This album has been out for a few weeks now. I didn`t get my copy straight away as I live in a backward country called the USA. 😏 There was not a release date so I had to go to South America and order it from the Amazon forest. At least that`s how I understand the system works. 😀
While waiting, I had pulled out my vinyl copy of the original Ommadawn and played that for the first time in a lot of years. It felt very familiar and comfortable. That also pretty much describes my feeling on Return To Ommadawn. This new album will not make any converts, but it is good to be back in Mike Oldfield`s world again. No-one quite does this stuff like he does. If I hadn`t gone back to listen to the original piece, I may have mistaken parts of the new one for the original. It has a lot of similar themes and even goes back and lifts pieces of "On Horseback". "Hey and away we go" indeed.
I have listened to it several times now, but probably won`t give it the amount of time it requires as I like to wander around my collection and that is a longer journey than it was when Mr. Oldfield made the original Ommadawn and also my favourite of his works, Incantations.
My problem with listening to a lot of new releases by new artists, is that I hear their influences and even what seem like direct lifts of melodies or vocals. Well Mike has done that but at least it his own work that he has lifted from. Not groundbreaking stuff but a worthy addition to my collection of Oldfield music.
