I always loved Mike Oldfield and his guitars. I just made a little list (in non particular order) of my favourite guitar solos and licks by him. Remember to buy his music: www.amazon.com...
Mike Oldfield is the best musician of the twentieth year. Incredible genius and multi-instrumentalist. For me the best guitarist ever. Great melodies, sonorous instruments combined with such beautiful Celtic music. I'm a musician myself and a big fan of Mike Oldfield.
It is a mystery to me why Oldfield is so underrated and unconsidered among the general public. But not only: he's unconsidered also by the history of rock, magazines, critics, etc. I have been into Oldfield's music for all my life, and to say I appreciate him is an understatement - he matches the definition of genius in a lot of ways. As a guitarist he is one of the greatest of his times: I know what I'm talking about. Mike is a kind of virtuoso whose personality on the guitar and creativity even surpasses his outstanding technique. To be a virtuoso does not necessarily mean to be like John Petrucci, Frank Gambale or Paul Gilbert: there are different types of virtuosity, not only metal shredding or fusion scales. Mike possesses the guitar fretboard like no one of his era: when Mike came out in the early 70s no one played the guitar as he did. Metal, shredding and fast picking were yet to come. He anticipated some of what later became fast scales through his own legato style; he also has fantastic abilities on classical, acoustic and electric without losing a bit of personality. Hear 3 notes and you know it's him! And this without taking into account he can play a lot of instruments (even though he is mainly a guitarist) and is a genius of musical architectures. Yes, his greatest achievement, besides all of his virtuosity, is the music! Original, unique, creative, powerful, inspired and complex. Now tell me another guitarist that has achieved the same: you may name some even more "virtuous virtuoso's", like modern shredders and guitar technicians, but the mediocre quality of their music and their anonymous sound would surely counterbalance. Or else you may name some great composers, but their instrumental technique would again counterbalance that down. Mike is great at both and achieves a wider overall result. Let me become quantitative, which is something people may appreciate in the era of the internet: if we measure the greatness of a musician by the product of the technique times the creativity, well I'm afraid Mr. Oldfield has the widest area of all. And especially guitarists and musicians should be aware of that. How on earth does he happen to not be one of the super legends of rock? I'm talking about the top-notch names, such as Mark Knopfler, David Gilmour, etc, he should be in the Olympus of the Gods together with them. How comes he isn't? Is that due to envy and jealousy among rockstars? It's a mystery I have been trying to solve for 30 years but with no success.
Apsolutly agre with you. For me MIke is the only ONE, for last 40 years. Not a dey past that I don't listen samting of his music. His music tuch my soul. Love.all if his music. Dippend of my mood diferent pises for that dey. I can weit for samting new love, love love Mike. I told my hasbend when I dai hi must put all his LP in my coffin to listen on another world. Sorry for my speling.afcorse I have all his music in duplicate . My husbend and my dother is allso huge fan of Mike
Why he hasn't the recognition we think he deserves? Maybe because his conception of music is not well understood or should it not connect with the majority of listeners? Nah! Just listen to the hits on mainstream media. No musical culture on the main audience.
In der Musikwelt gilt er als verschroben. In den 80ern hat er das Mainstream Publikum erreicht und entsprechend groß waren die Anfragen von Journalisten. Mike hasst aber generell Publicity. Er zog sich meist zurück und dann haben die Medien ihn hauptsächlich in Ruhe gelassen. Vielleicht hat msn ihn, weil er nicht sympathisch rüber kam, die Ehre verweigert, in den Gitarren Olymp offiziell aufzusteigen. Aber Mike schert es einen Dreck wer was von ihm hält. Das ist wiederum sympathisch. Er ist sicher nicht der einfachste Mensch, aber so what
He's not as proficient in the multi-instrumentalist department, but as a guitarist and composer, I'm sure Robert Fripp would surely prove to be a worthy oponent
I agree however who else would use sound effects like a mechanical typewriter or someone cleaning their teeth with a manual toothbrush or treat the human voice as a musical instrument as he does in Amarillo?
@@robertoreyes4258 , Nelv Gabay means that it's "criminal" that Mike Oldfield is not recognized at his real value ! Mike is not present in the guitarists charts ; it's a scandal ! es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anexo:Los_100_guitarristas_m%C3%A1s_grandes_de_todos_los_tiempos_seg%C3%BAn_Rolling_Stone
I don't think so Neiv. MO is (yet) a very skilled guitarist. But to be a good guitarist does not implies be able to play fast or play shredding, must be a good music over all. Just a example: The solo of Comfortably Numb from Gilmour is not so difficult to play, but it sounds like glory angels.
interesting. dont tell that to mike he is so much descreet he cannot see himself so from the outside i think important thing is we like we love his music
I will never forget the first time I heard Ommadawn! A great friend turned me on to the album when we were living in Italy. It changed my life forever! 😎
same here, I let the whole Ommadawn CD play for the first time, left the room and when I returned, the finale of part 2 sounded out of the speakers, it was unbelievable, I never felt such euforia from music
I will forever love him,my first LP from him was five miles out,I was 13 years,now im 55.Yes hes my music god and will be till i die.Hes the best,his music touches all my senses,my heart everything,He wrotes tubular bells at the age of 16,think of that!Hes a underrated genius,especially on guitar and composing.Mike Oldfield forever;)Thank you for decades of enriching my life with your outstanding composing your unbelievible music!Youre the greatest and forever in my heart.
Totally agree, Mike doesn't just play guitar, he makes it speak like a human voice with emotion . The Space Movie in the mid 80s was my introduction, and Oldfield is still my favourite music i listen to !
