Tubular Bells SHM

If there could be something in rock music that can compare to a symphony, this is it. Mike Oldfield's original masterpiece gets a facelift here that adds a new dimension to an old favorite.Make no mistake; this is not a re-recording of the original, as the "Tubular Bells 2003" was. This is the original, remixed by Mike himself at his Bahamas home. Mike made it no secret that he was never totally satisfied with the sound of the original mix. It was a rush job, as he had only two weeks to record and mix it for presentation to the record company. He's had a chance now to make the mix work to his liking, and the sound- both in stereo and surround- is nothing short of amazing.I must clarify one thing here; I'm a big advocate of music recorded for, and in, surround sound. When music recordings are made, they are generally multitracked. As many as 24 or more individual tracks are used. Trying to take all that information and make it fit into the two channels of a stereo CD is a daunting task. There will be a lot of music that was recorded that simply won't fit without making things sound too cluttered. Multichannel, mainly 5.1, opens up at least three more channels to make better use of more of what was recorded. And if the recording engineer is worth his salt, he can create a surround mix that makes sense. Sure, it may not be completely realistic, but it delivers more of what was intended for you to hear.On this set, Mike rebalanced the sound and opened it up to reveal, as mentioned above, more of what was recorded...even on the stereo mix. As good as the original is, this was an eye-opener. (Or is that ear-opener?)The surround mix was a revelation. Elsewhere on the site, I have a review of the SACD of the original. I remember having the quadraphonic LP of the original, on a CD-4 record. What was on the SACD in surround was NOT the original mix. Nor is this, but it wasn't passed off as such. The textures in the music are revealed even more in the surround version, without resorting to loads of sonic trickery. There's no excessive "moving the music around you" effect, although where it is used, it's used to good effect.This is a recording that needs to be in your collection if you're a rock fan, and especially if you want to find out just how much better music can sound in surround. Your DVD player can be the greatest music machine ever. Let's hope Mercury, and UMG, also give Mike's"Ommadawn" and other similar albums, the same treatment.

Tubular Bells was my first foray into Progressive music, and it has stayed with me ever since. I originally owned it on vinyl. That collection is long gone. I've been listening to music via MP3 and computer of late, so when I dug out and updated my old hi-fi equipment; I re-learned how enjoyable music is: straight from the CD. So I went in pursuit of Tubular Bells. Don't give the 2003 version a look - its horrific (somehow John Cleese does not add anything positive). Search for an original 1973 and in the US at least you'll pay close to $100. So enter the 2009 Deluxe Edition. I listened with joy to the original 1973 mix and relived my earlier pleasure. Only it was better, courtesy of some better Hi-Fi components.Then I listened to the 2009 re-mastered version. It's good. Very good. But for me personally; a little clinical. In the original mix, we hear Mike's breathing during some of the acoustic guitar passages. That's gone from the 2009 version, and somehow I miss it. The bells also seem somehow different and ring 'not true'. I'll stick with the original, and here's the beauty of this disc. Whether you are returning to Tubular Bells, or listening for the first time: you'll find a version on this disc that meets your needs. I haven't tried the 5.1 version, but for those with a good system then I would bet that it's very worth a listen.I also enjoy TB II and TB III, but if you have to own just one disc: this is the one to buy.

First things first, Tubular Bells is, for my money, one of the best pieces of music of the 20th century. Not even TB II, III or 2003 could possibly change that, but they have over the years dampened my enthusiasm for Mike Oldfield. So the question is after these, why would I need yet another Tubular Bells? Well, sell your old copies and get this collection.First up there is the 2009 remix. For what it is, it's great. What is it? The usual scrub and polish, everything's-up-in-the-mix that everyone's doing these days, and it's really lovely. The 1st disc also contains both sides of the Mike Oldfield single (previously available on the boxed set) Necessary for the Vivian Stanshall "Sailor's Hornpipe".The 2nd disc is the original 1973 stereo mix. Perfect. Every other version is a distant second to this one, and I am very thankful that this was included after all of Mr. Oldfield's grumbling and second-guessing over the years.The 3rd disc (mis-labeled disc 4) is the surround sound mix of disc 1. I'm sure it will be fun, but I have not listened to it yet. The real treasure of this set is the visual content. Tubular Bells part 1 live in the studio. My jaw hung open as I was treated to a beautiful rendition performed by a "who's who" of 70's prog rock: Gong's Steve Hillage, Mike Howlett and Pierre Moerlen; Soft Machine's Mike Ratledge and Karl Jenkens; Fred Frith from Henry Cow; Rolling Stone Mick Taylor and others. I understand that this footage was released as a part of the Elements DVD, but I had never seen it before. I would have gladly paid $20 for this alone and given it 5 stars on its own.

