Mike Oldfield

From the Source

Originally released in 1979, just six years after Mike Oldfield's debut Tubular Bells, and at the height of Oldfield's subsequent emotional disquiet, Platinum is an incredibly important piece in Oldfield's musical history, as he departs from the strictly conceptual approach used on his recordings up until this point and, for the first time ever, delivers an album based around the importance of songs rather than concept.

With a sound still based in the deep and intense ridges of the human psyche, Oldfield takes us on a journey from darkened, sombre guitars, through to tracks based around upbeat tempos and jovial melodies. Essentially a progressive album in nature, Oldfield stays true to form and delivers an array of sounds, moods, instruments and techniques during the course of the record. Says Oldfield "I always imagine it [the guitar] as some kind of musical creature talking... there aren't many people who can do that. The difference between me and the people that quote in their music other artists is... that I quote myself."

"That's why I called it Platinum, partly as a joke - you know, 'Mike Oldfield goes platinum'".