He is, first and foremost, a composer. His music is not created to show off his guitar prowess which, I have to say, is considerable. The beautiful tones he mixes are out of this world and transcend mere concepts of melody, harmony, and rhythm. He's not there to demonstrate technique because, frankly, that's for the books and the eyes, not for the ears, the heart and mind. Others play a million notes that mean nothing to no-one but the musical snobs who think they know something, but actually adore conjuring tricksters. Oldfield works magic with a single note because he means it. Obviously, not all of his work is high art, but when it reaches the dizzy heights of his earlier works, it is exceptionally beautiful.
How dare you say Mike's guitar prowess is considerable? Mike has played many technically difficult solos. Maybe he doesn't play Vai style, but if he played like Vai i wouldn't relax to it. LET THE BELLS RING!!!
As a non-musician I’m not qualified to comment on his technical ability, but the sounds he makes on a guitar (or any other instrument) have a quality that reach inside of me and connect in a way that no other musician/composer does. I’d have to pick him as my all-time favourite.
I've been a fan of Mike Oldfield since I was introduced to his music by my dad. He is without a doubt the best guitarist ever. He can make a guitar sing like no other and his music so beautiful. Never understood why he was so underrated.
If i got to say something about Mike Oldfield, its that he just sounds totally diferent from any other guitar player...the vibrato, the slide, all sounds really personal
guitar legend....and music GOD! He touched so many styles, so many instruments, tried so many techniques, inventing his own.....AND TURNED EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM INTO MUSIC GOLD!! Like nobody else
Everyone talks about Ommadawn, but no one talks about Crises (the song). There aren't many fast parts, but the sound is so clear. It's one of those when you hear it, you know it's Mike Oldfield.
I don't dislike Crises. Just as I don't dislike Taurus II, Platinum, even Incantations (think it was a shame that the segment from part four that was featured on the B side of Guilty was left off this list but oh well...) I can listen to them all, but Ommadawn was something else. I'm not really surprised that it gets so much praise over so many other bodies of work that Mike has recorded but to each their own!
Yes, his absolute masterpiece! Listening to it for more than 32 years now, he is a genius! Would love to have Amarok II or at least a special 30th anniversary edition but sadly... nothing there.
On his albums it's always about the music .. not guitar pyrotechnics. He CAN play lightning fast or precise classical ... and switches to whatever the music needs. An astonishing composer, multi-instrumentalist and harmonic genius. AMAROK is the most under rated album of all time.
Mike Oldfields career is a journey. Most only think "Tubular Bells" but there is so much to be found. All might not suit everyone but just giving everything a chance might make you find many new favorites. I grew up on "Moonlight Shadow" not knowing much else.. Thought it was a "one-hit-wonder". I much later found Tubular Bells and now I have not all albums, but a big portion of them. I can't say I love them all but I like most...The more progressive things, the more "pop" and the landscapes. So glad I took a chance on him - Mike Oldfield!
My experience is close to yours. When I was a young teen, I used to hear "moonlight shadow" and "to france" a lot on the FM radio, and then a close friend of my mother lend her "ommadawn". What a revelation ! I even didn't realise it was the same musician but eventually, I bought almost all albums, first on tapes then on CD.
Actually Moonlight Shadow made me look into his music and I bought Crises then in 1983 and spend the next decade with listening to his records. Though I have to admit that the records after that don’t quite meet my taste. Anyway there isn’t much in rock music that’s anyway close to Ommadawn or Hergest Ridge for example. It’s a genuinely original and wonderful music.
Mike's music has always been and still is a happy haven for me. It's like he's been making that music exactly for my soul, it fits it perfectly, it's like a complete understanding of his musical expression, ever since I first discovered him through Tubular Bells II and gradually through his other masterpieces...
Le conocí con 14 años y con QE2,,y desde entonces hasta ahora que tengo 40 años mas, soy fan total de éste genio,el mejor y mas emocionante concierto que he visto fué verle en la plaza de toros de Las Ventas ,Madrid. Tubular Bells 2..una obra maestra de un maestro..y su solo con una sola luz sobre él,nadie mas en el escenario tocando...ALUCINANTE!!! Y los gaiteros escoceses que tocaron Tattoo,ya fué la HOSTIA!!!!.grande grande!!!
So glad to be able to share the love with other Mike Oldfield fans. Where I live I can barely find another one apart from myself. Sad. Truly and verily, Mike is a genius and a real gem of a musician. If music was ever meant, and I believe it is, to uplift our emotions from the daily drudgery of our lives and take it on a journey through amazing fairy tale regions, or even if only through the rolling green hills of England and Ireland, for instance, it's a journey that enriches us every time we press play. I've been a fan since first hearing Moonlight Shadow on TV in 1983. I was in the 7th grade elementary then. I'm 54 now with a whole life behind me, and I can honestly say that Mike's music has always had a very special place in my life. No one uses the guitar the way he does, and I mean not in a technical way, but in a profoundly musical context. Actually, when it comes to the emotional experience of a solo electric guitar, for instance, for me no one can have the no. 1 spot, maybe Brian May at no. 2 comes close enough sometimes... Mike also does everything himself, and even though like most musicians he's had to bow down to the monster that is the musical establishment (may it burn it hell), they have never managed to steal his indomitable spirit. He is one stubborn Taurus after all. 😋 God has spared no talents in showering upon him, and even though some of you may not agree with me, or even Mike himself may not agree, I can only share my experience of things the way I experience them. It's a bloody shame he's not more appreciated, but then what do we expect from the masses who like everything quick, easy, cheap, or just easy to swallow? Their untrained ears and hearts make it difficult for people like us when it comes to wide consumption and distribution AND glorification of music! There's a lot more I could say here, but I have to restrain myself, it's a TH-cam comment after all, not a book. Thank you for appreciating and sharing the musical miracle that is Mike Oldfield. God bless.
