Review Summary: Some say, Mike Oldfield never was good. I say, he never was better.
Sometimes, things just make sense. Imagine sitting on a beach, watching the sea ebb and flow. Life might be difficult elsewhere, but right here, right now, it's bearable. Escapism is not a solution, but a valuable strategy. Especially, if it's backed up by some great music.
Mike Oldfield's "Ommadawn" only has one problem: It's not "Tubular bells", which not only was technically groundbreaking for its time, but also an astounding piece of music, "double speed guitar" included. "Ommadawn" doesn't strike the listener with an intro as memorable as "Tubuluar bells" had, but it does offer layers upon layers of depth. While Oldfield's debut left the whole world awestruck, "Ommadawn"'s appeal was pointed inward. It's a complicated album, full of detours and quirks, while managing to get the basic idea across: Every note, every sound screams "Listen to me, this is urgent. My time is limited." Even though the Englishman did manage to score some major hits afterwards, he basically never reached the compositional density of "Ommadawn" again - some (amazing) parts of "Amarok" excluded. On "Ommadawn", Oldfield did not only perfect his leitmotif centered longtrack style, he also wrote some of his most memorable melodies. Especially the final minutes of "Part I" go far beyond everything he's done before and after. Tribalistic drum patterns are laying the foundation, while the other instruments are slowly drifting away into sweet oblivion. Add Oldfield's characteristic lead guitar, and you've got a smasher. Long before post rock crescendos were a thing, Mike was doing it all. The build up, the repetitiveness, the climax. Love is real.
But "Ommadawn" is much more than that. "Part II" begins with a heavy drone, consisting of guitars and synths swirling around themselves, just to make place for a neat folky riff, which is accompanied by some classical celtic instruments. While some of Oldfield's later folk albums were straight up kitsch, "Ommadawn" somehow manages to stay balanced between catchiness and beauty. I mean, there's a ***ing bagpipe in "Part II" and it sounds amazing. Moreover, "Ommadawn" builds upon the basic idea of "Hergest ridge": Take some traditional influences, add lots of overdubs and even more imagination to achieve true greatness. I highly recommend listening to the original mixes of those albums, as the remastered versions sadly trade uniqueness for compression. Oldfields approach to orchestration never was more on point as it was on "Ommadawn". Somehow, he manages to put the most obscure instruments together, while maintaining a coherent acoustic landscape.
And on top of that, there's the horseback. What a nice place to be on. Out of nowhere, Oldfield surprises his listeners by adding a little folk song to the whole picture. "Hey and away we go / Through the grass, across the snow" are both strikingly simple and universally touching lines. The romantic idea of getting lost in nature's grasp is strong in "Ommadawn". In some way, it's an anarchronistic album. To put it differently: It's a timeless album. From the depths of solitude to the joy of being together - "Ommadawn" tells the whole story. Because sometimes, things just make sense.
PS: I really recommend listening to "First excursion", which is an amazing non album track of that period. Guitar orgasm.
