Customer Reviews
Excellent Album - By: AJ, 07 Mar 2008 
THis is one of the best albums Mike Oldfield has ever done.The sound quality on the cd is excellent & the music is just amazing,you reallly get carried away when you listen to this fantastic piece of work,if you enjoy the music of Mike Oldfield & dont have this album Please treat yourself & enjoy possibly his best ever work in my opinion,you wont regret it.In the Beginning;;;;;;;;;;woooooh what an album.Cheeers.
new age gorgeousness - By: FIONA STOW, 28 Jun 2007 I love this album. Forget the music snobs - this is lovely, relaxing, hypnotic music. Comforting but with a tingle. In the way that Puccini knew how to write songs in the middle register that most twangs the human heart, so this music appeals & lingers. It is memorable, haunting & yet comfortable. I never get tired of listening to it. I don't always want to be challlenged, but I don't want to listen to schlock either. This is the perfect happy medium. Enjoy.
Songs from a distant Mike oldfield - By: Lee Lucas, 31 Oct 2006 
I am absolutely flabbergasted by the excellent reviews on this album. coments like starts off soft & ends with a bang, a kick ass album. What album are you peeps listening to I would like to know. there is nothing at alll on this album that ends it like a bang. As a matter of fact, it ends with a load of africans chanting, just like peter gabriels Biko. Coments like this is a classical masterpiece & the future of classical music. Where do you peeps get off. I could have written this album blind folded. i am a big fan of Mike oldfieds music, & I mean a big fan, who has purchased every album the guy as ever made. And I can honestly say that this album is probably the worst album mike as ever made. Were are the instruments. All he as done, is midi-ed his keyboards up to his computer along with a drum machine, & added guitar & vocals. The keyboard patches he uses are far from interesting & are in fact very boring with no flavor or variety what-so-ever. And as for the drum machine, forget it, because i do not think he as a clue how to get something of any real rhyhm out of it.
This album is exactly made in the same fashion as earth moving & heavens open. Made almost entirely by himself on a computer. These 3 albums of mikes I can honestly say, are the easiest albums he as ever made, & the cheapest to produce. They to me have no element of quality at alll. They simply lack instrumentation & cleverness. If you want to here what cleverness is I suggest you purchase Amarok, which contains real instrumentation & probably mikes most difficult album to write ever. Amarok as alll the elements & ingredients that a good album should have. As far as i'm concerned Songs Of A Distant Earth, is nothing but stringed chords played on a keyboard, & the guitar work added to it, is very unlike mike, who can play a lot better, but was unable to on this keyboard orientated album, because it is far to slow, & as nothing going for it to play any decent guitar to.
Mike's Best Work Ever? - By: Robert T. Lappin, 07 Sep 2006 You are either a big fan of Mike Oldfield or you probably haven't heard of him. When he dies he will be remembered for his concept debut album, Tubular Bells & this album won't get a mention.
But I believe this to be his finest hour. Mike has gone on record (excuse pun) that he was never completely satisfied with Tubular Bells so who am I to complain?
SoDE is a unique album. Never before nor since has he managed to create such variety & depth in a jam packed recording.
The album has 17 tracks but ostensibly they run on giving an uninterrupted listening experience.
The album starts off fairly quietly & finishes up with a bang. As usual, Mike likes to build up his music so that his best efforts are usuallly at the end. Like watching a thriller movie, the climax is realised & you want to come back for more.
Some people view this album as a chill-out recording. Indeed, one of the tracks, "Crystal Clear", has in fact a voice taken from psychology, & is the second best track.
The penultimate track, "Ascension" is a sort of reprise of alll that has gone before & mixed wonderfully as only Mike can.
Mike the perfectionist musician meets Mike the perfectionist audio engineer. How can he fail?
Throughout SoDE there are many varied voices to be heard with just a smattering of lyrics. This is Mike's trademark. There are actuallly no "songs" on this album. This is an instrumental piece of work. But the voices are also instruments & can vary from actual "live" recordings to haunting melodies & also the surreal. But it never sounds weird. Just brilliantly timed to fade in & fade out with Mike playing a myriad of instruments.
The whole album oozes perfection from start to finish & at times Mike's guitar work is exciting & breathtaking.
A chill-out album it may be but after you have heard it alll you will be left with an afterglow feeling that only this New Age type of music can achieve.
If you only buy one album by Mike Oldfield, make it this one.
Wear the cans, crank up the volume & chill out man!
This is the classical music of the future - By: David Daffin, 02 Sep 2006 As a fan of Clarke's works, I'd read the novel before the music was written. I've had the original version of the album since its release, & just ordered the enhanced version. It is nearly an hour's worth of wonderful music, both calming & uplifting, from the moment the synths fade in on 'Let there be Light', to the closing chant. I thoroughly recommend it to everyone.