Listening to all these parts gives me chills! I was 16 when I was introduced to him. I'm a guitar hobbyist and Mike Oldfield is pretty much the only one I like playing along with. Of course only the parts for us mere mortals! His guitar solos are somehow so melodic. Two songs spring to mind I haven't seen mentioned here, Pictures in the Dark and Shine. Plus all the bits in this video. I totally agree that Mike Oldfield is a modern day Mozart!
J'ai découvert la musique Mike Oldfield en 1982 et j'ai été tout de suite conquis par son génie. Pour moi il est le plus grand 👍✌ et sa musique ne m'a jamais quitté. Encore merci M. Oldfield pour tout ce bonheur.
Mr. Oldfield is one of my all time favorites just because of the easily recognizable guitar sound. The fact that he’s somewhat underrated makes him even better
Fantastic talented musician, I never tire of listening to his unique music . Love t.b. 2003 especially. I find incantations part 3 & 4 so relaxing to listen too. Love your music Mike!
Mike was such a great composer. I think it took the attention away from how good he actually was at the guitar. He has his own tone. The violin like sustain tone played with his long nails -:) and much much more.
Thank you for this wonderful tribute to the GREATEST GUITARIST OF ALL TIME MIKE OLDFIELD> I have loved him and his music all my life and it is so wonderful to come people like you who love him ass much as I do. You are right. He really is so unfairly underrated ans i could never understand why. There are so many so called "guitar gods out there, but NONE can hold a damp matchstick to him never mind a candle.
I love his music for over 40 years now. I changed my way of playing the guitar since I saw the knebworth interview. He is a great composer and guitar player. His music is immortal.
Great video, Mike is a unique guitar player, he is rarely mentioned among the "greats" no idea why!!! As you say this is just a brief sampling of his abilities, many more could be listed, good to see you included Return To Ommadawn, I think it's a great album. Amarok alone could have filled your list.
He has a very unique sound, highly expressive, with a killer vibrato and clever use of hammer-ons, sometimes with quite long, intrincate runs, but his playing is not the technically cleanest and not the most accurate either. In many of his live performances you get clearly more bum notes than many of his guitar hero peers, that's probably why. Ah, and the Alan Partridge factor.
@@philippfrogel9355 I don't have the feeling it is always the case - in many performances you have unclean - if not straight ahead botched - runs or hammer-ons, bum notes, screeches... Not the kind of stuff you play as an artistic choice. I mean, his playing his not the easiest, but since his playing is not based on pure improvisation -as in jazz or improv- I would expect that many of these mistakes are avoidable (they match the recording, can be thoroughly rehearsed).
@@gnordache4405 I would take the fact that they match the recording as you say as an indication that they are on purpose. Also I think it is more likely that a guitarist of that caliber does not have such timing problems while many lesser guitarists have not. I just thought this is part of his very individual play. But could be either way, I dont know. Thanks for your statement!
@@philippfrogel9355 I meant that the lines he played were written, not that the live performance matched the recording - hence my suspitions: no rubato, nongrace notes, just missed ones, or clumsy phrasing. He himself never claimed to be a virtuoso, but rather a very good player, anyway. Damn right, both statements.
Your comments at the end are just what I feel and think every single time I listen to him ...most people could never imagine how extraordinary good he really is ...but his taste and musicality is million lightyears ahead from other guitar virtuosos ..... The Ommadawn part always freaks me out since I was a kid trying to learn guitar... God bless him , he developed his TALENT in the most amazing way ... For me he is either an Alíen or an Angel.....or both...Love him so much !!!! Thank you for all of your divine Music , my dearest Mike , I truly love you....
my favorite mike oldfield album is definitely songs of distant earth ,absalutly brilliant and ive ben listening since the first album in the early 1970s tubular bells
5 miles out and the live moonlight shadow solo with pepsi demaque and the extra solo ( this time perfected) as a real addition to a great song. those two are the best solos in my opinion. thanks for sharing, he really is a genuis
I don't have words to say about yr video. I can only say: thanks. Many, many, many thanks. What you say is absolutely correct. Mike is obviously a genius, namely with a guitar. Is his soul speaking to our souls. You could put more hundreds of guitar's masterpieces made by Mike. Ommadawn has perhaps the best moments. I listen them since the 70's till now... That's all.
Just what I have always thought and said, along some 45 years, but sadly many people who think they understand guitars cannot see and don't recognize... And I'm a guitarist and composer too... So, I know very well the instrument. I would like to emphasize that, just in this small selection, there are two solos that I consider almost technically impossible: the 'fast triplets' on Ommadawn's Part 1 and that just after the introduction of Incantations Part 3. Many thanks and congratulations for producing this excellent video. Best regards.
I listen every song of Mike in this ranking, but I never listened very carefully the Part three of Incantations.......Unbelievable!! Incredible scales with ups and downs, reaching to the very soul core there uuuffff!! 🤟🤟🤟🤟🤟
As a 69 years old Oldfield's greatest fans along more than 40 years ( and someone who modestly also plays solo guitar and compose ), I fully agree. That's just what I have always thought, since the 70's. Very good selection of pieces and excerpts and excellent text in the end. Many thanks for posting, since sadly Mike has been considerably underrated regarding his guitar genius, very often not fully recognized. Best regards !
Mike was only 17 years old, when he started working on Tubular Bells.......20 years old, when it was released......he played every instrument on the album. The first album to be released on the new Virgin Records label......damn good masterpiece! Some people called it rubbish.....garbage......those are the same people that have no concept of what real music is.
