Mike Oldfield - Vinyl Reissues and Releases 2009 to Present

Since 2009 (when Universal acquired the catalogue I believe) there has been quite a few Mike Oldfield re-releases with vinyl editions also being produced.

So far I am aware of (on vinyl),

Tubular Bells
Hergest Ridge (with new cover)
Incantations (with new cover)
Platinum
QE2
Five Miles Out
Crises

Has anyone bought any of these? What's the sound like? Pressing quality? What kind of masters are they sourced from? Packaging/print quality?

I currently own UK pressings of Boxed (different mixes, I know), Incantations and FMO, and German copies of Platinum, QE2, and Crises, and am wondering how these would compare.

 

I did get the new studio LP, Man On The Rocks btw.

I'm seemingly in the minority that really like it, and SQ-wise the vinyl seems to be significantly ahead of it's CD counterpart, with dynamic and un-brickwalled sound. (It's a 100% digital recording, like all of Mike's recordings from the last 20 years AFAIK).

The artwork, housed in a gatefold sleeve, is fantastic, and the discs are 180g, pressed at GZ Vinyl (it says in the deadwax). No issues with the pressing quality, quiet and dynamic. A lovely item.

 

Btw Amazon UK has listed more vinyl reissues/debuts due for October 20:

Tubular Bells II
The Songs Of Distant Earth
Voyager
Tubular Bells III
Tubular Beats

 

I bought the new vinyl of "Crises".
Very disappointed by the fact that the atwork does not respect the original UK artwork (in that case the labels).

I will then stick to my original idea which is to buy original UK pressings.
(I started this July during a trip to England: I came home with an incredible near mint original UK press of "Ommadawn", found in Herne-Bay, and also nice UK copies of "QE2" (complete with the hole on the front and the embossed labels) and "Crises" found in Canterbury. Finally.)

This is way more fun and less disappointing than buying those reissues.

 

sweet, songs of distant earth reissue!!??? there is a god!

 

I will probably pick this one up (again). Had the original for this and TBII. Sold them fairly cheap (about £15 each) and then saw their value rise quite substantially!

It would be nice if the artwork was better this time - the '94 vinyl was just a thin single card sleeve with no insert, same with with TBII. SQ was very dynamic, though limited by the fact that each side was half an hour long.

I agree though, nice to have this one out on LP again. It's an impressive album.

I hope they will get round to re-releasing Guitars and do a deluxe double-LP of my absolute favourite, Amarok

 

For some reason Ommadawn has not been included in these reissues AFAIK.

From what I've been reading, the new vinyl editions of TBI and Hergest Ridge are from the original lacquers, with the original mix of HR appearing for the first time since 1974 (later issues used the quad mix from the Boxed set). Makes me want to check these out.

Most MO vinyl (with the exception of TBI, TBII, Amarok, TSODE) can be had fairly, if not very cheap here in the UK. I even got Heaven's Open for £3, which is a real 'torture test' for your turntable/cartridge!!

I am lucky as Reading (which is Mike's birthplace btw) is a short train ride away and has two s/h record shops and several charity stores which also sell vinyl. Last time I was there I picked up an EX copy of the double live LP Exposed for £2.50.

 

German high end magazine "Image Hifi" had a big "Hergest Ridge" shootout earlier this year. IIRC, there were two winners: a 70s reissue with green labels and the 2010 "Music on Vinyl" LP. As a general rule these guys know what they're talking about.

 

Bought the Back on Black Ommadawn, as my 30-odd year old copy is a poor press. The new one's good.

 

^

Out already, just a few years ago.

 

Wow, missed that one

Original mix, I presume?

 

Interesting. In the Boxed booklet, it describes the original pressing, which was not on virgin vinyl due to the Gulf oil crisis of the time, as an "audio fry-up"

 

I did a little research myself and the green label LP they were talking about must be from around 1976 (i.e. after the oil crisis) since it was pressed by CBS instead of EMI.

 

When Hergest Ridge and Ommadawn were given the 'Ultimate' treatment by Universal in June 2010, there was no big box lke TB had been the year before, but the package included vinyl versions of both albums (a limited number autographed by Mike) to accompany the deluxe CD's - I plunge for it and have these two vinyl somewhere, auto'd and sealed.

Phil

 

http://www.backtoblackvinyl.com/vinyl/Mike_Oldfield-Ommadawn.php

http://www.discogs.com/Mike-Oldfield-Ommadawn/release/2541442

Doesn't exactly say . . .

 

I don't own it, but I saw it in a shop: the sticker on the front says it it the original mix.

 

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/mike-oldfield-vinyl-reissues-from-rhino.376548/

 

I bought the recent vinyl reissues of Crises and 5MO simply because I'd played my originals to death on rubbish equipment in the 80s when I took less care of my records. They sound great and the vinyl quality is A1. However, I agree with others that good quality used copies are very cheap and plentiful in the UK. The only one I never see, except at stupid prices, is Amarok and I was lucky to get a mint radio station throw out for a fiver. So, if you have excellent originals I probably wouldn't bother with the new ones. I believe they're digitally sourced and probably don't bring much new to the table if you're happy with what you have.

 

I picked up the Back to Black reissue of TB1. Although it's digitally remastered it sounds pretty good. It's a typical crap pressing from GZ Vinyl, however. It looks good but has several instances of surface noise.

 

Has anyone heard the "original" vinyl of Crises?

I have just purchased the remaster. Considering its a GZ pressing, it's fairly quiet.....but it's so bright sounding!! It feels like the treble has been turned right up. But perhaps that's how it was on the original, so I am curious!

 

It always was a bit on the bright side but the new reissue lacks the bottom end to balance things out. An early UK press is easy to find in excellent condition and for just a few pounds.