Tubular Bells 2003

Tubular Bells 2003
Studio album by Mike Oldfield
Released	27 May 2003 (2003-05-27)
Recorded	Roughwood, August 2002 – February 2003
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	48:38
Label	Warner
Producer	Mike Oldfield
Mike Oldfield chronology
Tr3s Lunas (2002) Tubular Bells 2003 (2003) Light + Shade (2005)
Tubular Bells series chronology
The Complete Tubular Bells (2003) Tubular Bells 2003 (2003)
Singles from Tubular Bells 2003
"Introduction 2003" Released: 24 April 2003

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Tubular Bells 2003 is an album by Mike Oldfield, released in 2003 by Warner Music. It is a complete re-recording of Oldfield's 1973 album debut Tubular Bells, which had been released 30 years earlier.

Background

Oldfield had always been uncomfortable with the original recording because he had only a few weeks to record it and the technology at the time was unable to cope with all of his requirements. As a result, mistakes could not be fixed and some instruments were out of tune on the 1973 release. Due to contractual reasons no re-recordings were allowed for 25 years after the original release. The release of Tubular Bells 2003 took place in the year when Oldfield celebrated his 50th birthday and the 30th anniversary of the original version.

To remain faithful to the original album, Oldfield obtained a copy of the original 16 track tape, from Richard Barrie of Air Studios; this multitrack was then recorded into Digidesign Pro Tools. There were a few parts of the multitrack recording missing however; this included parts of the "Finale", "Caveman" and "The Sailors Hornpipe" sections. These original tracks were then moved into Emagic Logic, where Oldfield used MIDI to create a tempo and time signature map; some sections of the original album had not been in time. A guide MIDI keyboard was laid on top, for which Oldfield usually used some Roland Strings. The first instrument to be recorded was the Glockenspiel at the beginning of Part One's "Introduction", and the final part to be recorded was the "Caveman" vocal track.^[2]

The album was released in three versions: a CD in Europe, a CD in North America, and a DVD-Audio edition. The copy protection^[3] on the CDs caused many complaints about playback difficulties, including claims of damage to CD and DVD players.

Due to the extensive use of digital technology, Tubular Bells 2003 has a more synthesised and brighter sound than the original. Because of the death of Vivian Stanshall, who was the original master of ceremonies on the 1973 release, Oldfield had actor John Cleese introduce the instruments in the "Finale" part.^[4]

There is a facetious warning inside the cover of CD: "This stereo record can still not be played on old tin boxes no matter what they are fitted with. If you are in possession of such equipment please hand it into the nearest police station". This warning references a similar note, without the word "still", from the original album.

A video and Spanish promo single were produced for a remix version of the Tubular Bells "Introduction" theme, entitled "Introduction 2003".^[5] The second publicly released MusicVR game, Maestro, used various extracts from Tubular Bells 2003.^[6]

Personnel

Performers

• Mike Oldfield – Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Electric Bass, Accordion, Steinway Grand Pianos, Farfisa, Lowrey & Hammond Organs, Synthesizers, Glockenspiel, Timpani, Cymbals, Tambourine, Triangle, Tubular bells, Programming, Producer
• John Cleese – Master of ceremonies
• Sally Oldfield – Background vocals

Non-performers

• Ben Darlow – Engineer
• Steve Bedford – New Tubular Bell image
• Trevor Key – Original Tubular Bell image
• Andy Earl – Inner cover photo
• e-xentric thinking – Design
• Oldfield Music Overseas Ltd. / EMI Publishing Ltd – Publishing

Track listing

CD

Part one

1. "Introduction" – 5:52
2. "Fast Guitars" – 1:04
3. "Basses" – 0:46
4. "Latin" – 2:18
5. "A Minor Tune" – 1:21
6. "Blues" – 2:40
7. "Thrash" – 0:44
8. "Jazz" – 0:48
9. "Ghost Bells" – 0:30
10. "Russian" – 0:44
11. "Finale" – 8:32 (featuring John Cleese)

Part two

12. "Harmonics" – 5:12
13. "Peace" – 3:30
14. "Bagpipe Guitars" – 3:08
15. "Caveman" – 4:33
16. "Ambient Guitars" – 5:10
17. "The Sailor's Hornpipe" – 1:46 (Traditional arrangement)

Bonus DVD

• Disc 2 – Total Time 11:22

1. "Introduction" – 5:51
2. "Fast Guitars" – 1:04
3. "Basses" – 0:46
4. "Introduction 2003" 'The video' – 3:41

DVD-Audio bonus material

The DVD-Audio edition includes the demos Oldfield recorded in his flat in 1971 and two excerpts from other Oldfield DVD releases.

1971 Demos

1. "Tubular Bells Long" – 22:57
2. "Caveman Lead-In" – 2:46
3. "Caveman" – 5:05
4. "Peace Demo A" – 7:00
5. "Peace Demo B" – 4:18

Live Excerpts

1. "Sentinel" – from Tubular Bells II – Live at Edinburgh Castle 1992 – 8:06
2. "Far Above the Clouds" – from Tubular Bells III – Live at Horseguards Parade, London 1998 – 4:40

Equipment

Release details

References

External links

• Mike Oldfield Discography – Tubular Bells 2003 at Tubular.net