His solos and actually all of the guitar playing sound like no other. There are many great guitarists, but they all sound similar and oftens it seems it's only about speed and technique.
Return to Ommadawn is a great disc! That solo gave me goosebumps the first time I listened it. But Incantations Part Three has one of the best guitar solos in history, IMHO. Thanks for your comment :)
Punkadiddle from Platinum album is missing on this list. The guitar riff response to the synthesizer tune has blown my mind away for over 36 years since I first heard it
Listening to your wonderful tribute to the wonderful Mike Oldfield one guitar d solo I would have included is at the end of the second part of Ommadawn just before the song On Horseback plays. IT IS STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL. Then he puts down his electric guitar picks up his acoustic guitar s as nd plays another beautiful solo in the introduction to the song On Horseback. AMAZING ❤😊.
Mike Oldfield's music is not primitive rock n roll music to drink beer and sing along to in any bar. His music is very intelligent and considered music creation on a completely different level. Like Franz Schubert, Johann Sebastian Bach or Bethoven.
I rarely see mention of Mike Oldfield made in lists of "great guitarists" whether presented in print or on TH-cam videos. No musician myself, I suppose that I am not qualified to appreciate the criteria that the compilers of such rankings apply to their selections. What I do know is that I am extraordinarily entertained by the vast majority of Mike's art, have been for decades, and I personally think he is a friggin' musical genius! When one considers that Mike composed "Tubular Bells" and played virtually all of the instruments on the original recording released when he was but 19 years old can they dissuade me from my belief? As for his proficiency with the guitar, I can only say that I am amazed every time I watch his finger picking on the DVD recording of the 1981 live performance at Montreux.
einfach nur genial, krasse Erinnerungen kehren zurück, wie ich das alles als Jugendlicher auf damals schon Beyerdynamik Dt 8xx und Sanyo Plus Series Hifi mit Sony CD-Player, Vinyl und auf Sony Kassentenwalkman bei langen Joggings und Training gesuchtet habe, Wahnsinn, was so eine "Zufallsentdeckung" dieses Zusammenschnitts an Emotionen wachruft ... wo ist meine Gitarre, ich muss spielen und neu analysieren mit heutigen Fertig- & Fähigkeiten ;-) - Danke
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Mike Oldfield is the best musician of the twentieth year. Incredible genius and multi-instrumentalist. For me the best guitarist ever. Great melodies, sonorous instruments combined with such beautiful Celtic music. I'm a musician myself and a big fan of Mike Oldfield.
It is a mystery to me why Oldfield is so underrated and unconsidered among the general public. But not only: he's unconsidered also by the history of rock, magazines, critics, etc. I have been into Oldfield's music for all my life, and to say I appreciate him is an understatement - he matches the definition of genius in a lot of ways. As a guitarist he is one of the greatest of his times: I know what I'm talking about. Mike is a kind of virtuoso whose personality on the guitar and creativity even surpasses his outstanding technique.
To be a virtuoso does not necessarily mean to be like John Petrucci, Frank Gambale or Paul Gilbert: there are different types of virtuosity, not only metal shredding or fusion scales. Mike possesses the guitar fretboard like no one of his era: when Mike came out in the early 70s no one played the guitar as he did. Metal, shredding and fast picking were yet to come. He anticipated some of what later became fast scales through his own legato style; he also has fantastic abilities on classical, acoustic and electric without losing a bit of personality. Hear 3 notes and you know it's him! And this without taking into account he can play a lot of instruments (even though he is mainly a guitarist) and is a genius of musical architectures. Yes, his greatest achievement, besides all of his virtuosity, is the music! Original, unique, creative, powerful, inspired and complex.
Now tell me another guitarist that has achieved the same: you may name some even more "virtuous virtuoso's", like modern shredders and guitar technicians, but the mediocre quality of their music and their anonymous sound would surely counterbalance. Or else you may name some great composers, but their instrumental technique would again counterbalance that down. Mike is great at both and achieves a wider overall result.
Let me become quantitative, which is something people may appreciate in the era of the internet: if we measure the greatness of a musician by the product of the technique times the creativity, well I'm afraid Mr. Oldfield has the widest area of all. And especially guitarists and musicians should be aware of that.
How on earth does he happen to not be one of the super legends of rock? I'm talking about the top-notch names, such as Mark Knopfler, David Gilmour, etc, he should be in the Olympus of the Gods together with them. How comes he isn't? Is that due to envy and jealousy among rockstars? It's a mystery I have been trying to solve for 30 years but with no success.
Apsolutly agre with you. For me MIke is the only ONE, for last 40 years. Not a dey past that I don't listen samting of his music. His music tuch my soul. Love.all if his music. Dippend of my mood diferent pises for that dey. I can weit for samting new love, love love Mike. I told my hasbend when I dai hi must put all his LP in my coffin to listen on another world. Sorry for my speling.afcorse I have all his music in duplicate . My husbend and my dother is allso huge fan of Mike
Why he hasn't the recognition we think he deserves? Maybe because his conception of music is not well understood or should it not connect with the majority of listeners?
Nah! Just listen to the hits on mainstream media. No musical culture on the main audience.
