Mike Oldfield – The Space Movie OST
Nov
13, 2015 | 0
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By: Chad Murray
Mike Oldfield | website | facebook |
Released
on October 16, 2015 via GONZO
Multimedia
Triumphant.
Euphoric. Covert. Brilliant.
Mike
Oldfield is perhaps one of the most well-known soundtrack artists of
all time. However, this honour is often attributed to the use of his composition
‘Tubular Bells’ in The Exorcist and subsequent works. In The
Space Movie, Mike Oldfield provided one of his first ever film scores and
the great mystery remains, why are there not more?
With
inspiring excerpts from the film embedded in the work, Oldfield’s soundtrack is
wrapped in a symbiotic beauty and chaos. The film samples and the music collide
and coalesce, juxtaposed, embraced and exploring everywhere between.
From
the jaunty Popeye jingles to the orchestra swells through prog rock jams and
deep brass ballads. In The Space Movie, Oldfield explores the journey to space
touching on styles from across the world and with the crew journeys
beyond.
Perhaps
the greatest testament to the album is that it tells the story of the film so
well, that a listener can experience the entire voyage without even viewing The
Space Movie. The moment of take-off in this respect is one of if not the best
moment in the soundtrack; Oldfield embraces the samples of the countdown and the
rocket taking off and allows the music to subside whilst the rapturous spectacle
takes place. As the rocket erupts almost to the point of clipping, the listener
is submerged in one of the most unique and awe-inspiring sounds that can be
experienced in the real world; some would choose to convey this with music or
accompany it, Oldfield shows his talent by allowing the samples to take
precedence when necessary but, at the same time is never afraid to show the full
wealth of styles in which he thrives.
In
many ways, The
Space Movie was a vehicle for Oldfield and a quest for the artist
himself. The
Space Movie provided Oldfield a platform to present his capabilities to an
audience that likely had only ever heard Tubular Bells and, though it would
never make him the next Bernard Herrmann, it would showcase his talent to a
massive audience. The soundtrack also acted as a chance to preview music
from Incantations to
new listeners but it could be argued that the songs fromIncantations actually
sit better amongst the soundtrack and its collage of excellent
samples.
Listening
to the soundtrack and watching the film, I have to say, it’s quite baffling that
Oldfield hasn’t really composed many soundtracks. Aside from The
Killing Fields and Oldfield’s score for a relatively obscure French film jeune
fille assassinée, there basically isn’t any other instances of Oldfield
acting as a composer for a film. It would certainly be interesting to see more
scores from Mike Oldfield in the future as such a celebrated artist with a clear
talent for the medium, maybe one day we will.
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AT GONZO:
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AT GONZO:
 | The Space Movie Original Soundtrack CD/DVD - £9.99 |
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