Rummage: A Goat [Syd biog.]

General discussion about Pink Floyd.
User avatar
Feeling Very Pink
Hammer
Hammer
Posts: 1083
Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2002 4:52 pm

Rummage: A Goat [Syd biog.]

Post by Feeling Very Pink »

Just bought and read Lost In The Woods - Syd Barrett And The Pink Floyd (Julian Palacios, 1998, ISBN 0-7522-2328-3). Good read. :)

But what's happened to the 'superb' website included on the Internet sources bit? :?

http://www.mtnlake.com/-robp/syd1.html

Doesn't appear to be no more, like. :?:

And when I tried to send an Email for that FAQ thing, well that didn't happen either. :evil:

[email protected]

Decidedly non-plussed, folx. Any info? :roll:

My word, I love Tubular Bells... :D
Last edited by Feeling Very Pink on Sat Feb 01, 2003 12:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
David Smith
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 7074
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 12:54 pm
Location: Edinburgh or Aberdeen depending on the time of year

Post by David Smith »

Really? I hate tubular bells. That album just went on and on. Mike Oldfield was talented yeah, but come on, the album was a totally over rated dire mess.

I may attempt to justify this if anyone disagrees to much with my opinion, but in the mean time, i just hate it.
User avatar
Feeling Very Pink
Hammer
Hammer
Posts: 1083
Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2002 4:52 pm

Post by Feeling Very Pink »

I love this forum.
User avatar
qjamesfloyd
Hammer
Hammer
Posts: 639
Joined: Thu Jun 13, 2002 1:59 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Southampton,England

Post by qjamesfloyd »

Tubular Bells is amazing,Mike Oldfield is amazing,it is a huge classic that ranks alongside the other classic of 1973 Dark Side Of The Moon,i have always thought that people who love Pink Floyd would also love Mike Oldfield's music,they are similar,exept in the lyrics where Mike is really not much good,by his own admission by the way,but then again neither is David Gilmour!!,but Mike is a huge talent,a genius,and a guitar player at least as good as Gilmour,better in some respect,Oldfield does not get the merit he deserves,if you have only heard Tubular Bells,then i would suggest listening to some of his other stuff,he has made over 20 albums,i would suggest either Tubular Bells 2 or The Songs Of Distant Earth as a good starting point,but try listening to AMAROK,oh my god,a truely unique album,to think one man did all that on 1 album!!!!!!!.
But Tubular Bells it'self is not really a dire mess,some of it is out of time and tune,but there is lot's of reasons behind why that is,and in any case,Mike is in the process of re-recording in right now,so,myabe give the new version a listening,and you might like it more.
User avatar
David Smith
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 7074
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 12:54 pm
Location: Edinburgh or Aberdeen depending on the time of year

Post by David Smith »

Ok, my problem with it was that it lasted like 50 minutes.

In my 300 cd collection i only include cds i feel i may actually listen to, tubular bells was taken out of my collection because it's just to boring. The song has no structure, it's just a series of little songs that could have atleast been recorded as seperate songs so you can just go straught to the good bits ("Bass guitar" "now some Tubular Bells") rather than having to go through the whole thing.

The album goes on to long, and with a bit of multi tracking it could have been something special but instead he only plays like one instrument at a time and gives it a tedious feel as you wait for that instrument to end and the next to start. He could have also given it a catchy hookline like Atom Heart Mother had.

And Tubular Bells 2 and remixes, don't get me started.

Just my opinion though.

Although my mum does have a best of Mike Oldfield that i might listen to part of actually. See if you're right.
User avatar
Feeling Very Pink
Hammer
Hammer
Posts: 1083
Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2002 4:52 pm

Post by Feeling Very Pink »

I agree with everything that qjamesfloyd said. :wink:

Love his eighties stuff, too: Crises - all twenty-three minutes of it - is prog synth genius. Discovery's good, too. :)

Yeah, I've always kind of presumed that people who like Pink Floyd would like Mike Oldfield. It is similar in many ways. :P

Uh, yeah. That's it.
User avatar
dgsyd1
Knife
Knife
Posts: 346
Joined: Wed Aug 28, 2002 1:52 am
Location: Michigan, US