I've been listening to this album since I heard it on Album Rock Radio in California (KSJO, San Jose) in 1973. I've never gotten tired of it and am enjoying it all over again with this new 5.1 release. The mix is good, in my opinion, some albums have suffered with a new remix but not this one. Hope you like it, too!

Verdict: A good package.Both CDs sound fine it being hard to quantify the difference between the original 1973 and remixed or re-mastered 2009 version - maybe the 1973 mix has been cleaned up.The surround 5.1 is generally good, done by Oldfield who ought to know how it should be. The DVD has only 5.1 sound on it. WARNING: 'Part 1' has a very high level sub woofer channel (the 0.1 channel) which could damage your hearing unless you adjust your equipment (ie. reduce the level or turn it off) - the bass frequency vibration is disturbingly way over anything else I have, DVD or SACD, at my normal setting. It fills your ears. Ridiculous. 'Part 2' and the other tracks are fine.Perhaps inevitably with such a popular album the surround is in the lowest common denominator format: DVD and Dolby 5.1, but DTS could have been better. It reveals less complexity to this multilayered recording than I expected and perhaps is not quite the 'whole sonic experience' the format can deliver - but it reveals crisp clarity and separation, you can hear everything and it's fine ('part 1' comment aside). What Steven Wilson might have done with the tapes in whatever state they were in will nevertheless hover in my mind. The screen-saver style visuals are initially impressive but get irritating when you notice the joins and repetition; and they are the same for all tracks, just cutting off at the end according to the track timing.The five star extra is the 1973 BBC 'live' version which is simply splendid (stereo only, but with video of the performance); there are no credits and no personnel list. You have to play spot the musician.So why did I buy this (yet again)? Some background will explain.This was originally released on 15 May 1973 and I had my copy soon enough to see the only live performance at the QE Hall on 25 June 1973. Not that there was an inkling it would be the only time it was publicly performed. I still have the concert handout listing performers and reproducing an article by John Peel: "a record that does quite genuinely cover new and uncharted territory". It is hard to appreciate now what an impact this made on first release, it was radically different. Oldfield has said that the performance included off tuning (not that anyone noticed as it was just such an great event with so many 'underground scene' musicians), but it went down very well and I vividly recall how Viv Stanshall dramatically miscued the instrument introductions. Many of those musicians turn up on the BBC performance (Viv Stanshall is safely on tape).I still have the vinyl and was blissfully unaware of all the other versions having only got a second hand early CD of parts 1 & 2 some 25 years later. Hence this 3 disc package offered me genuine extras (a) the short extra tracks from what now seems to be the 'standard' CD edition, and (b) the real reasons for purchase: the 5.1 surround version and the BBC performance unknown to me until I saw it on BBC4 in October 2013 (when it had credits but still no personnel list).Accordingly I was wedded to the original version rather than re recordings etc, but even if you've never heard Tubular Bells before this is the version to get. The BBC performance tells you more than any review.

