Devetdeseta leta prejšnjega tisočletja so bila za Oldfielda čudno obdobje, kjer se je kazal kot razdvojena osebnost. Izdal je nekaj res dobrih albumov, med tem pa tudi nekaj, ki so precej inferiorni. Od devetdesetih naprej je tako izdal nekaj res lepih plošč, kot so Amarok, Songs of Distant Earth in tudi Tubular Bells II, a je izdal tudi nekaj mnogo slabših zadev tipa Tubular Bells III, The Millenium Bell in Light + Shade. Na srečo Tres Lunas sodi v prvo kategorijo.
Atmosfera na albumu je dokaj umirjena, raverji bi ji celo rekli "chill out" glasba. Mislim, da ta plošča preseže glavnino takoimenovane "chill out" glasbe, čeprav se tudi tam skriva nekaj draguljev (dostikrat so tako, na primer, opisani tudi Air). Recimo, da gre za album, ki te sprosti. Tokrat ni groznih "drum and bass" elementov, le programirani bobni. Mikeu uspe sproščenost obdržati skozi ves album, kljub temu, da so nekateri deli hitrejši in glasnejši od drugih. Morda bi to lahko pripisali tudi moderni produkciji, ki zna nevtralizirati velike spremembe v glasnosti.
V sedemdestih je Mike Oldfield uspel ustvarjati barvite kontraste med posameznimi deli, v zadnjem času pa je to pustil za sabo in mu je očitno ljubše, če so vse njegove skladbe narejene po podobnem principu. Trudil sem se, da me to ne bi motilo in skušal sem se osredotočiti le na kakovost glasbe. In ta je res dobra - nedvomno ena njegovih boljših zadev v zadnjem času. Seveda je svetlobna leta oddaljena od Ommadawn, a čudežev niti ni bilo za pričakovati. Ta album je treba poslušati neodvisno od glasbenikove preteklosti. Lepo je slišati, da Oldfield ponovno v veliki meri uporablja meni tako ljuba instrumenta - akustično in klasično kitaro. Na teh glasbilih se res vedno izkaže. Pesmi kot so "Turtle Island", "No Man's Land" in "Firefly" pomenijo osvežitev med bolj ambientalnim materialom. Seveda se pogosto sliši tudi električna kitara, ki je s svojim specifičnim zvokom postala njegov zaščitni znak. Zvok njegove kitare je eden najbolj prepoznavnih v rocku, poleg velikanov kot sta Robert Fripp in Steve Hackett.
Čeprav se na izdelku ne nahaja mnogo vokalnih trenutkov, pa so ti narejeni z občutkom. Te dolžnosti je v glavnem opravljala Mikeova sestra Sally in Amar. Večji del so vokali uporabljeni le še kot dodatni instrumenti, ki ustvarjajo atmosfero ali pa eno od melodij. Edina pesem s "pravim" besedilom je "To Be Free", ki gre človeku res v uho in s katero je Oldfield verjetno ciljal na lestvice. Živimo pa v drugačnih časih kot, ko sta bili izdani "Moonlight Shadow" ali "To France". Dobre pop pesmi niso več zanimive. Ljudje očitno želijo poslušati slab pop. Čim slabši je, tem bolje.
Album je v glavnem precej speven, s solidnimi melodijami in intrumentacijo, za katero je v večini odgovoren kar glavni akter. Zame so edini večji problem programirani bobni. Če poslušate njegova dela iz sedemdesetih in osemdesetih, boste opazili, da je bil Oldfield eden najboljših, ko je šlo za prefinjena tolkala. Velikokrat ni niti uporabljal kompleta bobnov, temveč le kakšne afriške bobne, palčke, koncertni boben in podobna glasbila. A karkoli je uporabil, vedno je zvenelo odlično. Zdaj pa se zdi, kot da se mu niti potruditi ne ljubi več. Ustvari čudovito glasbo, a zadeve ne spelje kot se spodobi. Ne verjamem, da bi raje uporabil programirane bobne kot prave.
Še ena stvar, ki je ne razumem, je druga zgoščenka, ki naj bi vsebovala računalniško igro. Pa je ne! Na njej je le demo, če pa želiš igrati celotno igro, moraš ploščo preko njegove spletne strani naročiti še enkrat. Zakaj bi plačal dvajset funtov za igro, ki mi morda na koncu ne bo niti všeč, če pa glasbo že imam? Res se ne zdi pošteno, saj je cena v trgovinah takšna, kot da bi kupoval dvojni CD, tako da bi po tej logiki morali dobiti celotno igro.
