Incantations - MIKE OLDFIELD***

Incantations Part One/Incantations Part Two/Incantations Part Three/Incantations Part Four

Incantations was an overlong and repetitive instrumental double album from Mike Oldfield. It would have clearly benefited by being condensed into a single album, similar to his previous releases. (UK:14)

“I think the running time is the major issue here. Any album clocking in over 70 minutes is going to find keeping the listener's attention a challenge at times, and the material here is repetitive enough that I don't find it rewarding to listen to the whole thing in one sitting compared to Tubular Bells. However, taken as individual tracks, the various parts of this whole are as good as ever.”

“Each part is distinctive, but they form a very consistent entirety, and it never sounds like a mere showcase of different instruments.” “You get double the amount of filler which fortunately is not that great an amount on any of Mike Oldfield's early albums. The other weakness is the propensity to lose the listener's attention which seems inevitable for an album of this length, especially one that relies a lot on ambience, textures and repetition.”

“Incantations is what you can safely call an ambitious affair. Four side long compositions are certain to conjure up expectations of progressive greatness. The musical concept is quite progressive as Mike Oldfield makes extensive use of the circle of fifths and makes it a mission to modulate through all twelve keys, before moving forward with the next section of a track. Some sections therefore seem very long, although they are played in different keys and therefore do evolve.”

“The biggest problem here is the lack of editing, selectivity, and conciseness. We end up with the same melodies repeated ad nauseum. After listening to so much of the same for so long, I ended up editing the long-winded melodies down to the real core of the music. It's probably less than half the length of the original score, but is more enjoyable.”

“This is still adventurous, romantic music but some of melodies just drag on and on. Some parts are good, but overall there's too much going wrong to make this a complete success. I can't help but feel that a little condensing here and trimming there would have made for a more accomplished album.”