Mike Oldfield- First Excursion (First Listen)
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- Опубликовано: 17 окт 2024
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Song Link: • First Excursion
PS 5'30" reminiscent of a brief section of Pekka Pohjola's "Mathematician's Air Display" also (part) recorded at Througham later that year
Amazing track.
I don’t know how I missed this one. Belated congratulations for another fantastic review of one of my favorites. I prepared myself with a couple of margaritas, dimmed the lights, got my headphones on, and this took me to my Zen zone. I didn’t want it to end. Thank you.
Thats absolutely wonderful Al, thank you so so much. I'm glad you enjoyed this :)
Always thought of this as the track I want played at my funeral - beautiful guitar playing which almost brings a tear to the eye without any lyrics - that's something special.
Oh gosh...LOL on the Santa comment. Ya know ya just can't go wrong with anything Oldfield does. Glad to see you back with Mike. There's some more tasty treats down the way.
To me this is the essence of Mike's "Througham sound" - amp cranked up to 11 in the big barn, loads of reverb, love it when the piano hits the same note as the high octave feedback...somehow I picture a late night session on a still, moonlit night in the hot summer of 1976
More beautiful work from Mike. All new to me and I loved it. 🔥🎸
I'm looking forward to when this Oldfield journey eventually reaches Amarok, haha.
Same! Need to see someone react to it lol. This is a good one though.
Glad to see the continuation of Mike Oldfield too.
There are plenty more decent musical journeys and his story is also quite interesting during those years.
There was always that pressure from above, steering him from his desired musical path toward more radio friendly and commercially orientated content.
Once that contract neared it's end, Amarok became somewhat of a focal point for all that suppressed creativity to be released, and it had a massive shiny middle finger ready for anyone that dared to stand in its way, package it up or break it down.
As well as being a great piece of music, It also perfectly demonstrates Mike's great musical sense of humour.
@@neilrobertsonshair405 hahahaha
@@ChristianWichmann hahahahah ppy.
Getting there😃
First Excursion? Boxed? Some deep cuts, my friend. This is a sublime piece that I haven’t heard since someone took my whole vinyl collection and hasn’t returned it yet. I love your journey, so rewarding seeing you to react to this and other of my all time favorite music compositions.
Ty Sinner, im loving the journey
Thanks for continuing the Mike Oldfield journey! I've always loved this piece, the atmosphere, the emotional power of the guitar work and the power of the climax when the multiple guitar tracks crash in. I can't understand those saying it goes nowhere - the build up of tension and the payoff is spectacular. I'd definitely like to see your reaction to Guilty as the bridge between Incantations and Platinum...!
Woah! First Excursion? I did not expect that. I love this track and it has been an influence on my musical stuff for decades :) The 4th LP in Boxed is "collaborations" in this case with David Bedford on keys.
Haha I'm here to occasionally surprise 😁
Never heard that one before, but like you JP, I loved it. There is a melody near the end that is taken from another Oldfield song: the end of Face 2 from Ommadawn. So it seems to be part of that, maybe excluded before editing ?
Mike Oldfield offered guitar contributions to some David Bedford's albums: two excerpts are included on Boxed as well. On the other hand David Bedford arranged Tubular Bells (and even Hergest Ridge) for orchestra. The Orchestral Tubular Bells saw the light of day on vinyl in 1974 with Mike Oldfield as guest guitarist. The orchestral version of Hergest Ridge remained unreleased until the deluxe box edition of Mike's studio album where it appears as bonus material. First Excursion was especially recorded for Boxed and used later as an international b-side to the single The William Tell Ouverture in 1977. Songs like In Dulci Jubilo, Portsmouth and Argiers were traditionals Mike recorded in collaboration with recorder player Leslie Penning who also contributed on Ommadawn. These last songs were also used as singles material, In Dulci Jubilo and Portsmouth becoming UK top 10 hits in 1975 and 1976.
I bought Boxed in 1977. I still have it, even though I don't have a record deck anymore... there's a lovely piece called Rio Grande...