In der Musikwelt gilt er als verschroben. In den 80ern hat er das Mainstream Publikum erreicht und entsprechend groß waren die Anfragen von Journalisten. Mike hasst aber generell Publicity. Er zog sich meist zurück und dann haben die Medien ihn hauptsächlich in Ruhe gelassen. Vielleicht hat msn ihn, weil er nicht sympathisch rüber kam, die Ehre verweigert, in den Gitarren Olymp offiziell aufzusteigen. Aber Mike schert es einen Dreck wer was von ihm hält. Das ist wiederum sympathisch. Er ist sicher nicht der einfachste Mensch, aber so what
He's not as proficient in the multi-instrumentalist department, but as a guitarist and composer, I'm sure Robert Fripp would surely prove to be a worthy oponent
He's allegedly underrated because he's an odious person!
For me, Ommadawn is his masterpiece. After listening to it for more than 40 years, I'm still in awe of his genius.
He also says so.
My favourite piece of his work, Incantations gets a regular workout as well.
I agree however who else would use sound effects like a mechanical typewriter or someone cleaning their teeth with a manual toothbrush or treat the human voice as a musical instrument as he does in Amarillo?
@@markwakefield8533 You meant _"Amarok"_ 😄
Agree 100%
Probably the most criminally underated guitarist EVER!
criminally? What was his crime? Incredible use of multiple instruments in multiple songs and on multiple live venues
@@robertoreyes4258 , Nelv Gabay means that it's "criminal" that Mike Oldfield is not recognized at his real value !
Mike is not present in the guitarists charts ; it's a scandal !
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anexo:Los_100_guitarristas_m%C3%A1s_grandes_de_todos_los_tiempos_seg%C3%BAn_Rolling_Stone
Lol no
I don't think so Neiv. MO is (yet) a very skilled guitarist. But to be a good guitarist does not implies be able to play fast or play shredding, must be a good music over all. Just a example: The solo of Comfortably Numb from Gilmour is not so difficult to play, but it sounds like glory angels.
@@danielb.m1075 You think Mike Oldfield is a shredder?
Mike will be listened to hundred of years from now. I cannot think of a higher compliment.
Намного больше, чем 100💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
Mike's early music got me through my teenage years. I'm now in my late 50s and I still follow his music. To me he's a Saint. Thanks Mike.
interesting. dont tell that to mike he is so much descreet he cannot see himself so from the outside i think important thing is we like we love his music
Sadly Mike is one of the most underrated guitarists :(. His technique and tone are legendary IMO. Thumbs up if you agree.
I will never forget the first time I heard Ommadawn! A great friend turned me on to the album when we were living in Italy. It changed my life forever! 😎
same here, I let the whole Ommadawn CD play for the first time, left the room and when I returned, the finale of part 2 sounded out of the speakers, it was unbelievable, I never felt such euforia from music
, 🎉🎉
I will forever love him,my first LP from him was five miles out,I was 13 years,now im 55.Yes hes my music god and will be till i die.Hes the best,his music touches all my senses,my heart everything,He wrotes tubular bells at the age of 16,think of that!Hes a underrated genius,especially on guitar and composing.Mike Oldfield forever;)Thank you for decades of enriching my life with your outstanding composing your unbelievible music!Youre the greatest and forever in my heart.
Totally agree, Mike doesn't just play guitar, he makes it speak like a human voice with emotion . The Space Movie in the mid 80s was my introduction, and Oldfield is still my favourite music i listen to !
He is, first and foremost, a composer. His music is not created to show off his guitar prowess which, I have to say, is considerable. The beautiful tones he mixes are out of this world and transcend mere concepts of melody, harmony, and rhythm. He's not there to demonstrate technique because, frankly, that's for the books and the eyes, not for the ears, the heart and mind. Others play a million notes that mean nothing to no-one but the musical snobs who think they know something, but actually adore conjuring tricksters. Oldfield works magic with a single note because he means it. Obviously, not all of his work is high art, but when it reaches the dizzy heights of his earlier works, it is exceptionally beautiful.
Paul Attard: Well said. Mike's music is very spiritual and comes from his heart to carry into your heart. His music goes beyond and within.
How dare you say Mike's guitar prowess is considerable? Mike has played many technically difficult solos. Maybe he doesn't play Vai style, but if he played like Vai i wouldn't relax to it. LET THE BELLS RING!!!
I saw Oldfield play live in Australia and he moved around amongst his band playing all the instruments on stage
There's only one reason why Mike Oldfield is a guitar god, and that is because he is the guitar god. End of discussion.
Mike is the best 😂😂😂
He is the master of Music , no doubt !!!
because he never was into metal or rock... ;)
@@F-Andre for god s sake
As a non-musician I’m not qualified to comment on his technical ability, but the sounds he makes on a guitar (or any other instrument) have a quality that reach inside of me and connect in a way that no other musician/composer does. I’d have to pick him as my all-time favourite.
Same here 😊
I've been a fan of Mike Oldfield since I was introduced to his music by my dad. He is without a doubt the best guitarist ever. He can make a guitar sing like no other and his music so beautiful. Never understood why he was so underrated.
Came here to say the same. It was my dad favorite musician and now I'm the dad and my son hums Tubular bells.
If i got to say something about Mike Oldfield, its that he just sounds totally diferent from any other guitar player...the vibrato, the slide, all sounds really personal
guitar legend....and music GOD! He touched so many styles, so many instruments, tried so many techniques, inventing his own.....AND TURNED EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM INTO MUSIC GOLD!! Like nobody else
It is impossible not to fall in love with Olfield's guitar sound.
Everyone talks about Ommadawn, but no one talks about Crises (the song). There aren't many fast parts, but the sound is so clear. It's one of those when you hear it, you know it's Mike Oldfield.
I don't dislike Crises. Just as I don't dislike Taurus II, Platinum, even Incantations (think it was a shame that the segment from part four that was featured on the B side of Guilty was left off this list but oh well...) I can listen to them all, but Ommadawn was something else. I'm not really surprised that it gets so much praise over so many other bodies of work that Mike has recorded but to each their own!
