Mike Oldfield

About this product

Departing from the choppy mix of prog and folk-based influences explored for the first time on Mike Oldfield's debut Tubular Bells, Oldfield's much anticipated follow up, Hergest Ridge develops for itself a unique charm entirely its own. Softer and calmer, atmospheric and haunting, Hergest Ridge is a lament to the soothing environment Oldfield enveloped himself in directly after his debut's overwhelming success.

With sounds evoking imagery of rolling Welsh hills and pure, pastoral scenery - drawing influences from a genuine British nature spot - Hergest Ridge serves as a retreat from Oldfield's inner trauma as much as it does a journey into the wild desolation of nature. Signature guitars, mixed in with delicate woodwind and crashing brass deliver the insights into a mind which has grown harsher and colder in the face of public acrimony.

Comments Oldfield "I know I'm very unstable, and I probably always will be, but the point is that I've accepted that about myself. Hergest Ridge, on the other hand, is smooth, uncluttered. There are no tube trains, very few car doors, lots of open countryside, smooth hills, a general feeling of smoothness and wellbeing and non-hysteria, just a much nicer environment."