Can't wait until you listen to AMAROK
an underrated piece of music, artful guitar playing, and the creamy tone of a cranked amp
I couldn’t latch onto this song. There wasn’t anything that stood out for me. He IS very talented, but I could understand why this wasn’t on any album. It was like a slice of toast with nothing on it, it’s crunchy, but dry. Still, I love how you find these songs, digging up fossils. Keep it going, JP!
THANKS JUSTIN.MIKE OLDFIELDS MUSIC MAGIC.🥂🌷
It's a new one to me. Thanks!
UNICO
Oldfield and Bedford played for Kevin Ayers in his Band "The whole world". On whatevershebringswesing you can hear a long guitar solo from a seventeen year old Mike. If you want a deep dive than you should hear Instructions for Angels. A fully improvised piece with Bedford on a Church Organ und Mike on guitar. Be warned: it is not for the faint hearted.
I've been waiting for this but not realising it is a variation on his guitar work for Bedford on Instructions For Angels. The other is more angsty. Thanks, JP.
Mike Oldfield the one and only! Multiinstrumentalist Geníus! No one is better than him. Amarok i am only comparing this one with the big symphony comporsers. Bold an great man to react to him!!
Cool track, so much of Oldfield is so good. I got boxed in 1976 instead of the 3 individual albums (which a friend copied on cassette for me) as there was a fourth album called "Collaborations" and that in itself was worth getting that album for me + the cool Escher-like cover and booklet with extra information. The CD version of Boxed messed up the sequence and added some songs from collaborations to the 3 regular discs, so this song ended up as being the 4th song on Ommadawn. Hate when that happens. I also have some Yes albums where on CD some inferior tracks were added or remixes. I never play those. Now I have most albums digitised in my computer so I can restore the original order of songs on my playlists :-)
If you listen carefully to the melodies, you realize that it fits perfectly in the period between Ommadawn and Incantations. You can hear the former album echoing and the latter album foreshadowing.
You know, now that you mention it, you're right
It's very similar to David Bedford - Instructions For Angels (Mike Oldfield on guitar) which is pure Mike Oldfield guitar, and does the same thing but with a church organ :)
Wow that was really impressive! Just checked that out. I've been meaning to look up Bedford's own music. That's so weird how he slides in a little reference to Ommadawn in there.
I met David Bedford in 2010. He tells me that recording was in Worcester Cathedral. The Cathedral was closed but as the day wore on, word got out that Mike was IN THE BUILDING. Eventually, the crowd found their way in. Mike was standing in the middle of the nave, rolling a cigarette as they surged in…
@@ANZABpresident Wow :)
If i'm remembering this one right... This was a collaboration with David Bedford. The guitar is pure Oldfield (and great), but it lacks "something" that makes it better.
Wonderful piece this, he had such a way of painting pictures in your head with his playing. 5 miles Out, Platinum, QE2 and Amarok are also essential places to visit.
Loving the reactions, Oldfield gets nowhere near the attention he deserves. Can I suggest you try another of his collaborations - Pierre Moerlen's Gong, Downwind 1979, it showcases Mike but also a number of other great artists and collaborators!
Mike's guitar playing is awesome.He has so much that never made it on to albums that only turned up on later deluxe releases check out Algiers or in the pool or for a real atmospheric walk in the woods and back roads of Enland on a hot sunny day check out the path.
Glad you did this track. It's so gorgeous. I remember first hearing it decades ago and being transported into space.
Didn't know this one. This is not off a regular album or is it? Is this pre or post 'Incantations'?
Meditative yet also majestic.
It was recorded between Ommadawn and Incantations.
@@Mannizilla thanks for the quick response. Now that I know, yes soundwise it makes perfect sense, partly hints at 'Incantations'...
Nice piece, I know little about Oldfield, tho it'd quite possible I've heard his work without realizing who it was.
I told you. Would I let you down? lol
Oldfield has other collaborations w/ David Bedford that are similar in nature. Another one on the same boxed set is one called Excerpt from "Star's End". Might also be worth a listen one day.:)
Haha ty Gog!
You should listen to Taurus 1, Taurus 2 and Mount Teidi. To name the best songs of Oldfield is difficult. But these 3 are up in my top list
Mount Teidi live on his Collection album is the best one IMO..
Mount Teidi. A big yes.
