FIRST TIME HEARING Mike Oldfield- "Ommadawn Part 1" (Reaction) 

A complete adventure/fantasy film in my mind, transporting me to different fantastic locations as I follow the journey of our hero... Thanks for watching! 🥰

One of the most sublime pieces of music ever made.

The end section with the driving percussion and the final guitar solo is one of the best musical moments that I have come across

I remember seeing Mike Oldfield play live in Australia. He played every instrument on stage at some point in the concert. I remember losing Oldfield on stage and looking around to see what instrument he was playing. This particular performance is in my top 3 most astonishing musical concerts I have seen (And I have seen plenty of artists and bands in various genres - apart from Hendrix, the Doors, the original Led Zeppelin, The Beetles, john Coltrane, Sergovia, Louie Armstrong, Elvis, Chuck Berry, Robert Johnston, Lead Belly, Reinhart and Dolly Parton)

Beautiful and transporting, I was right back there 50 years ago, when that rythmic beat faded out at the end I automatically wanted to turn the record over, can't wait for you to get On Horseback. It does conjure up many landscapes and cinemascapes, but my take is that this music, this album in particular but also Tubular Bells and Hergest Ridge come closest to picturing the perfect ancient *English* landscape (I'm not English, I'm north of the border) There's something in it that rolls like the countryside and changes like the weather, but it also sounds so old...

Amazing, awesome,mind blowing..,. Oldfield never fails to deliver Brandon... great channel... awesome review...❤😊😊😊

I thought you would enjoy this. It's a real classic from the genius, Mike Oldfield, everything about it is amazing, great melodies, incredible guitar playing as ever from Mike. He was in a very bad way personally when he made this album and he put all his energy and feelings into it. Please continue with Part 2. After that, I recommend you try one of his 1980's pieces, try the track called Crises.

I’ve seen Mike live a few times many moons ago , always special. I prefer this to Tubular Bells and part 1 has become my go to chill out session whenever I need it. I wore the album away when it came out and had the poster of the front cover at one time. Thanks for reviewing this and do take time to listen to it again on headphones.

incredible stuff, amazing that he is always left off of great guitarists lists... if you do Oldfield live it has to be Tubular Bells III Live London, even just to see Helen DeMacque is enough. 😍

Just got myself new...and far better...headphones, so this was a perfect piece of music to break them in on! Great reaction. Thanks!

OMG - this was so epic... listening for the first time with headphones to this 2010 remastered version ...it had me in tears at the end - sooo good!!! I had the privilege to be able to listen to Mike's works, when they came out first, and I didn't miss a beat, until he turned 'poppy', then I lost a bit the interest, but until then it was a breathtaking journey of bliss... I felt that he grew stronger with every album, starting with 'Tubular Bells', then 'Hergest Ridge' (less popular with many, but I love those dark, Celtic, brooding sounds on it - was even my favourite for a while), then this one, followed by 'Incantations', which to me took his work again to another level, even topping Ommadawn!! Then after his music began to change... starting with 'Platinum', which I think is a brilliant masterpiece too, right on the edge of the 'old' and the 'new' Mike-sound... Thanks Brandon, I (always!) love your review at the end - the dessert after the main dish! 💖

Always daring to embark for a Mike Oldfield trip, this wasn't my favorite, I can't say I listened to it properly until now, (maybe my fifth time) it is always a long journey in a way of his famous "Tubular bells". Listening with you took me instantly back to several souvenirs and themes I already heard, so when you heard this work once it stays in my memory somehow. Thanks. It is a great mix and melting pot of instruments like before, many acoustic instruments less electronic, percussions & Chorals, folk and Irish music, sad, joyful and very technical musicianship like he usually do. He have a unique way to lay his musical sequences one after the others, Vintage vibes, main theme coming back in many ways close to soundtrack music obviously. I must admit that I liked it here more than before, I don't remember why I didn't liked it before, because it is clearly also a masterpiece. I Believe Mike inspired a generation of modern movie composer without hesitation. It have marks those 70's when such things were still new. Thanks you for this, Brandon!

Love his Ommadawn, Hergest Ridge and QE2 Albums. They were Mainstay Plays of mine while in College.

Mike recorded this album at The Beacon near Kington in Herefordshire very close to Herguest Ridge.

I bought this album on vinyl in 1978 and it's still in my top tem albums of all time. Incredible that he could make this at the age of 22! I will say that the origial version does sound a little different than this re-master, though the differences are subtle. Amazing piece of music, thanks.

Excellent reaction! I can't wait for part two!!!

One of the most emotional pieces ever. Mike suffered lost of his mother during writing this album. This guitar really cried in this song. P.S. I often love new remizes much more than old ones, despite nostalgia I understand that often they really making a lot of albums sounds more dynamic, more clear. But not with this album, I'm pretty sure 2010 remix was a big mistake, they really missed out a lot on this remix, so I geniualy recommend you to relisten someday this song with 1975 remix. It's very fresh, you will not notice that it is 1975, but mix in 1975 was much more accurate