Nice to see Amarok represented here... it is to my mind, his masterwork. I tend to agree he is under-rated.
Amarok is a stellar album/song!
Yes, his absolute masterpiece! Listening to it for more than 32 years now, he is a genius! Would love to have Amarok II or at least a special 30th anniversary edition but sadly... nothing there.
I still think Amarok could have been the... Tubular Bells 2.
Amarok is - after hearing it for 33 years now - always an eargasm and homecoming at the same time
On his albums it's always about the music .. not guitar pyrotechnics. He CAN play lightning fast or precise classical ... and switches to whatever the music needs. An astonishing composer, multi-instrumentalist and harmonic genius. AMAROK is the most under rated album of all time.
AMAROK-лучшее музыкальное произведение хх века 💯❗❗❗❗❗❗❗
His musicianship and compositions are in a different stratosphere. Totally unique.
I wish he'd go and join them in the stratosphere!
Mike Oldfields career is a journey. Most only think "Tubular Bells" but there is so much to be found. All might not suit everyone but just giving everything a chance might make you find many new favorites. I grew up on "Moonlight Shadow" not knowing much else.. Thought it was a "one-hit-wonder". I much later found Tubular Bells and now I have not all albums, but a big portion of them. I can't say I love them all but I like most...The more progressive things, the more "pop" and the landscapes. So glad I took a chance on him - Mike Oldfield!
Same for me :3
My experience is close to yours. When I was a young teen, I used to hear "moonlight shadow" and "to france" a lot on the FM radio, and then a close friend of my mother lend her "ommadawn". What a revelation ! I even didn't realise it was the same musician but eventually, I bought almost all albums, first on tapes then on CD.
Actually Moonlight Shadow made me look into his music and I bought Crises then in 1983 and spend the next decade with listening to his records. Though I have to admit that the records after that don’t quite meet my taste. Anyway there isn’t much in rock music that’s anyway close to Ommadawn or Hergest Ridge for example. It’s a genuinely original and wonderful music.
Probably one of the greatest guitarists of all time
One of the greatest musicians in the whole world!
Ohh yes he is God! Oldfield Forever! ❤️❤️❤️
Multi instumentist extrodiniare genius talent..but so underrated..a modern day Mozart!!!
Oldfield? A thoroughly loathsome individual.
One of the best guitarplayer in the world. Top 3🥰
And composer🥰🥰
Mike's music has always been and still is a happy haven for me.
It's like he's been making that music exactly for my soul, it fits it perfectly, it's like a complete understanding of his musical expression, ever since I first discovered him through Tubular Bells II and gradually through his other masterpieces...
I totally agree and feel the same.
3:56 absolute genius
YES👏🇬🇷🌷🌻
He really is a guitar god, isn't he!?
THE reason I listen to music. Every album a work of art. When I first found Mike's music, I realized I had found MY music.
What a musician, i Love him.
Le conocí con 14 años y con QE2,,y desde entonces hasta ahora que tengo 40 años mas, soy fan total de éste genio,el mejor y mas emocionante concierto que he visto fué verle en la plaza de toros de Las Ventas ,Madrid. Tubular Bells 2..una obra maestra de un maestro..y su solo con una sola luz sobre él,nadie mas en el escenario tocando...ALUCINANTE!!! Y los gaiteros escoceses que tocaron Tattoo,ya fué la HOSTIA!!!!.grande grande!!!
There's something magical about Oldfield's playing. He can't even be judged using the same metrics that apply to other players.
exactly
So glad to be able to share the love with other Mike Oldfield fans. Where I live I can barely find another one apart from myself. Sad.
Truly and verily, Mike is a genius and a real gem of a musician. If music was ever meant, and I believe it is, to uplift our emotions from the daily drudgery of our lives and take it on a journey through amazing fairy tale regions, or even if only through the rolling green hills of England and Ireland, for instance, it's a journey that enriches us every time we press play.
I've been a fan since first hearing Moonlight Shadow on TV in 1983. I was in the 7th grade elementary then. I'm 54 now with a whole life behind me, and I can honestly say that Mike's music has always had a very special place in my life. No one uses the guitar the way he does, and I mean not in a technical way, but in a profoundly musical context. Actually, when it comes to the emotional experience of a solo electric guitar, for instance, for me no one can have the no. 1 spot, maybe Brian May at no. 2 comes close enough sometimes...
Mike also does everything himself, and even though like most musicians he's had to bow down to the monster that is the musical establishment (may it burn it hell), they have never managed to steal his indomitable spirit. He is one stubborn Taurus after all. 😋 God has spared no talents in showering upon him, and even though some of you may not agree with me, or even Mike himself may not agree, I can only share my experience of things the way I experience them. It's a bloody shame he's not more appreciated, but then what do we expect from the masses who like everything quick, easy, cheap, or just easy to swallow? Their untrained ears and hearts make it difficult for people like us when it comes to wide consumption and distribution AND glorification of music!
There's a lot more I could say here, but I have to restrain myself, it's a TH-cam comment after all, not a book. Thank you for appreciating and sharing the musical miracle that is Mike Oldfield. God bless.
Listening to all these parts gives me chills! I was 16 when I was introduced to him. I'm a guitar hobbyist and Mike Oldfield is pretty much the only one I like playing along with. Of course only the parts for us mere mortals! His guitar solos are somehow so melodic. Two songs spring to mind I haven't seen mentioned here, Pictures in the Dark and Shine. Plus all the bits in this video. I totally agree that Mike Oldfield is a modern day Mozart!