Kakorkoli že, pozitivne stvari vsekakor prevagajo Oldfieldovo lenobo ali karkoli je že bilo krivo za razne pomanjkljivosti. To pomeni nadvse dobrodošel povratek v formo za tega starega mačka, a tudi to ni trajalo dolgo, saj ga je že z naslednjim izdelkom Light + Shade spet precej polomil, a to je tema za drugo recenzijo. Upam le, da ne boste pričakovali Oldfielda iz sedemdesetih in deloma iz osemdesetih ter da boste poslušali brez predsodkov. Potem bi vam ta izdelek znal celo biti všeč, a tudi to ni garantirano.
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It has been an on and off period for Mike Oldfield since the 1990s. He releases a good album and then follows it up with something of much poorer quality. Since the 90s, he has released some really wonderful records, like Amarok, Songs of Distant Earth or even Tubular Bells II, but he's also put out albums that are much inferior, like Tubular Bells III, The Millenium Bell and Light + Shade. Fortunately Tres Lunas is one album that belongs in the former category.
The atmosphere throughout the album is really relaxed, something the ravers and techno freaks might call chill out music. I think this record is a bit better than chill out music, although as I say this, there have been some excellent bands classified as chill out (Air pops to mind). Let's just call it a relaxed album. There are no dreaded drum and bass elements this time, luckily, just some sample drums. Mike Oldfield manages to keep the calm feeling going all the way through despite going through some passages that are faster and louder than others. Perhaps this could also be attributed to modern production techniques, which have the ability to neutralize any big changes in volume. Sometimes, this may be a bad thing, sometimes good.
The Mike Oldfield of the 70s was able to create great colourful contrasts between passages, yet now he seems to leave that behind and actually prefers most of the tracks to have a similar quality to one another. I tried not to let this bother me and simply tried to focus on the material. And the material is good. Some of the best he's produced in the last years. It's light years from Ommadawn, still you can't expect miracles to happen. It's great to see Mike using the much beloved acoustic and classical guitars to such extent again. He really is a master of those two instruments. Songs like "Turtle Island", "No Man's Land" and "Firefly" are like a breath of fresh air among the more ambiental pieces. Naturally, Mike's trademark electric guitar sound is also omnipresent throughout the record. He must have one of the most distinctive guitar sounds ever, alongside people like Robert Fripp or Steve Hackett.
Although there are not many vocal moments here, the ones that are present are very well done. Most of the duties were handled by Mike's sister Sally and Amar. For most of the time, the vocals are used as another instruments, for either setting the background of a song or singing the melody. The only track with "real" lyrics is "To Be Free", which is a nice catchy number and probably another stab at a chart hit. However we live in different times than when "Moonlight Shadow" or "To France" were released. Good pop songs are no longer interesting. People want to hear bad pop, the worse the better.
Most of the album is a very melodic affair, with solid melodies and good instrumentation. The one big problem I had with it is again the sampled drums. If you listen to some of his 70s and even 80s efforts, Oldfield incorporated some of the most tasteful percussion instruments on his pieces. A lot of the times, he didn't even use a kit, he'd just use African drums, rhythm sticks, timpani or similar instruments. But whatever he used, it always sounded great. Now it seems as if he just doesn't want to make an effort any more. He has all this wonderful material and doesn't do the job as it was supposed to be done. I can't believe that he would rather use sampled drums than real ones, that would just be silly. Another thing I can't comprehend is the second disc. It's supposed to contain a computer game. Well, it doesn't. It contains only a demo and if you want the whole game, you have to order the CD again from his website. Why would I pay twenty pounds for a computer game I may not even end up liking, when I already have the music? Still, it doesn't seem fair. In stores, the prices reflect those of double CDs and not single, so there really should be the entire game on the second disc.
Still, the positive aspects largely outweigh any laziness on Mike Oldfield's part and this makes for a welcome return to form by Mike Oldfield. It didn't last long however. Light and Shade was soon to follow. That wasn't so good. But I'll explain that in another review. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.
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