Tubular Bells II
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Tubular Bells II is a music album by Mike Oldfield. It was his first album for his new record label, Warner Brothers Records, following an acrimonious departure from Richard Branson's Virgin Records after 20 years. TB2 partly follows musical structures of the original Tubular Bells (1973). Themes of the original Bells are taken and then completely re-composed and played with mostly new instruments. The result is an album that has same kind of thematic variation but is still almost totally new musically. Some themes can be seen as variations of themes taken from the original Bells, while some other parts of TB2 do not have much common with the themes of the original album except their overall mood or feeling. Tubular Bells 2003, however, is a faithful and accurate re-recording of the original album.
The introduction of the instruments at the end of the first half of the album was done by British actor Alan Rickman, though he was only listed in the credits as "a strolling player". The album was premiered with a live performance at Edinburgh Castle in September 1992. The North American premiere was held at the (now closed) McLaughlin Planetarium in Toronto.
Track listing
- "Sentinel" (Mike Oldfield) – 8:07
- "Dark Star" (Oldfield) – 2:16
- "Clear Light" (Oldfield) – 5:48
- "Blue Saloon" (Oldfield) – 2:59
- "Sunjammer" (Oldfield) – 2:32
- "Red Dawn" (Oldfield) – 1:50
- "The Bell" (Oldfield) – 6:59
- "Weightless" (Oldfield) – 5:43
- "The Great Plain" (Oldfield) – 4:47
- "Sunset Door" (Oldfield) – 2:23
- "Tattoo" (Oldfield) – 4:15
- "Altered State" (Oldfield) – 5:12
- "Maya Gold" (Oldfield) – 4:01
- "Moonshine" (Oldfield) – 1:42
Personnel
- Mike Oldfield – acoustic guitars, banjo, classical guitar, electric guitar, Flamenco guitar, glockenspiel, Hammond organ, mandolin, percussion, piano, synthesisers, timpani, twelve-string guitar, vocals and of course, tubular bells
- A Strolling Player (Alan Rickman) – Master of Ceremonies
- Sally Bradshaw – vocals
- Celtic Bevy Band – bagpipes
- Eric Cadieux – programming and digital sounds
- Edie Lehman – vocals
- Susannah Melvoin – vocals
- Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards, special effects
- P.D. Scots Pipe Band (actually pipers from the New York Police Department) – bagpipes
- John Robinson – percussion
On alternate mixes of The Bell released as single b-sides, Billy Connolly and Vivian Stanshall (the voice in the original Tubular Bells) each played the Master of Ceremonies.
The Master of Ceremonies at the premiere concert in Edingburgh was John Gordon Sinclair.