MIKE OLDFIELD
Amarok UMG Thirty-fifth anniversary edition of an unsung classic.
In 1990 Mike Oldfield was not a happy bunny, at least when it came to his deteriorating relationship with Virgin. He felt he’d done things their way on 1989’s Earth Moving, a songs-and-synths project, and wanted to again follow his own muse. He made what he considered an “angry, protest album”, to irritate them. An hour long, with no track breaks as such, instrumental (with bursts of an African choir and spoken voice), it now sounds more like an inspired act of creativity than a raging blow-out. The label wanted to call it Tubular Bells 2. He refused, later saying, “If anything, it’s Ommadawn 2.”