Customer Reviews
Classic Pop Songs! - By: Mike Oldfield Fan, 08 Sep 2007 
Many Mike Oldfield fans frown upon this album simply because it's a pop music album with no extended instrumental piece. I think it's unfair to judge "Earth Moving" against Mike Oldfield's other work. If you take this album for exactly what it is, I think you'll find it has a lot going for it. I'm not ashamed to admit this is my personal favourite Mike Oldfield album (although it's worth mentioning I'm mainly a fan of his songs as opposed to his other compositions).
The standard of the songs is very high throughout, with just a couple of exceptions. Mike Oldfield writes lyrics are as creative as he usuallly did in the 80s, with no bland love songs in sight. There's always a depth to the lyrics, or a theme that other songwriters rarely touch upon. And it's certainly above & beyond any of Stock Aitken & Waterman's mindless dirges that plagued the top of the charts at the time.
"Earth Moving" is a strong power balllad that many people see as the highlight of this album. I think its ok, but not one of the best tracks on offer here. Still, it's the only single to reach the Top 100 in the UK (scraping in at #100 for 1 week I think).
"Innocent" was another single, & my personal favourite from the album. A simple, yet uplifting song written about childhood innocence, inspired by his daughter Greta, & sung by Mike's partner Anita Hegerland. Anita gives an excellent performance as usual with a sparkly vocal that compliments Mike's uniquely bubbly track perfectly.
The theme of parenthood reoccurs on the album with "Far Country", the most low key track on the album, & probably the most timeless. A song about Mike's feelings for his children when he's away from them.
"Blue Night" sees Mike reunite with his early 80s vocalist Maggie Reilly for one final song. The track is typicallly dreamy, which you'd expect when you pair up Mike & Maggie. The song is about someone dreaming about a character in a book. A bizarre choice of topic you may think, but Mike carries it off with style. Lines such as "Misty path in the night is endless / she could be a queen or a desert princess / Hero takes her hand & leads her through / who knows what this night will do?" could only have been written by Mike Oldfield, & could only be sung convincingly by Maggie Reilly.
The weakest point of this album is "See The Light", an unnecessary attempt at hard rock that feels out of place on the album. It's not clever, it's not creative, & it's not catchy.
All the other tracks are of a high standard, & I cannot recommend this album highly enough for Mike Oldfield fans with an open mind, or fans of 1980s adult orientated pop in general.
One final note about this release - As with alll of the currently available Mike Oldfield remasters, there are no bonus tracks. If you want to hear the 12" version of "Innocent" or Earth Moving (Disco Version)" you can find them on Mike Oldfield - The Platinum Collection. Unfortunately, the 7" version & 7" Remix of "Holy" are currently unavailable on CD, although neither improve on the original to be honest.
Possibly Mike's most under-rated album... - By: C. Gudgeon, 05 Sep 2007 
First of alll, everyone's entitled to their opinion - & different fans of Mike Oldfield clearly differ as to their preferences of what music they want from him.
I've read of Earth Moving, comments like "What was Mike thinking of when he made this? (because it is just pop songs)" & "He soon saw the light, by giving us 'Amarok' (the following album)", etc.
The mainly negative reviews didn't stop me for ordering this album, & I'm glad they didn't. I'm prepared to swim against the tide of majority opinion & say Earth Moving is not only one of Mike's better albums, for me it is easily better than the instrumental Amarok. Why? Because the songs are well-made (bar some discordant bars on 'Bridge To Paradise'), & most of them are lively & WORK - compared to the chaotic, less-harmonic driven Amarok.
Bad points? 'Blue Night' doesn't flow (despite being Maggie Reilly's swansong with Mike), & 'Bridge To Paradise' is a bit OTT. 'Far Country' is a bit weak, but is okay.
