c o n r a d

For his follow-up to the enormously succesful Tubular Bells, Mike Oldfield opted to go for the same formula of two long tracks, but with a change of mood. Inspired by the countryside surrounding his new home, he created music based on the mostly peaceful environment he now lived in. The mood is sedate, even soporific, and Oldfield could easily be accused of aimless meandering. For me, though, the album effectively refutes such claims about eight minutes in with the sublime use of oboes. The heart-meltingly beautiful section that follows the oboes' introduction has to be some of the best-arranged music Oldfield has ever produced. The music continues sedately, and this would be one of the ultimate albums to go to sleep by at night, were it not for the fact that the mood is shattered part way through the second half with what is often referred to as the "storm" section. Normally a louder section on an otherwise quiet album would serve as a wonderful release, but here the music is poor; and rather than being a liberating part of the album, it is just plain irritating. The synthesiser staccato, not always at a constant pace, signaling the first rain drops, I can live with. Just. The annoying part is the six-minute repetition of the same riff with muted and largely uninteresting solo guitar playing over the top. The poor quality of the music here turns what could have been an invigorating interlude into a jarring anomaly. That said, the bulk of the album is very good, and in parts excellent. The second half makes it an album unsuitable for going to sleep to, but there is enough here to keep the keen listener engaged throughout. Hergest Ridge is very much a walk through the countryside. Slow and pleasant, its worth resides in the intrinsic beauty of simple things rather than gaudy and flashy excess. Mike Oldfield's first three albums are considered his classic trilogy, and for me this album deserves its place there, even if I consider it to be the least of the three. review by Conrad Leviston — 10-27-06 —