#287
Album: Tubular Bells
Artist: Mike Oldfield
Year: 1973
Length: 49:16
Genre: Progressive Rock
Tubular Bells Part 1
Who would of thought? A mostly entirely 20-minute instrumental track would go on to become one of the most iconic songs in horror movie history? Even if you have no idea what Tubular Bells is, you definitely have heard the first five minutes of the song. Even if at the moment you can’t think of what it could be, guaranteed you have heard it at least once in your life. The thing is, you probably don’t know it as Tubular Bells and know it better as The Theme from The Exorcist. That’s right, the first five minutes of the titular song became one of horror’s most iconic musical soundtrack for one of the genre’s greatest movies. Shocking to think this is where it came from especially once you listen to the entire thing, you would never think that could have been the case. But by pure happenchance it did happen and now lives forever in horror movie history.
What strikes me the most about this album is how incredibly impressive it is. Mike Oldfield basically recorded almost every instrument by himself and created this album when he was only 19 years old. That’s right, 19 years old. Take that in a bit, what were you doing at 19? I definitely was nowhere near coming up with anything remotely close to the level and heights that is this album that’s for sure. Just the scope and breadth and epic scale of the music on this album is so incredibly impressive on every level, it’s hard to believe it came from the mind of some youth, especially knowing he had started coming up with the music years before actually recording it. It’s insane to think but I absolutely love this album and only have the utmost respect for Mike Oldfield and his skills.
It’s hard to truly describe this album in words. Just like any great progressive rock songs that last longer than ten minutes, it takes you on a journey through a variety of different moods, sounds and feelings and in the case of Tubular Bells it never seems to backtrack to a previous part, it just keeps going to new places all the way to the end of it. I bet you never heard a song that takes the time to list off all the instruments being used. At the end of Part 1 on Side A, we get introduced to each instrument as they play a riff one by one once they’ve been introduced, adding layer upon layer onto each other until we get a symphony of instruments. If you really wanted something different, Side B ends with a sort of sea shanty that speeds up and speeds up which is incredibly unlike the rest of the album and yet somehow still fits and works!
This is definitely one of those albums you need to experience to really grasp because as I said above, it’s really difficult to put it all into words. Mike Oldfield takes you on quite the musical journey and this will continue to remain one of the most impressive albums I’ve ever heard. And I stand by that statement.
Favourite Song: Tubular Bells Part 1
-Bosco
Bosco's Modern Life 