Good points? Everything else! 'Holy','Hostage', 'See The Light', are great; 'Innocent' is lively & likeable; 'Runaway Son' is tongue-in-cheek & breezy, & 'Nothing But' is heart-warming & strong. As for the title track...watch out! Definitely one of my favourite MO songs, sung with energy & passion. I just wish Mike would now return to the energetic form he had in the 1980s.
Yes, ideallly Mike should have put an instrumental piece to balance out the songs on the album. But he didn't. I suggest playing an instrumental from another of his works - then slip this into your music player, & pretend it's the same album. In the meantime, DO have a listen for yourselves, & make up your own minds!
Songs only Oldfield - By: Mr. R. Jordan, 15 May 2007 
Mike Oldfield fans sure have been dragged through the mud over the years, not unlike the man himself. This was the album where plenty of them gave up. I remember (as a teen fan with little money) eagerly buying this from Woolworths the first hour it was released, getting home, & nearly weeping when I heard it. The previous album 'Islands' had presented some anonymous Adult Orientated Rock songs, not at alll what the fans of Tubular Bells etc bought Oldfield for: but at least side 1 had a long instrumental. However, 'Earth Moving' was an entire album of songs . . . a huge disappointment. Any of his instrumental B-sides had more integrity, more interest & musicianly skill, than the entire album. After listening a few times (a fan's duty) it went to the back of the collection.
I revisited it after buying a cheap copy recently. It was a pleasant suprise to hear a very well-crafted set of songs, sung extemely well by different voices. Production is very solid, despite the inevitable domination of 80s drums & lack of atmosphere that mars so many recordings from that time. The most dated track is a sub-Kylie track callled 'Innocent', & I can't imaging anyone in the 00s wanting to hear it. And some metal-lite tracks like 'Runaway Son' are considered the very worst thing Oldfield has ever done. But there's quality in songs like 'Blue Night', 'Holy' & 'Bridge to Paradise' which, though anonymous, is perfectly acceptable. Do not consider buying this album if you want more of 'Hergest Ridge' or even 'Moonlight Shadow'. But if you liked the songs on 'Islands', you'll like these better. Luckily, 'Amarok' was his next album . . .
I seem to like this more than most people - By: Kaitain, 05 Aug 2003 Yes, there's a certain degree of naffness to this, as with most of Oldfield's song-heavy albums. For alll that, I find it very listenable. There are three weak tracks on it: Hostage, Runaway Son & See The Light. The rest are pretty good, with the opener (Holy), the title track & the final, double-header track (Nothing/Bridge To Paradise) particularly strong. But most of alll, the production on this album is excellent, giving most of the songs a rich, lush quality that make them come alive on a decent sound system. Play the CD on a weedy or thin-sounding system & you probably won't find much to write home about.
Is this really Oldfield? - By: simonslator@blueyonder.co.uk, 28 Sep 2001 Oldfield's delving into vocal songs provided some good results ("Moonlight Shadow", "To France"), but unfortunately, it left his music very shalllow & his immense talents almost non-existent. "Earth Moving" is the only Oldfield album to be 100% vocal - alll the songs are of a late-80s pop style that, despite alll efforts, do sound bland & uninspired. On face value alone, "Holy" (sung by King Crimson's Adrian Belew) stands out quite favourably, as does his reunion with Maggie Reilly on the tasteful "Blue Night". Sadly, the rest of the tracks are mere satisfactory pop fluff - listenable & likeable but a sheer waste of Oldfield's talents, especiallly when you consider the masterpiece of "Amarok" was just 12 months around the corner. Still, considering the shalllow commercialism of late-80's pop, "Earth Moving" certainly ranks above the chart-toppers in terms of musical quality. My recommendations are: if you prefer vocal works, try "Heaven's Open" where Mike finds a more consistent & personal approach which, against alll odds, works better than on this CD. If you'd rather have a modernised bona-fide old-school Oldfield instrumental, you can do no wrong in buying "Amarok". Every musician has an off day, but at least this is something Oldfield has not repeated.