His entire QE2 album is fantastic... in my Top 3 Oldfield albums, for sure.
Hopefully he'll get to these. I hope he goes chronologically, album for album.
Those are up there, Taurus 1 especially.
But so is Platinum!
This new to me. I hear elements of Steve Morse and Robert Fripp in the guitar work.
...viz Fripps extraordinary Music for quiet moments re-recordings, this year...
Do the song Guilty It hints what he does on his next album Platinum. Also Platinum is another piece which you need to do all in one. There’s 4 parts with the whole thing lasting around 23 minutes
"Northstar" is my favorite part to Platinum.
He is a master guitarist.
8:30 Always reminds me of Tangerine Dream's "Force Majeure" from 1979.
The Boxed album was released in what was then referred to as Quadraphonic 4 channel stereo. Either QS or SQ. I'm not sure.
Anyway, I watch RUclips through my TV and a surround sound system and that track just fills the room.
Great track.
Justin, would you be willing to take a listen to "The Rio Grande" from the same Oldfield compilation?
When I lost my father in September last year, it was the song I chose to remember him by. I come from a musical family (although not talented myself in that way, I had a voice as a young lad that was considered "quite good"). Listening to the Rio Grande has always sent shivers down my spine, and now does so even more. Both I and my elder brother - who introduced me to Mike Oldfields music all those years ago - have drawn a great deal of strength and comfort from this track, and feel it deserves recognition.
Even if you don't play it on the channel, please be willing to have a listen privately. For me my dads spirit infuses the song and every time I hear it I know that he's going home.
I was like, Oldfield again great. Not too long, better. I’ll get to it later today. Sat down to listen, looked at the cover and was, hmm, that’s looks familiar. Then you said Boxed and I freaked out. I bought this way back when but I lost it in a quick move because of non payment of rent. Grabbing all our stuff to getaway quickly, I forgot one drawer of records. It just happened to be my special album drawer (multi- disc stuff, imports) in it, Santana Lotus, Jimi Hendrix Electric Ladyland (with nudes on th cover), George Harrison All Things Must Pass and Bangladesh, and, wait for it, Boxed, by Mike Oldfield. I didn’t realize l had lost it with these others and more till right now.
I remember this song and it’s pretty cool.
Thanks for taking me back.
Peace, masks whether mandated or not, and Music
Edit: I don’t think I realized this set was a quad mix. I only played it on stereo equipment. Later I found a Fischer amplifier that had quad and stereo capabilities. Would have been able to play it correctly...
You lost all those great albums. I hope you were able to reacquire them. I too have lost a few vinyl treasures - if it were cd's no biggie. One that I lost and still don't have is Godley/Creme 'Consequences.' It costs a fortune now but I'll get it again somehow. Do you remember that TRIPLE (or was it a double?) album? The days they are a dwindling. I liked that Oldfield song - it kinda lasted just a tad too long but it really was good from the start with that excellent piano accompaniment. Live on, David!
@@vdggmouse9512
Thx man,
No I don’t have all of them back, Lotus, nudes Electric Ladyland, and Boxed. Gotta let some go, maybe someday. Still have lots of platters.
Do have Lotus on CD. Not the same but better than nothing.
Hadn’t heard Consequences, just did now a bit, pretty cool. Good luck with that search.
do you take requests if so can you do a reaction to Bob Seger Cross of Gold
Wow, Justin, thanks for reacting to this track, one of Mike's lesser known tunes, but it really displays Mike's wonderful guitar sound and tone, plus his emotional playing and sense of melody. Mike has lots gems like this to discover outside of his albums. Can't wait for more.
Glad to see you have reached one of my all time favourite MO Tracks!!!!,,,
and I promise you that ARGIERES IS Beautiful beyond any words I can come up with,,,,
Hi Justin, very surprised that you react to this piece. And yeah, this is a only track, is not part of nothing really, it was released on this compilation called Boxed, from 1976, and later it became B-side of William Tell Overture single from 1977 (another track that you could react too). But I can't wait to see you reacting to Platinum
Ooh! Never heard this actually, so glad you did this! I know there's a number of B-sides and bonus tracks and such from him I've never heard, which is weird since he's literally my favorite musician (I just tend to be an album-listener). Yeah this was cool, also pretty weird. Awesome to just get a nice showcase of Mike's distinctive guitar playing. It sounded like one of those moments when a couple friends have a really inspired jam session and then you're like, 'Shoot, wish we recorded that.' Must have been based on some motifs from previous songs; I think I noticed just a couple nods to Incantations and On Horseback.
