Geez, I feel out of step with these gushing reviews.

I am a big Oldfield fan (thanks to Stevie M.), especially of his long form works, Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge, Ommadawn, Incantations, etc. I own 16 different Oldfield CD's, albums and cassettes (plus the box set Elements) so I believe I qualify as a fan.



I bought this CD the second I saw it on the shelf in 1996, listened to it twice through, once again on day 2 and put it away forever. Well, almost. I tried to listen to it again a couple of times since and have to say that I CANNOT.



It is a boring, unlistenable collection of warmed over new age pablum. When I saw Mike as a Middle Earth Elf Warrior on the cover I thought it must be a joke.



Sorry Mike. I love your music and have purchased almost all of it in one form or another but even Picasso had an off day or two.

Majestic.

Oh wow, so far, my favorite songs are:



#3, The Hero: This is very heartfelt, keening music. To me, it's sound reminds me of a cross between 'Titanic' movie and 'Lord of The Rings' styles. It's sort of sad, yet sweet and has a majestic feel. very soothing, but can be used when one needs bolstering.



#9, Flowers in The Forest: Wow. Majestic, builds up. Makes me think of something from 'Braveheart'. Makes you feel proud, gives you the chills. This music would be excellent to listen to when you need courage:)



The rest of the album is also great, still listening to it all, but I'll definitely be keeping it!

Nice !

This is a pretty good record.



It can however be a bit boring, if you are not in the mood to this kind of music.



I think it is worth a buy.