Mike Oldfield
Hergest Ridge

The second studio album by English musician and songwriter Mike Oldfield, released on 30 August 1974. The album was No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart for three consecutive weeks before it was displaced by Tubular Bells, marking one of the few times an artist has overtaken themselves on the chart in this manner.

well, who can expect a miracle - Mike to make a better record than the Tubular Bells! this one is not a miracle but it is a kind of expected attempt to do something to try to continue the successfull story. But I will give this one another chance to impress me.

Oldfield's second album is more pastoral than Tubular Bells. The music is beautiful, drifting, has a lot of flute and less guitar, until its immense 62 guitar multi-tracked climax. To me part 1 is the sound of the British countryside, every bit as evocative as Delius or Vaughan Williams (both of which Oldfield was listening to around this time). Its an album I play when I feel homesick. To newcomers to Oldfield I suggest you buy Tubular Bells first, then Ommadawn (his best album) and then this if you love the folk, minimalist and ambient elements in those 2 albums. Hergest Ridge is a hill on the border between Wales and England. It is beautiful and remote and Oldfield retreated there after the massive success of Tubular Bells. Hergest Ridge is therefore the most rooted in place of all his albums. Only Woodhenge on Platinum has a similar eerie sense of place.

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