8:11 lol they should make a "The Quotable JP"
Ohhh, so David Bedford's playing piano here, I see. Bedford really is an unsung hero. He's always there is the background for at least the first many years of Oldfield's recording days. I've heard just a little bit of Bedford's own music but one of these days I'll need to explore what he's done.
this si a blues, an increíble amazing strange blues.
my favorite album - „Exposed“ - Live .. with Pierre Moerlen on Drums - I love it
Great tune, I never heard this one but I hear some tunes of his first three albums which is nice. Yes Oldfields guitar playing take only seconds to recognize. The high pitch, slightly distorted and sustained...absolutely love it. Great that you found this gem. Much more Mike Oldfield to discover I hope!
I know this song since 1983. It's composed as a shorter piece like some others with David Bedford. Mike's guitar playing is great as always. Please listen to Taurus 2, The Lake, Crises, Orabidoo, The Killing Fields (Soundtrack) and the collaborations with Pekka Pohjola and Gong etc.
....and not forgetting the Worcester Cathedral recording of INSTRUCTIONS FOR ANGELS 1977
@@sablebasilisk7998 Yes, great 👍
I'm seriously looking forward to Orabidoo (what even /is it/?) and Crises.
I was just thinking "I should really look up David Bedford's own music," and I've never heard of Instruction for Angels, so I'm gonna check that out!
@@nickj5451 Orabidoo is on the album Five Miles Out (1982), great instrumental track. The first track on the album Crises (1983) is a very good, long instrumental. It's all on YT.
YES........ YOURS IS NO DISGRACE....THE YES ALBUM
If you go to ANDY & ALEX.....YOURS IS NO DISGRACE.....scroll to 11:10 you can listen to their appraisal
I've done that album😁
Hi JP. For some reason my PC didn't find it yesterday. Today it has. Tnx for your reply@@JustJP
@@karitane no problem! Hope youre having a great weekend Derek!🙂
I love these bite-sized instrumentals, and could listen to them all day. And write my own all day, too. (Actually, I have...now, if only I could have made a living doing it, like Mr. Oldfield! My hero. His was a golden age...)
If I know well it was the fruit of the early (or pre-)Incantations sessions. I read somewhere (I don't remember when) Oldfield and David Bedford tried to experiment the form and sound what an "incantation" can be in the language of this kind of music (he earlier tried earler consulting with mystics - a druid and others - unsuccessfully). The album's "cleaner" sound got created after Oldfield with his siblings and friends get through the three days of Exegesis-therapy
I can relate to those feelings during that zoom in part lol.
😅
Every now and then I'm going to keep giving you my requests, cause as you said Justin, if I keep asking you'll eventually get to one of them 🙂
Jon and Vangelis: Curious Electric, off their album Short Stories
Vangelis: Pulstar, off his album Albedo 0.39 (I like Vangelis the way you like Mike Oldfield) 🙂
U.K.: Danger Money
Gypsy: The Vision, off their self-titled debut album, or just start at the beginning of the album 🙂
Dixie Dregs: Cruise Control
I would expect nothing less!
@@JustJP just doing my part 😛
Hey JP, could you please go back to Hackett's first solo album? Tho I would really only like that you react to Shadow of the Hierophant, pleaaaase 🥺🥺
Speaking of Hackett, getting close to The Lamb. :)
Its on my mind😃
@@JustJP Niiiiice :)
Love me some Hackett!!
A masterclass in the use of controlled harmonics. Extract from 'Star's End' on the same Collaborations album in the boxed set is also worth checking out.
