In 1974, Mike Oldfield adopted up his hit 1973 debut full-length Tubular Bells with the chart-topping Hergest Ridge. 5 a long time later, the English prog rocker is prepping a deluxe reissue of his sophomore album, the following step in Oldfield’s “first three” reissue collection.
Set for launch on June 27, the 2LP set is highlighted by Oldfield’s 2010 mixture of Hergest Ridge, which is being pressed to vinyl for the primary time. It additionally contains a new half-speed remaster of the 1974 album combine by Miles Showell at Abbey Highway Studios, plus new art work and a brand new liner quote from Oldfield.
Hergest Ridge: fiftieth Anniversary may also be accessible as a Tremendous Deluxe Version particular Blu Ray Audio that gives much more experiences of the album, together with a model new ATMOS and stereo combine by David Kosten, Oldfield’s 5.1 and stereo combine from 2010, the 1976 “Boxed” Quad combine, and the 1974 authentic stereo combine.
After the breakout success of Tubular Bells—which noticed its title suite integrated into the long-lasting 1973 film The Exorcist, along with topping the UK albums chart and successful a Grammy—Oldfield, simply barely out of his teenagers, retreated to the English countryside alongside the Welsh border to duck the highlight and work on his subsequent inventive assertion.
The results of these efforts was Hergest Ridge, a pair of sprawling suites that confirmed off Oldfield’s pastoral spin on progressive rock. The album was named for a big hill within the space, the place Oldfield usually flew his gliders whereas writing and recording the music. Although assisted by vocalists and orchestral devices, Oldfield performed nearly every thing on the album himself, from a spread of guitars and organs to glockenspiel, gong, and timpani.
Hergest Ridge spent three weeks at No. 1 within the UK, solely to be supplanted by its predecessor, Tubular Bells. Oldfield joined the Beatles and Bob Dylan on the uncommon listing of artists who’ve changed themselves atop the chart.
Purchase the fiftieth anniversary version of Mike Oldfield’s Hergest Ridge now.
