike used to fly a model glider on hergest ridge i saw him once, it was quite frightening until i realised it was a quarter sized glider and sally was with him also.

[mtend06]

Actually, 'Amarok' is worth a listen for those who don't know it. It's not in the pastoral vein like this, but it is all real instruments and has a lot of the eccentricity of the early stuff (as well as a side swipe or two at one R. Branson!). Sorry, I had to add that because I haven't played it in ages and had forgotten about it!!

[mtend06]

Such a pity that he's lost the plot these days. He had a really unique musical vision and sense of rock orchestration. Then he became obsessed with computers and the fact that he had written Tubular Bells and had to keep quoting in in everything he wrote. TB, Hergest Ridge and Ommadawn were all different from each other and really special. I wish he would get back to playing the real instruments again and giving us some more things of beauty like this. Maybe the zeitgeist has left the building.

[jsm666]

@mtend06 - It's not so much that he lost the plot. His autobiography, Changeling, seems to suggest that he lost the ANGST. He sorted out many of his personal demons, and the drive which produced the first four albums just wasn't there any more. TB2 was the return to some sort of high point - I quite like how that was the same but different - but after that I agree it hasn't been the same. He's had some good moments (side 1 of "Crises" was what got me hooked on him to start with), but that's all.

[Tubularek]

@jsm666

Interesting and quite convincing. I thought the same - I mean - about those "demons" as a kind of inspiration. Well, it seems to be often met in artists' biographies.

[DM2734]

I went out walking on Hergest Ridge last week with my wife and youngest son,this music just flowed through me.It was great to be there after last walking over it whilst doing Offa's dyke long distant foot path back in 1983.

[Tubularek]

@DM2734

Hope I will walk this path some day :-) Never been there but Hergest Ridge means so much to me. What a paradox innit? :)

[DM2734]

I went out walking on Hergest Ridge last week with my wife and youngest son,this music just flowed through me.It was great to be there after last walking over it whilst doing Offa's dyke long distant foot path back in 1983.

[greenaissance]

I love Hergest Ridge. It is so moving.

[Simon0]

@greenaissance well its only moving when there's an earthquake. mostly its just still.

HAHAHAHHAAHHA!

..

sorry.

[2255maria]

Beautiful stuff!

[58Vulcan]

What was Mike doing up on Hergest Ridge?The picture shows a r/c glider next to his dog.

[lifeson46]

he was such a gentle soul

[mensamoo]

no comments. says it all

[eloisealice]

oh yes;) it's amazing...

I was so young. Omg;)

[666767]

agree mate love this section

[springcafe]

This is exactly the part i once heard over and over again nearl 30 years ago. Wonderful.

[ericebryan]

P.S. The "bagpipe" lead guitar style -- something else.

[ericebryan]

I'd forgotten how splendid and beautiful this is. I miss Oldfield's 1st 3 albums.

[PAULLONDEN]

Great...I had this...used to shoot up and play this a lot.

Bad sound quality here though.

[Bohem401]

re tongapuss-30 years-cannot be-you are depressing the hell out of me.but regardless-what a magnificent piece of music

[tongapuss]

My Husband and I had this, along with Tubular Bells on perpetual loop. Sides B were just as good as side A. Truly wonderful. The good old days, over thirty years ago. Not funny!!

[FieldsofDreams64]

Stunningly Beautiful work by Mike ... Serenity in itself .... thank you for placing it here!

[ThorWaterschei]

Just genius music simple genius

[llanbradach]

This is my favourite part of Hergest Ridge, I love the sound of that oboe.

[jock19]

Pish

[hicksfanbillhicks01]

This is lovely. First time i've heard this. Thanks so much for uploading =)

[raaa]

Uma das mais fantásticas composições!

[HergestRidge90]

Awesome album, one of the best! Must hear the original mixt version, is better than 1975 version!!

[Coneman3]

Original is an amateur mess - hence Mike remiixed to this.

[clubsport911]

Sorry - I think that's a personal statement, and all i remember was the original. In fact, when I heard the current "remix" I thought "what a mess!" - but hey, let's not fall out... we all like the music

[Coneman3]

It WAS a personal statement because I personally made it -and I'm right ! Original is like a rough demo. If you can't see/hear that you must be cloth-eared.

[Dikaia22]

I just love the sound of the oboe in this scene

[Coneman3]

@Dikaia22 Yes, to be able to write such a beautiful piece for an oboe when Mike doesn't play oboe is a testament to his talent as a composer.

[lsdmadman]

jesus the mercy....just been reading about the congo...need this o captain christ.....

[Simon0]

who here likes incantations? THats another of my faves.

[ZundappFan]

I do, my favourite albums are: Tubular bells I, Hergest Ridge, Ommadawn, Incantations, Exposed, Platinum, QE2.