J'ai découvert la musique Mike Oldfield en 1982 et j'ai été tout de suite conquis par son génie. Pour moi il est le plus grand 👍✌ et sa musique ne m'a jamais quitté. Encore merci M. Oldfield pour tout ce bonheur.
I could pick out his playing from any number of guitarists, so distinctive.
Mike Oldfield no hace musica. Hace magia.
Mr. Oldfield is one of my all time favorites just because of the easily recognizable guitar sound. The fact that he’s somewhat underrated makes him even better
Don't forget Discovery guitar solo which is one the best ever!
Yes !
it is brillant !
Dont forget guitar solo of crime of passion
He is GOD... nobody can play guitar better than him............
Fantastic talented musician, I never tire of listening to his unique music . Love t.b. 2003 especially. I find incantations part 3 & 4 so relaxing to listen too. Love your music Mike!
Seeing him play the "fast triplet" section of Ommadawn @3:56 live is an eye opener.
Mike was such a great composer. I think it took the attention away from how good he actually was at the guitar. He has his own tone. The violin like sustain tone played with his long nails -:) and much much more.
I have seen Mike Oldfield live twice and he’s fantastic
Five times for me. Finsbury Park Rainbow on the QE2 tour was incredible.
Thank you for this wonderful tribute to the GREATEST GUITARIST OF ALL TIME MIKE OLDFIELD> I have loved him and his music all my life and it is so wonderful to come people like you who love him ass much as I do. You are right. He really is so unfairly underrated ans i could never understand why. There are so many so called "guitar gods out there, but NONE can hold a damp matchstick to him never mind a candle.
I love his music for over 40 years now.
I changed my way of playing the guitar since I saw the knebworth interview.
He is a great composer and guitar player.
His music is immortal.
QE2. Shivers every time!
YES. ABSOLUTELY PERFECT VIDEO TRIBUTE TO MIKE OLDFIELD. RESPECT AND CONGRATULATIONS. 👏👏❤❤🇬🇷🇬🇷
IS THE BEST OF THE WORLD.....! ! !
I'm going to buy Amarok and "Return to Ommadawn" today!
Hahahahaha
well, is better now than tomorrow...
did you buy it? have you realised that Amarok is the pinnacle of human creativity? ;)
"Return To Ommadawn" is pure genius. One of Mike's best ever works.
Mike Oldfield knows how to play allmost every instrument there is. Todays lazy music can bow down to him :)
Das stimmt. In der heutigen Pop Einheitsbrei Musik gibts überhaupt keine Gitarren mehr- ist das mal jemand aufgefallen?
@@michaeln3023 Stimmt. Z.B. Sängerin mit drei Musikern, die alle diese neuartigen Percussions speilen, mit denen man alles an Tönen erzeugen kann.
Great video, Mike is a unique guitar player, he is rarely mentioned among the "greats" no idea why!!! As you say this is just a brief sampling of his abilities, many more could be listed, good to see you included Return To Ommadawn, I think it's a great album. Amarok alone could have filled your list.
He has a very unique sound, highly expressive, with a killer vibrato and clever use of hammer-ons, sometimes with quite long, intrincate runs, but his playing is not the technically cleanest and not the most accurate either. In many of his live performances you get clearly more bum notes than many of his guitar hero peers, that's probably why. Ah, and the Alan Partridge factor.
@@gnordache4405 For accuracy, I assumed this is on purpose, don't you think so?
(meaning accuracy as timing of notes)
@@philippfrogel9355 I don't have the feeling it is always the case - in many performances you have unclean - if not straight ahead botched - runs or hammer-ons, bum notes, screeches... Not the kind of stuff you play as an artistic choice. I mean, his playing his not the easiest, but since his playing is not based on pure improvisation -as in jazz or improv- I would expect that many of these mistakes are avoidable (they match the recording, can be thoroughly rehearsed).
@@gnordache4405 I would take the fact that they match the recording as you say as an indication that they are on purpose. Also I think it is more likely that a guitarist of that caliber does not have such timing problems while many lesser guitarists have not. I just thought this is part of his very individual play.
But could be either way, I dont know. Thanks for your statement!
@@philippfrogel9355 I meant that the lines he played were written, not that the live performance matched the recording - hence my suspitions: no rubato, nongrace notes, just missed ones, or clumsy phrasing. He himself never claimed to be a virtuoso, but rather a very good player, anyway. Damn right, both statements.
What a wonderful distillation of Mike music. You interpreted it so well.
I have all his albums he is undoubtedly one of the best guitarist of all the time
Insanely brilliant, brilliantly insane!
Your comments at the end are just what I feel and think every single time I listen to him ...most people could never imagine how extraordinary good he really is ...but his taste and musicality is million lightyears ahead from other guitar virtuosos ..... The Ommadawn part always freaks me out since I was a kid trying to learn guitar... God bless him , he developed his TALENT in the most amazing way
... For me he is either an Alíen or an Angel.....or both...Love him so much !!!! Thank you for all of your divine Music , my dearest Mike , I truly love you....
..perfectly said
Yassss! Finally someone that acknowledge the genus. Hailings from #1 fan of mike in Mexico
East or West Mike Oldfield is THE BEST!!! :)
my favorite mike oldfield album is definitely songs of distant earth ,absalutly brilliant and ive ben listening since the first album in the early 1970s tubular bells
5 miles out and the live moonlight shadow solo with pepsi demaque and the extra solo ( this time perfected) as a real addition to a great song. those two are the best solos in my opinion. thanks for sharing, he really is a genuis
those two are really stunning
I don't have words to say about yr video. I can only say: thanks. Many, many, many thanks. What you say is absolutely correct. Mike is obviously a genius, namely with a guitar. Is his soul speaking to our souls. You could put more hundreds of guitar's masterpieces made by Mike. Ommadawn has perhaps the best moments. I listen them since the 70's till now... That's all.
