The Songs of Distant Earth Mike Oldfield

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CD

  • Release Date: 01/13/2008
  • Original Release: 1996
  • Sales Rank: 46,613
  • Label: WARNER SPEC. MKT. UK
  • UPC: 745099854225

Listener Rating: (2 ratings)

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  • Overview
  • Tracks
  • Editorial Reviews
  • Customer Reviews
  • Details & Credits
Track List
Click on LISTEN or link to hear an audio clip.
To listen to samples you'll need a Windows Media Player

The Songs of Distant Earth

1LISTENIn the Beginning 1:24
2LISTENLet There Be Light 4:57
3LISTENSupernova 3:23
4LISTENMagellan 4:40
5LISTENFirst Landing 1:16
6LISTENOceania 3:19
7LISTENOnly Time Will Tell 4:26
8LISTENPrayer for the Earth 2:09
9LISTENLament for Atlantis 2:43
10LISTENThe Chamber 1:48
11LISTENHibernaculum 3:32
12LISTENTubular World 3:22
13LISTENThe Shining Ones 2:59
14LISTENCrystal Clear 5:42
15LISTENThe Sunken Forest 2:37
16LISTENAscension 5:49
17LISTENA New Beginning 1:37

About this Artist

Editorial Reviews

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. Mike DeGagne, All Music Guide

Customer Reviews

  • Listener Rating:
  • Ratings: 2Reviews: 2

They who have an ear, ...let them hear, ...excellence in music.by Anonymous

Reader Rating:
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February 10, 2006: Sit back in your favorite chair, turn up your speakers, and take a musical experience. A journey from beginning to end. Do not leave your chair, as you might miss parts of blended voices. This CD is a musical experience all to its own that cannot be compared to, and will never be matched. Mike Oldfield has created a musical journey that will stand the test of time in it's own genre.

This review was written about the CD edition.

A five star musical journeyby Anonymous

Reader Rating:
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August 04, 2003: This CD is excellent and was not given the proper review it should have received by All Music Guide Mike DeGagne. The rhythms in the music, the change of pace and beats and the intermittent voices all blend into a hypnotic journey. This is one of my favorite CD's and I play it over and over again.

This review was written about the CD edition.