Back in 82 i inexplicably unexpectedly bought Platinum thinking “i gotta rebel against this fashion thang”. So i turned to the much maligned Mike Oldfield for some bargain bin Non conformity. Little was i to know that he would explode into the top 40 a year later with moonlight shadow and become the soundtrack to a summer of lovecrises in 83 . . So even though i stayed away from all his major early works i was intruiged by the process of givin his lesser known lps a chance. Five Miles Out ‘s real life drama had drawn me in too at the time, but only recently have i given it a serious listen, and i ‘ve concluded that it’s sofa music of the highest calibre. On par with Our Dearest Sufjan Stevens.
Enjoy the Salad Bar that is Mike Oldfield, everybody. (Meats are also available on request. )
If you fancy a small side excursion in the direct context of the Oldfield universe you might check out his collaborator on this piece, David Bedford’s 1976 album Odyssey
If I remember rightly what we have is either David or Mike playing along to whichever instrument was laid down first; then the other reacting to that and cleaning their part up; and then the final bit of brushing up. Bedford and he obviously felt happy getting up to a few odd projects over those years and there are little hints of other things they did in this. I like the way that the RUclips description reckons you've just listened to "Speak..." though. I think we would have noticed your reaction if it had been that which you reacted to! 😊
Some other non-album tracks you might enjoy are Argiers, Guilty, Blue Peter, William Tell Overture, Cuckoo Song, Wrekorder Wrondo, Portsmouth, Polka and Mike Oldfied's single. These are simply awesome pieces of music which could have easily fit into any of his classic albums.
It almost sounds like Mike has a Sustainiac on his guitar, very Fripp-like.
I was getting ready to sing "hey and away we go" at around 6:01 - MO is always good but I fear it would take me a few listens to get this!
Oldfield's playing is out of this world... but this one makes my anxiety levels go up as I listen. ha ha... One of the most distinctive guitar sounds in rock. Three notes in and you KNOW it's Oldfield.
Evening, Justin. Dave from London, In The Wee Small Hours. Don't know this track, as Mike after Incantations is a bit of a desert for me (apart from singles like Moonlight Shadow). It's a sort of jam until the piano goes all baroque. Love his playing; you just know its him (it's MO's MO, you might say). Just hoped it would lead into a more structured piece.
I was trying to remember a particular song where spacey guitar leads into something more structured. I have now: it's How Long by Aussie band Southern Empire. Worth checking out.
Yo, you're gonna have to go to a White Castle in Jersey for that slider. After we can toss a few pitchs at the Oldfield down the ' Shore! Peace.
What really stands out in this track are the lyrics.
Did we listen to the same song? LMAO Perhaps the lyrics were implied Yeah that's it
@@snowdog87 Yes, The Song Remains the Same. Let me develop: throughout Oldfield's production, a track this short (with the exception of his early 80's poppier period) sounds a fragment of something that he never bothered to expand. It feels like an exercise to showcase his (terrific) musicianship. It is pleasant but inconsistent. Thus the ironic comment.
@@mariosandri4010 makes u wonder what the lyrics would be ,eh?
@@snowdog87 makes me move on and wonder what song will be Justin's choice, tomorrow.
JP posting a Mike Oldfield First Listen on my birthday. What's wrong with that? Absolutely nothing :)
😁Happy B Day!
@@JustJP Thanks JP 👍
Complety forgot about this one
♥️🇾🇪
Yeah prob a piece he came up with that just did not fit anywhere.. Quite a few scattered around his discog .Not one I go back to . In fact you played it and it sounded just familiar . nothing etched to the memory. Getting closer to the stage of his career now where it splits into two camps..
Back to Mike Oldfield, yes! Cannot wait until you get to Crises, but it's a good journey there. Mike is such an amazing guitar player.
Right, well, it wasn't too bad. Some nice guitar, the sustained feedback i liked, but it just didn't seem to develop. For most of it I was waiting for it to burst forth, open up, go for a big finish, a crescendo. Sadly, it didn't. He's obviously very talented, but this I felt was very anticlimactic.
Irrelevant song in Mike's career. Always is nice to hear his particular guitar tones... but the best of his "singles" comes later, a lot later, this sounds almost experimental... the next albums are also kind of experimental or trancision until Crises, another masterpiece. Like most Mike´s funs, I'm also a bit anxious to see your reactions listening Amarok... how fun it will be. But take your time, don't rush to it, I couldn't listen more than 10 minutes in my the first attempt.