Mike Oldfield - Islands (1987)

 

1987 UK release

Side one

1. The Wind Chimes (Part One and Part Two) – 21:40

        Drums – Simon Phillips

        Producer – Mike Oldfield

        Producer, Drums – Simon Phillips

        Vocals – Anita Hegerland

Side two

1. Islands – 4:19

        Producer – Alan Shacklock, Mike Oldfield, Tom Newman

        Vocals – Bonnie Tyler

2. Flying Start – 3:36

        Producer – Mike Oldfield

        Vocals – Kevin Ayers

3. North Point – 3:33

        Producer – Mike Oldfield

        Vocals – Anita Hegerland

4. Magic Touch (New Jim Price Vocal) – 4:14

        Producer – Geoff Downes, Mike Oldfield

        Vocals – Jim Price 

5. The Time Has Come – 3:51

        The Time Has Come

        Producer – Michael Cretu, Mike Oldfield

        Vocals – Anita Hegerland

6. When the Night's on Fire (Bonus track on CD version) – 6:41

All tracks composed by Mike Oldfield.

Four singles were released from the album, two of which were released in 1987, "Islands" (as Mike & Bonnie) and "The Time Has Come", and two in 1988, "Flying Start" and "Magic Touch".

Personnel

• Mike Oldfield – guitars, Danelectro Electric sitar guitar on Flying Start, bass, keyboards, percussion, vocals
• Micky Moody – electric guitars
• Rick Fenn – acoustic and electric guitars
• Phil Spalding – bass
• Mickey Simmonds – keyboards
• Anita Hegerland – vocals (on "The Wind Chimes", "North Point", "The Time Has Come", "When the Night's on Fire")
• Bonnie Tyler – vocals (on "Islands")
• Kevin Ayers – vocals (on "Flying Start")
• Max Bacon – vocals (on "Magic Touch" [1988 US Issue]; backing vocals on "Islands")
• Jim Price – vocals (on "Magic Touch" [1987 UK Issue])
• Mervyn Spence – (backing vocals on "Magic Touch")
• Raf Ravenscroft – saxophone (on "Islands")
• Andy Mackay – saxophone, oboe
• Björn J:son Lindh – flute (on "The Wind Chimes")
• Simon Phillips – drums (on "The Wind Chimes")
• Pierre Moerlen – drums, vibes
• Tony Beard – drums
• Benoit Moerlen – vibes, percussion

Companies, etc.

• Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Virgin Records Ltd.
• Copyright © – Virgin Records Ltd.
• Published By – Oldfield Music Ltd.
• Published By – Virgin Music (Publishing) Ltd.
• Manufactured By – Sonopress
• Printed By – TOPAC
• Record Company – Virgin Schallplatten GmbH

Credits

• Composed By – Mike Oldfield
• Crew [Assistant To Mike Oldfield] – Jeremy Parker
• Design, Art Direction – Icon London, Mike Oldfield
• Engineer [Assistant], Technician [Assistant] – Richard Barrie
• Photography By [Oldfield Portrait] – Andrew Catlin

Notes

Released:  28 September 1987

Recorded:  1986–1987 in Megève, France

Genre:  Progressive rock

Length:  48:11

Producer(s):  Michael Cretu, Geoffrey Downes, Tom Newman, Mike Oldfield, Simon Phillips, Alan Shacklock

Label - Virgin Records

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Mike Oldfield - The Songs Of Distant Earth (1994)

"The Songs of Distant Earth" is the 16th album by Mike Oldfield, released in 1994 by Warner Music. It is based on Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction novel "The Songs of Distant Earth".

"The Songs of Distant Earth" blend together two motifs crafted through Mike Oldfield's atmospheric music. (Both outer space and inner space under water) are the themes of this album, but Oldfield's synthesized artistry comes up short during the course of the 17 tracks, mainly because of the intermittent talking and unnecessary vocabulary that quickly becomes irksome and ineffective. About the music, it is usually Mike Oldfield's differentiation of rhythms or styles on a song to song basis that makes his music thought-provoking and fresh. On this album, the same rhythm lurks through half of the songs, with only smidgens of add-on instrumentation to elevate its flow. Absent is the freewheeling percussion pulses, or the onslaught of strings that so often shower his music. Instead, each track seems flat as his keyboard work comes off gray and bland. Even a few sudden bursts of tempo become short lived, as the pace always falls back to its straight-lined origin. Inspired by Arthur C. Clarke, Oldfield tries to capture the wonder and mystery of the stars and the sea through washes of synthesizer, but his attempt at capturing both themes could have benefited from a multitude of other instruments, as his work usually includes.

 

01.  "In the Beginning"  - 1:24

02.  "Let There Be Light"  - 4:52

03.  "Supernova"  - 3:29

04.  "Magellan"  - 4:41

05.  "First Landing"  - 1:16

06.  "Oceania"  - 3:27

07.  "Only Time Will Tell"  - 4:19

08.  "Prayer for the Earth"  - 2:10

09.  "Lament for Atlantis"  - 2:44

10.  "The Chamber"  - 1:49

11.  "Hibernaculum"  - 3:32

12.  "Tubular World"  - 3:23

13.  "The Shining Ones"  - 2:59

14.  "Crystal Clear"  - 5:42

15.  "The Sunken Forest"  - 2:39

16.  "Ascension"  - 5:48

17.  "A New Beginning"  - 1:33

Released:  14 November 1994

Recorded at:  Roughwood Studio, Buckinghamshire

Genre:  New Age, Space Music

Length:  55:51

Label:  Reprise / Warner Bros. Records

Producer:  Mike Oldfield

Personnel

Mike Oldfield

Mark Rutherford - Additional rhythm loops and programming

Sugar 'J' - Additional rhythm loops

Pandit Dinesh - Tablas

Molly Oldfield - Keyboards

Cori Josias - Vocalist

Ella Harper - Vocalist

Nils-Aslak Valkeapää - Vocalist

David Nickless - Vocalist

Roame - Vocalist

Members of 'Veulam Consort' - Vocalists

The Tallis Scholars - Vocalists

Mike Joseph - Self hypnosis tape

Vahine Taihara - Tubuai Choir

Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders reading from the Book of Genesis while orbiting the Moon on Christmas Eve, 1968

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