I had thought that you would react next to "Tubular Bells part 2", but you went directly to Mike's masterpiece (tied with "Amarok" in the opinion of most die-hard fans, myself included). Well, now you know why we're so crazy about it. This is the 2010 remix - the difference is subtle, but noticeable to those who have listened to this album a gazillion times and can play it note by note inside their heads. But don't worry, it's not different enough to impair the experience. (As I warned you before, "Hergest Ridge" is a different story and you MUST make sure you listen to the original 1974 version, as all its remixes were very destructive and made it a totally different album.) And one of the first things I thought as I watched your reaction progress was: "Brandon will want to listen to part 2, maybe even before he catches up with 'Tubular Bells'." Bingo! I do suggest that. Parts 2 of "Tubular Bells" and "Hergest Ridge", while still totally respectable, are not as good as their respective parts 1. But "Ommadawn part 2" is just as good as part 1, if not even better! It's not exactly "related", the themes are different, but it follows so smoothly and so naturally, and it's very cohesive with part 1. Then there's "On Horseback" at the end, which is the cutest thing in the world! And the challenge is still up for you to identify what instrument is used in the first section of part 2 (reminder: it's NOT a synth, though it sounds somewhat like one). I also love how "Ommadawn" is not a one-man show and how Mike respected his collaborators and gave them room to shine. Big bro Terry (an amazing flutist), big sis Sally (an amazing singer - her "Water Bearer" album is absolutely beautiful and highly recommended!), Irish singer Clodagh Simmonds (also amazing), the incredible Jabula drummers from South Africa (refugees from apartheid in the UK at that time), all of whom you've already listened, and the greatest star of all, whom you will hear in part 2: the late Paddy Moloney, Ireland's greatest uilleann piper. Uilleann (pronounced "eelan") is the Irish version of the bagpipe. I don't know the details, but it sounds different from the better-known Scottish version, which is already a helluva difficult instrument to play, but the Irish version is said to be even more difficult (it's probably an exaggeration, but they say one takes 10 years just to learn how to HOLD it, before playing a single note!). And Paddy's solo in part 2 always gives me chills and moves me to tears! I also think that "Ommadawn" showcases better than "Tubular Bells" Mike's talent as a guitarist. Mike can play just about anything (even "contents of aeromodellers toolkit", as listed in the "Amarok" leaflet), and he's been known to master totally new instruments in just a couple of days, but it's as a guitarist that he really shines, and he has a unique, instantly recognizable style. (TRUE RARITY recommendation: a track called "First Excursion", which was released only in the luxury "Boxed" 4-record set, where Mike's guitars would certainly get a standing ovation from Jimi Hendrix!) Well, Mike is a cross between a rabbit hole and a galactic black hole! Well, that's it for today, but I do want to say that I watched your reaction to "Hamburger Concerto" with great pleasure. I was actually one of the first viewers, but you uploaded it very late at night (it was 3:30 AM here, a couple of hours ahead of you, but I was having insomnia). The happiness from it made me sleep like a baby and I didn't comment, then the next days were absolutely hectic, but I still want to make a belated but thorough comment about it. That song deserves it! Stay tuned!

Brilliant interpretation Brandon!

Great timing….first today! Awesome song!

Love

Mike Oldfield has done lots of great stuff, but imo his first three albums were his best, and Ommadawn was the best of those three.

love that background picture !!! very nice -- and the video too by the way.

Do you prepare your analysis before recording? You hit all the right notes of a music conniseur. Looking forward to more Bowie reactions! Also cool Zelda shoutout, hehe Feel it

1984 Discovery album, "The Lake", 12' 10'' of majestic music, nothing else to say, ;)

Solo ora ho trovato il tempo per ascoltare come merita con calma ed attenzione tutto il tuo commento finale. Sono perfettamente d'accordo con te Fin dal mio primo ascolto tanti anni fa quando acquistai l'album solo per il nome di Mike Oldfield ma senza conoscerne assolutamente il contenuto , ebbi da subito la sensazione di un viaggio spazio - temporale. In vari luoghi della Terra ed oltre . Inoltre mi fa piacere che tu sia un seguace di ZELDA come mio figlio più giovane. Oltretutto ha voluto mettere il nome ZELDA alla nostra gatta 🐈 che ora ha 5 anni e mezzo.😻

Buongiorno Brandon . Finalmente ! Speravo tu ascoltassi questo album. Grazie !👌👌👌 Aspetto la seconda parte 😘

Mike Oldfield, in 1984, did the Soundtrack for The Killing Fields.

if you ever happen to react to tubular bells 1, bear in mind that, on the record, he plays all the instruments himself

So, I feel like you have to be a music lover PERIOD, if you like and appreciate this type of instrumental. This is not everyone's cup of tea. It's a whole different level of music. Peace and Love.

This album started my journey along with Rick Wakeman’s “six wives..”. It holds a very, very special place in my heart. Enjoy.

Sure was awesome ! But my fav Oldfield still is Tubular Bells 1-2 and 3 ! live concerts ! 😎🤔

Please listen to the 75 mix, so much better. Infact do yourself a favour and listen to all first three album original mixes, you will understand...

Part 1 is, in my opinion, far better than Part 2. Superb African percussion, especially those accompanying the Coda. I always enjoy hearing MIKE OLDFIELD's compositions, but I must admit that I always feel like I'm hearing 'Tubular Bells'. I don't see as much creativity and diversification as in, for example, VANGELIS, TANGERINE DREAM, JEAN-MICHEL JARRE or GANDALF [the Australian musician (real name Heinz STOBL) and not the American psychedelic music band]. Thanks. [NB: GANDALF produced an album with STEVE HACKETT: 'Gallery of Dreams' (1992).]

For me his best album.

The Fan favourite for many is the Ommadawn album. i like side 2 more. The return to Ommadawn album is not as good as this one.

You really should learn how to pronounce Ommadawn. It's not Ohma - It's Omma, as in Momma. And dawn is pronounced the same as the early part of the day, NOT don.

A genius