I guess very few people will buy this who don't already have an earlier CD copy. For those few who don't, there is a copy of the original 1973 stereo album (Disc 2) as well as the 2009 stereo mixes of the album plus the Single/Sailors hornpipe (Disc 1). Disc 3 (labelled Disc 4 for some bizarre reason!) contains the 5.1 version plus the original TOTP live performance on DVD. I would have paid the price of the set for this last disc alone. There is also a detailed and informative booklet tucked away inside the opening cover.It is without doubt excellent value for money. I can't think why anyone would wish to spend nearly £60 quid for the `ultimate' edition when this is available for less than £12 (unless a couple of plectrums and a vinyl copy of the original floats your boat).One of my abiding memories of my teenage years is hearing this music for the first time in 1973 and I have loved it ever since. A highlight of my university years happened in 1977 when Mike Oldfield granted Paul Egan and a motley bunch of us students in Trinity College Dublin permission to put on a live concert of Tubular Bells. As far as I remember this was the first time a live performance had been staged other than the TOTP version in 1973. Being part of this performance cemented my love for this album.Listening to the 5.1 surround sound version gave the odd sensation of being back in the middle of the orchestra (as we pretentiously called ourselves at the time). Familiar themes sounded `new' and crisp and everything seems fresh and bright. The opening 10 minutes is the most impressive and the bass line (subdued in some recordings in the past) really packs a punch. I was slightly disappointed in the last section of this track - what used to be the end of side one in the vinyl years - as the vocals ("Plus Tubular Bells") seemed to be a bit lost in the mix and the overall sound seemed a bit muddy compared to the stereo mix. But this could be my equipment and might sound more impressive on a higher quality set up.But these are minor quibbles: This is an excellent buy, very reasonable for what it contains, and a must for any serious fan of this classic album.

So much has already been written about Tubular Bells so I'll keep this simple.This release is not a reworking in the style of Tubular Bells II or III, it's simply a reamstering of the original 1973 classic with a few subtle and worthwhile mix alterations. The remastering process is in fact so sucessful I think this is now the definitive version. I am struggling to think of a more effective remastering. All the hiss and bass rumble is gone and we are left with a warm, luxurious sound that is absolutely beautiful.On this record you will find little flourishes left off the original release all together and the overall effect, for me anyway, was that I fell in love with Tubular Bells all over again!So what of the extras that make this a deluxe release. Well you also receive the original 1973 mix just in case, for some bizarre reason, you dislike the new master and mix. The single version (Mike Oldfield's single) and the Sailor's Hornpipe featuring Viv Stanshall are stunning and humorous but do come with the standard release. Disc 3 contains a 5.1 surround sound version for those with 5 ears presumably! The real treat is a live 1975(?) BBC DVD performance featuring such luminary guitarists of the time as Steve Hillage, Mick Taylor and Fred Frith with Karl Jenkins on keys.All these new remasters has rejuvinated my love for Oldfield's music and has led me to the discovery of an album called Mohribold by an emerging musician called Andrew Taylor (plug that into your search engine!). He is an artist who must have listened to Oldfield's early albums in great detail, though he clearly has a flare all of his own too. Both Oldfield and Taylor are talented multi-intrumentalists, if you love Tubular Bells you'll love Mohribold.

I am going to keep this review very short. You know the lp/cd but wait until you hear the 2009 5.1 mix. This box is released by Mercury/Universal and not Virgin. The vinyl is housed in one sleeve of the newly designed gatefold cover. However, the original sleeve is still kept but now with a black inner gatefold. The vinyl dust jacket (inner sleeve) is plain white The cd/dvds are housed in the sealed other side of the gatefold. The book is rather good. Hardback and well bound with nice sized pictures... BUT a more accurate and longer story of the making is to be read in "THE MAKING OF MIKE OLDFIELD'S TUBULAR BELLS by RICHARD NEWMAN" see this link  The Making of Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" . Both books share a lot of the same photos but the reading is so much more in depth in Newman smaller sized book.Sorry I can't make a comment about the sound of the record as I will never play the vinyl. The Making of Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells"

Apart from including the original mix of the music, plus an updated one which adds more colours to the original sonic palette, the highlight of this reissue is the BBC live version of Tubular Bells. Featuring Oldfield himself on bass and acoustic guitar other parts are played by gifted musicians such as ex-Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, Fred Frith and Steve Hillage and a damned good job of it they make too. The only disappointment was that Vivian Stanshall wasn't in the TV studio to announce "Grand Piano" and the triumphant, "Tubular Balls!". The BBC made do with a tape recording of the fruitiest voice in rock.