Any time a sequel of a classic is done, no matter what the media
\nformat, it’s a risky move. Sometimes, as in the case of the
\nStar Wars<\/i> movies, it works fantastically. Sometimes, your
\nluck runs out, as in the case of
\nBatman And Robin<\/i> – should’ve left well enough alone in that
\ncase.<\/p>\n
And then, there’s the case of Mike Oldfield. In 1973, Oldfield
\nbecame a legend for his musical masterpiece
\nTubular Bells<\/i>. I’ve read some stories which credit this
\nalbum for launching the whole new-age genre; I dispute that.
\nHowever, there is no denying that Oldfield pushed the envelope to
\nthe limit with that album, and I still listen to it.<\/p>\n
In 1992, Oldfield dared to return to his roots and recorded
\nTubular Bells II<\/i>. The first time I heard it back then, I
\ncried – what had he
\ndone<\/i> to his classic piece of music? I could not bring myself
\nto listen to it again – until this year. And while I might have
\nbeen a little (mind you, just a little) too harsh on my first
\njudgment, Oldfield’s tragic flaw on this disc is that he does try
\nto copy his original work movement for movement. Five words: bad
\nidea…
\nvery<\/i> bad idea.<\/p>\n
Of course, I admit I made the mistake of listening to the
\noriginal
\nTubular Bells<\/i> before diving into
\nTubular Bells II<\/i>. Some might argue it’s not fair to compare
\nthe two works, but the fact is you can’t
\nnot<\/i> compare them. Oldfield brings over stylistic elements
\nfrom each movement of the first album to this disc, and only
\nslightly augments them.<\/p>\n
You don’t believe me? Listen to the synthesizer opening on
\n“Sentinel,” and tell me that wasn’t designed to sound like the
\nhaunting opening to “Tubular Bells Part One,” the most famous piece
\nof music from that record. Tell me the introduction of all the
\ninstruments, not to mention the musical pattern of the track “The
\nBell,” wasn’t a carbon copy of the Viv Stanshall-led introduction
\nthat closed the first movement of
\nTubular Bells<\/i>. For Christ’s sake, Oldfield even brings back
\nthe Piltdown Man (that is, the roars and grunts) on “Altered
\nStates” – and I was seriously hoping he would not have screwed with
\none of my happiest musical memories as a child.<\/p>\n
How blatant is the mirror image? Oldfield even closes
\nTubular Bells II<\/i> with “Moonshine,” a country hoedown that
\nmimics the square-dance-on-speed mistake that closes the original
\nTubular Bells<\/i>. Independent piece of music, my arse.<\/p>\n
If Oldfield had tried to create an entirely new piece of music
\nworthy of the “Tubular Bells” moniker, I would have had less of a
\nproblem. After all, I realize that music must change (a little
\nlesson I learned from Roger Daltrey), and it’s quite possible that,
\nhad Oldfield originally written “Tubular Bells” in the ’90s, this
\nis what it would sound like. But the fact is that Oldfield had a
\nreputation to live up to that was 19 years old, and
\nTubular Bells II<\/i> fails to do so. It’s nearly impossible to
\napproach this as a unique composition, unless you’ve never heard
\nthe original
\nTubular Bells<\/i> in your lifetime. Granted, there are some
\npeople out there for whom this would qualify – but with the
\nre-release of
\nThe Exorcist<\/i> recently, I’d guess that number isn’t the
\nlargest.<\/p>\n
Instrumentally, I wasn’t terribly thrilled with the dependence
\non synthesizers, but I will concede that they were indeed in use on<\/p>\n
Tubular Bells<\/i> (albeit in a more primitive form) and they
\nprobably do serve their purpose well here. I also probably would
\nhave left out the banjo, as well as some of the cutesy vocals on
\n“Altered States”, but that’s just me talking.<\/p>\n
\nTubular Bells<\/i> is the kind of piece that can withstand almost
\nany attack against it, but
\nTubular Bells II<\/i> dares to weaken even the foundation of the
\noriginal piece. Oldfield makes a fatal mistake by trying to reprise
\nhis classic work, and is a triumphant failure. Side note: Oldfield
\nreleased
\nTubular Bells III<\/i> in 1998, a disc which, to the best of my
\nknowledge, has never been released in the States. After finally
\ngetting through
\nTubular Bells II<\/i>, I’m almost afraid to hear what the third
\ninstallment sounds like. Here’s hoping Oldfield learned his lesson
\nwith the second effort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5651],"rating":[11203],"class_list":["post-39503","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-mike-oldfield","rating-rating-d-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39503"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}