Post by dgsyd1 »

Mike's best album by far is OMMADAWN, it is very similar in structure the the first TUBULAR BELLS though. The album itself is a combination of English folk, Celtic, and African music, and a very good combination at that.
User avatar
Feeling Very Pink
Hammer
Hammer
Posts: 1083
Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2002 4:52 pm

Post by Feeling Very Pink »

Incantations is also a great album. Four sides of vinyl! Plenny o' themes, too. Lots going on. That's what it's all about. :)
User avatar
dgsyd1
Knife
Knife
Posts: 346
Joined: Wed Aug 28, 2002 1:52 am
Location: Michigan, US

Post by dgsyd1 »

AMAROK is also worth checking out, especially as it's OMMADAWN II in all but name. HERGEST RIDGE is also worth spending 45 minutes on, and I don't care what anyone else says, "Moonlight Shadow" is a bloody good song!
User avatar
Feeling Very Pink
Hammer
Hammer
Posts: 1083
Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2002 4:52 pm

Post by Feeling Very Pink »

'Moonlight Shadow' is indeed a brilliant song. UK Top 5. Yes!

Apparently it was written about, or dedicated to, John Lennon. Bit liberty-taking, though. Was he shot 'six times'?
User avatar
qjamesfloyd
Hammer
Hammer
Posts: 639
Joined: Thu Jun 13, 2002 1:59 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Southampton,England

Post by qjamesfloyd »

Moonlight Shadow,great track,classic guitar solol,it's even better when he plays it live,it's extexnded a bit more,and has a Sultans Of Swing hammer on and off thing going on too.The other interesting thing is Mike Oldfield was actually in New York the very day John Lennon was shot,weird eh.
Amarok is an astounding piece of music,but to David Smith,if you did'nt like Tubular Bells 1 at 50 mins,then forget Amarok,it is an hour,all 1 track!!!!,there is so much to this album,there is not enough space to write about it,it has something different almost every time you hear it,the morse code bit is funny,Mike plays some amazing guitar all the way through it,the weird thing is,that amongst Oldfield fans it is probably the favourite album,but it is one of his worst seller's.
User avatar
Feeling Very Pink
Hammer
Hammer
Posts: 1083
Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2002 4:52 pm

Post by Feeling Very Pink »

Didn't even chart, according to my many lists. Unbelievable. :?

Is this down to lack of promotion/interest from his record company, or everyone in this country having exceptionally bad musical taste?! :evil:
User avatar
dgsyd1
Knife
Knife
Posts: 346
Joined: Wed Aug 28, 2002 1:52 am
Location: Michigan, US

Post by dgsyd1 »

Virgin Records had pretty much given up on Mike by the time AMAROK came out, and there was no chance of getting a single off the album. Mike's next big success wasn't until he changed labels to Warner and did TUBULAR BELLS II. Interesting Pink Floyd connection. Mike played guitar on Robert Wyatt's ROCK BOTTOM album, produced by none other than Mr Nicholas Mason.

BTW John Lennon was shot 4 times, although 5 shots were fired.
User avatar
qjamesfloyd
Hammer
Hammer
Posts: 639
Joined: Thu Jun 13, 2002 1:59 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Southampton,England

Post by qjamesfloyd »

It was as much Mike being fed up with the way he was treated by Virgin(MR R Branson) as with virgin giving up on Mike,because Virgin wanted Mike to make more singles,pop/chart stuff,and that is so not what Mike is about then or now,this ended up as the album Earth Moving,which was Mike's first and last songs only album,so,as a repsonce to that,he set out to make the most amazing outlandish album he could,that being Amarok,which he through everything musically he could into,1 hour long,lots and lots of instruments,including vacuum cleaner,lol,and he even told Richard Branson to F**k off in morse code,cool.
User avatar
Feeling Very Pink
Hammer
Hammer
Posts: 1083
Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2002 4:52 pm

Post by Feeling Very Pink »

Mike Oldfield is one of my favourite human beings like ever like. :P

Just listened to 'Amarok (Excerpt)' on my Elements best-of. :shock:

Superb. :)