Glad you included Taurus 3. For me it's where he shows off his skills the most.
MO is in my life .. forever.
Just what I have always thought and said, along some 45 years, but sadly many people who think they understand guitars cannot see and don't recognize... And I'm a guitarist and composer too... So, I know very well the instrument. I would like to emphasize that, just in this small selection, there are two solos that I consider almost technically impossible: the 'fast triplets' on Ommadawn's Part 1 and that just after the introduction of Incantations Part 3. Many thanks and congratulations for producing this excellent video. Best regards.
I listen every song of Mike in this ranking, but I never listened very carefully the Part three of Incantations.......Unbelievable!! Incredible scales with ups and downs, reaching to the very soul core there uuuffff!! 🤟🤟🤟🤟🤟
i found mike oldfield back in the netherlands at the ripe old age of 12 and still love all his
music ..
Having tubular bells as a ringtone for 20 years, Hergest ridge and amarok are my favourites
As a 69 years old Oldfield's greatest fans along more than 40 years ( and someone who modestly also plays solo guitar and compose ), I fully agree. That's just what I have always thought, since the 70's. Very good selection of pieces and excerpts and excellent text in the end. Many thanks for posting, since sadly Mike has been considerably underrated regarding his guitar genius, very often not fully recognized. Best regards !
Plus the fact that he truly REINVENTED the guitar technique !
Mike was only 17 years old, when he started working on Tubular Bells.......20 years old, when it was released......he played every instrument on the album. The first album to be released on the new Virgin Records label......damn good masterpiece! Some people called it rubbish.....garbage......those are the same people that have no concept of what real music is.
100%. Mike Oldfield inspired me to play guitar and compose. No greater inspiration!
His solos and actually all of the guitar playing sound like no other. There are many great guitarists, but they all sound similar and oftens it seems it's only about speed and technique.
❤Y en verdad que es un virtuoso de la guitarra, ademas de un gran musico y compositor, gracias Mike or ser tan rolifico. Besos.
His solo on instructions for angels is absolutely magnificent
Absolutely and probably a piece that not so many have heard.
3:57 to 5:50. This is Mike Oldfield, simply. Best solos ever.
Return to Ommadawn is a great disc! That solo gave me goosebumps the first time I listened it. But Incantations Part Three has one of the best guitar solos in history, IMHO. Thanks for your comment :)
Great solos too, no doubts, but when I listen Ommadawn triplet again... whooho, hehehe.
Include the excerpt from RTO part 2 at 5:05 aprox. Not hard to play but has tons of intensity.
And Castaway?
Alex Gomez no, under my point of view, this solo is several lightyears away from castaway. But everyone has his own predilection 😊
Ambient guitars t.b. 2003 awesome!!!!
Punkadiddle from Platinum album is missing on this list. The guitar riff response to the synthesizer tune has blown my mind away for over 36 years since I first heard it
Breaks my heart
Listening to your wonderful tribute to the wonderful Mike Oldfield one guitar d solo I would have included is at the end of the second part of Ommadawn just before the song On Horseback plays. IT IS STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL. Then he puts down his electric guitar picks up his acoustic guitar s as nd plays another beautiful solo in the introduction to the song On Horseback. AMAZING ❤😊.
Pure genius as Mozart
The man is a genius, he doesn't play instruments, he makes music with them.
Legend. Hero.
I am really happy to have been introduced to Mike Oldfield. Love his guitar skills and his compositions. My favourite remains "Tubular Bells"
Cualquier disco de este músico es una maravilla
Mike the best
I applaud Mike!
The title track for "Heaven's Open" might just be the most overlooked rock anthem ever.
Change my mind.
Mike Oldfield's music is not primitive rock n roll music to drink beer and sing along to in any bar. His music is very intelligent and considered music creation on a completely different level. Like Franz Schubert, Johann Sebastian Bach or Bethoven.
Very good work!
But better Taurus 2 than FMO
And remember Platinum 4
Best guitarist of all time
Es el número 1!!!!
I rarely see mention of Mike Oldfield made in lists of "great guitarists" whether presented in print or on TH-cam videos. No musician myself, I suppose that I am not qualified to appreciate the criteria that the compilers of such rankings apply to their selections. What I do know is that I am extraordinarily entertained by the vast majority of Mike's art, have been for decades, and I personally think he is a friggin' musical genius! When one considers that Mike composed "Tubular Bells" and played virtually all of the instruments on the original recording released when he was but 19 years old can they dissuade me from my belief? As for his proficiency with the guitar, I can only say that I am amazed every time I watch his finger picking on the DVD recording of the 1981 live performance at Montreux.
2 see why Mike is a god you just gotta listen.
einfach nur genial, krasse Erinnerungen kehren zurück, wie ich das alles als Jugendlicher auf damals schon Beyerdynamik Dt 8xx und Sanyo Plus Series Hifi mit Sony CD-Player, Vinyl und auf Sony Kassentenwalkman bei langen Joggings und Training gesuchtet habe, Wahnsinn, was so eine "Zufallsentdeckung" dieses Zusammenschnitts an Emotionen wachruft ... wo ist meine Gitarre, ich muss spielen und neu analysieren mit heutigen Fertig- & Fähigkeiten ;-) - Danke
His solos on Bedford's Instructions for Angels and Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom ( last song on lp) are worthy of mention
Someone once said they thought he played the guitar more like a keyboard. He certainly has his own style.
I think the solo on Shine is one of his best.