Godawful.

"Tubular Bells" no longer means a timeless, groundbreaking masterpiece. "Tubular Bells" now is a brand, because Mike himself sounds convinced that anything that begins with a tinkly piano line and ends with the sound of bells instantly is "Tubular Bells" (check The Millennium Bell). As such, what once was a powerful name is banalised, brutalised and beaten to a pulp, because Tubular Bells III is nothing short of godawful. It looks like he forgot to write melodies for his album, so all he does to fill up time is let his synthesizers bleep around and create a bunch of derivative "dance" riffs (The Source Of Secrets, Secrets), play something on his guitar that he has played MANY times before in the past (Outcast, Serpent Dream), or worse, indulge in an embarrassing, derivative "melody" (The Inner Child, Top Of The Morning). Practically everything he does here, he has done before. Man In The Rain not only directly copies Moonlight Shadow, but rips-off the intro for Rush's Time Stand Still (remember that one?) with its "beautiful" guitar sound. But the worst blow is that Mike plays every note as if he was playing Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Everything is pompous and self-important to a sickening degree, and the majestic finale of Far Above The Clouds features (sampled!) tubular bells playing nothing at all. It is a disgusting album, no more, no less, not worthy of attention at all. Stick to Amarok and the original Tubular Bells and you'll hear everything Tubular Bells III is supposed to be, but isn't.

Interesting, fun.. not quite as tired as it may seem.

In the beginning there was Tubular Bells, and it was good. And the public heard that it was good (or were effectively creeped out by the part of it used in The Exorcist). And yea, some years later Mike Oldfield did think to revamp it, using better technology and molding the work into a new form. And the public did have mixed feelings; some were thrilled, some felt it was so much fluff. And yea verily, Mike did return yet again with Tubular Bells III, but did not make the album another reworking this time. And this listener, at least, was quite pleased.



In classic Oldfield form, this is a mostly instrumental suite flowing from one section to the next and presenting various tasty sounds/textures throughout. Through shifting atmospheres, middle-eastern trance ("Serpent Dream") and yes, an occasional stretch veering into new-age territory ("The Top of the Morning"), there's still a consistent flow & mood to the whole thing. Some of it's pretty spacey (a-la Songs of Distant Earth) but I don't think the cheese level gets excessive.



Mike probably realized that reworking the first two Bells again would unquestionably be overkill.. hell, this album invited the risk of overkill just by existing. So he sticks to the timeless piano theme - spiced up with some subtle electronic textures this time - and reuses only a couple basic motifs throughout. "Inner Child" is very loosely based on the familiar haunting vocal section. "Outcast" flirts with the same bouncy fuzz-thrash idea that the other albums had, but remains far from a retread. And of course the tubular bells themselves must appear somewhere.



That's where the family resemblance ends. The layer-building section with the voice announcing the instruments is nowhere to be heard. Ditto the growling Piltdown Man sequence, which may be a relief for anyone who thought its treatment in TB2 was too ridiculous. And the closing hoedown is gone; instead we get the most effective finale of the three, a propulsive eargasmic crescendo thundering across the vast sky. (Listen between the lines and you'll hear him integrating the bass line from the grand finale of TB1's first half. Sneaky.) The thing that doesn't quite fit is "Man in the Rain," a catchy pop tune that's inevitably out of place in the middle of the instrumental work. But as someone below said, on its own it's a decent track and the flow of the album isn't harmed if it's skipped.



Obviously the original Bells is the one to begin with. If you'd like something more light and lush, try TB2; if you don't mind some electronic touches, come right here.

Not bad, not bad at all

It's not the dreary new age rehash I was expecting. Sure, it's a bit easy listening in places, but mostly it's a synth-heavy reworking with a touch of techno styling.



On balance, I like it a little more than Tubular Bells II, if only because it skips the Piltdown Man entirely rather than making it a joke, and because it's more subtle in its reworking of themes from the original Tubular Bells.



I'd like it even more without the obligatory attempt at a hit single ("Man In The Rain") breaking up the flow, though.