[Simon0]

i havent heard a couple of those. But you named 3 of the greats, HR, Ommadawn, and incantations. Mike Oldfield is almost all i listen to nowadays! I love how he did such a wide range of music.

I even like the techno kind of stuff he did. (the shade albumn)

[davidleigh65]

Simon0 i first heard incantations around 30 years ago and thought it was one of the most amazing pieces of music id ever heard - 30 years on i still feel that way!

Who can hear the opening sequence of incantations and not be blown away? It is the best thing mike has ever done and is vastly superior in almost every way to the frankly inferior and hugely overated tubular bells!

[IKE66]

I agree:

Tubular bells I, Hergest Ridge, Ommadawn, Incantations, Exposed, Platinum, QE2, Crisis, To France (particulary).

And after that? Nothing - niente - rien - nada.

Too bad.

[konked]

Oh yes, the flute theme ending of the part 1 :) But then again the synthetiser on the intro sounds nice too :)

[Simon0]

one of my favourite bits is the middle section of part one. Especially when the voices stop and flute comes in. nice to meet fellow mike oldfield fan.

I am a bit unoriginal though. For the past 4 or so months whenever i am in my car, i only ever listen to mike oldfield! i think i need to expand my repertoire a bit..!

[konked]

Since you like this, I really recommend Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin. It is available here too conducted by Esa Pekka Salonen :) I am not a big fan of classical but that's a nice piece.

[666767]

the best hope hes well and has an album out soon been to long

[Poetamo]

4:00: Oooooh! YEAHHH! JESUSCRIST!!! FUCKYAAAAA!!!

[arfurlife]

Ommadawn is my favourite Mike Oldfield album. Its in a different class even to his other great work... and that's saying something. But this little excerpt is exsquisit beyond words. You might hear this on your way into heaven..I am actually atheist but i get a religious experience when i hear this and ommadawn. This kind of music makes life a joy to live.

[Maxiclaudi]

I agree regarding Ommadawn, but this piece of Hergest Ridge moved me in the late 70s and early 80s, and moves me still! Have the Boxed version too, what a revelation ever since I managed to play the old records again!

[Simon0]

Oh my God! Part 1 of ommadawn is exquisite. especially the last 3 minutes (which i feel the whole of part 1 is leading up to).

[Sciesch]

I love this Record, it's one of my fav of Mikes.

[mvd191]

I'm sure that one day I will make a trip to Hergest Ridge with that album in my bag,a disc player and headphones :-)I think this would be a great experience to listen to one of my favourite albums in the countryside where Mike wrote it.

[rockbeart]

Where's the rest of the song??!! Post it please!

[Simon0]

you can buy it pretty cheap..

[OboeCrack]

best part of the best song

[bl34218]

one of the finest pieces of music...

[giangiu]

Mike is a Incredible Artist..

[joaofilipeg]

most beatiful

[seesselberg]

Definetly THE BEST Oldfield lp - there's a real undercurrent of despair in this album that I simply cannot put into words.

[tokaicarl]

the best music IS impossible to put into words if u ask me

[Simon0]

the best music expresses the deepest despair of our subconscious. THat which cannot be put into words.

That sounded good didnt it?

[Coneman3]

Yes, i love music which doesn't pretend to have the answers and accepts that life is fundamentally sad/difficult. Mahler, Rachmaninov and Malcolm Arnold fall into this I feel.

[morrisman321]

I can,t agree more.The next Best album must be Ommadawn.

[Coneman3]

This is 1 of the best sections of HR. Awesome. Calm music but with undercurrents which defy description. Beyond the comprehension of most people. IMO HR is far better than Tubular Bells.

[Tubularek]

@Coneman3

You're right.Oldfield - as a matter of fact - developed some ideas from TB and continued with what - as for - was the essence of the best in TB. HR is real masterpiece. Who knows? Maybe his Opus Magnum?

[Tubularek]

@Coneman3 Absolutely - YES!!!

[mus1cat]

@Coneman3 And then you have Ommadawn, the first part, which is sometimes preferable to TB (part 2).

Come to think of it, why are the second parts of TB, HR and Ommadawn seemingly inferior to the first parts? As if they were rushed to complete the piece.

[Coneman3]

@mus1cat I tend to prefer much of his part 2's, even though they seem less 'orderly' ? and forward ? than his Part 1's. I think this is because they are often more in repose which I tend to prefer, especially as I've got older. HR Part 2 and Ommadawn Part 2 are amazing IMO. His Part 1s are more in hot blood and his Part 2's are more therapeutic and soothing.

[jordibp]

@Coneman3 totally agree

[donalfonso8]

the best !

[jusan69]

Thaks for posting this video.

[betavi22]

Jest to przepiękna muzyka jaką słyszałem, a słyszałem jej bardzo wiele , wielki szacunek dla Mike,a Vito