Mike Oldfield – 10 YEARS OF THE BELLS (2CD) Compact Disc Double

By the 1980s, Mike Oldfield had shifted musical direction from the long-form compositions that he had become known for throughout the previous decade towards more commercial and straightforward rock and pop songs. By the time he had finished the 1982 world tour in support of his previous album Five Miles Out (1982) in December of that same year, Oldfield had already started work on a follow-up. Crises (1983) sees Oldfield explore heavy metal elements, which he had been a fan of for some time and enjoyed playing.Oldfield described side one as material that he had wanted to write and perform “for personal satisfaction”, while side two is “very commercial, full of singles”. He added: “It’s a case of keeping everybody happy.”The album was recorded from November ’82 to April ’83 at Tilehouse Studios in Denham, Buckinghamshire. Following the release of the record, Oldfield went out on tour again, largely concentrating on dates across Europe. His biggest and finest concert of the tour took place at Wembley Arena in London, which was dubbed his ‘10th Anniversary Concert’, as his first opus, Tubular Bells, had been released on 25th May 1973. And indeed, the concert included a rendition of ‘Tubular Bells Part 1’, lasting almost 20 minutes.