History Music / TubularBells

* {{Improv}}: That epic acoustic bit right before "The Sailor's Hornpipe" on the original? Mike wrote the bassline and the basic direction he wanted it to go in, and bam. "Piltdown Man" was a drunken Mike babbling nonsense into a mic in a growling caveman voice.

* {{Improv}}: That epic acoustic bit right before "The Sailor's Hornpipe" on the original? Mike wrote the bassline and the basic direction he wanted it to go in, and bam. "Piltdown Man" was a drunken Mike babbling nonsense into a mic while drunk.

* TheCameo: Creator/JohnCleese, acting as master of ceremonies on ''Tubular Bells 2003'' in place of the deceased Vivian Stanshall.

''Tubular Bells'' was released in 1973, and its success spawned the recording of ''The Orchestral Tubular Bells'' in 1974, but it was not until much later that Oldfield returned to his first album in force, releasing ''Music/TubularBellsII'' in 1992, ''Music/TubularBellsIII'' in 1998, ''The Millennium Bell'' in 1999, ''Tubular Bells 2003'' in, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin 2003]], and ''Tubular Beats'' in 2013. Oldfield has recently announced ''Tubular Bells IV'' to be released at an unknown date.

The hugely successful debut album by Music/MikeOldfield and the debut release by the then-nascent, then-indie Creator/VirginRecords. The album is known for its one and only track, split across two movements (one per side), which was soon used as the recognizable theme to the film ''Film/TheExorcist''. The album is also well-known for its unexpectedly gigantic financial success, topping the charts in the UK, the US, Australia, and Canada, and being certified ''noncuple''-platinum in the UK, triple-platinum in Australia, double-platinum in Canada, and gold in the United States, France, the Netherlands, and Sweden. This success provided the foundation for what became Sir Richard Branson's Virgin empire, which today covers far too many industries to keep track of; [[RagsToRiches previously, Branson had been the owner of a single, though quite successful, record shop.]]

Already critically acclaimed upon its release, the album's reception has only grown with time. To this day, it is widely regarded as Oldfield's best and most influential album, being praised for perfectly embodying ProgressiveRock's ethos of combining rock music with classical composition and setting a measuring stick by which later instrumental-oriented artists would be compared. As of 2020, ''WebSite/AcclaimedMusic'' places the record at No. 397 on its [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums dynamic list]] of the 3000 most critically lauded albums.

Speaking of singles, the album was actually supported by two: in the US, the "Introduction" and "Finale" sections from Part One were put out to bank on the popularity that the former gained from ''The Exorcist''; both tracks were simply titled "Tubular Bells", with "Introduction" being distinguished by a parenthetical note about its film spot. Since the single was released without Oldfield's permission, he put together a different release for the British and European markets aptly titled "Mike Oldfield's Single", a re-recording of the "Bagpipes Guitar" segment of Part Two backed with a CoverVersion of "Froggy Went a-Courting".

Speaking of singles, the album was actually supported by one: aptly titled "Mike Oldfield's Single", this 1974 release consisted of different material depending on the release. The US received excerpts from the start and end of Part One, while the UK and continental Europe got a re-recording of the "Bagpipes Guitar" segment of Part Two, backed with a CoverVersion of "Froggy Went a-Courting".

Speaking of singles, the album was actually supported by one: aptly titled "Mike Oldfield's Single", this 1974 release consisted of a re-recording of the "Bagpipes Guitar" segment of Part Two, backed with a CoverVersion of "Froggy Went a-Courting".

* EpicRocking: Probably one of the most extreme examples of the LP era; the original 1972 album consists of just two tracks, each one taking up the entirety of one side of the record and altogether making up a single, unified piece. Oldfield would continue this practice up until 1978's ''Incantations'', before eventually reviving it with the release of ''Return to Ommadawn'' in 2017. The 2003 version, meanwhile, separates Part 1 and Part 2 into multiple tracks, each based on a specific movement in the piece. of those, "Finale" clocks in at 8:32, while "Introduction" just barely falls short of the six-minute mark.

* MetalScream: The "Piltdown Man" section, starting at 11:55 of Part Two.

* GratuitousPanning: For the finale of "Part One", the instruments as announced by Vivian Stanshall make their entrances on the far left, but then gradually move across-- sometimes all the way to the far right, sometimes only part of the way across, so that by the time the tubular bells make their entrance, the instruments that preceded it (in order: grand piano, reed and pipe organ, glockenspiel, bass guitar, double speed guitar, two "slightly distorted" guitars, mandolin, Spanish guitar and acoustic guitar)[[note]] The order reflects the order of their first entrances in the opening minutes of "Part One".[[/note]] are all in different places on the soundstage.

* CoverVersion: The album closes out with an arrangement of "The Sailor's Hornpipe", a traditional English folk melody.

The hugely successful debut album by Music/MikeOldfield and the debut release by the then-nascent, then-indie Creator/VirginRecords. The album is known for its one and only track, split across two movements (one per side), which was soon used as the recognizable theme to the film ''Film/TheExorcist''. The album is also well-known for its unexpectedly gigantic financial success, which provided the foundation for what became Sir Richard Branson's Virgin empire, which today covers far too many industries to keep track of. [[RagsToRiches Previously, Branson had been the owner of a single, though quite successful, record shop.]]

Oldfield plays nearly all the instruments featured on the first album himself through overdubbing – the only exceptions were flute (Jon Field), string bass (Lindsay Cooper) and drums (Simon Broughton). At the time, overdubbing wasn't so widespread as it is now, and was a notable feature of the album in 1973. The sequels continue this practice, although some instruments are played by others. According to [[http://tubular.net/articles/2001_08 engineer Simon Heyworth]], the "Piltdown Man" section resulted from Creator/VirginRecords owner Richard Branson pressuring Oldfield to add vocals to at least one section to make it more marketable as a single. Oldfield stormed out of the meeting [[WriterRevolt saying "You want lyrics? I'll give you lyrics!", proceeded to get smashed on half a bottle of whiskey and "screamed his brains out" for ten minutes in the studio]].

!! Tracklist:

! ''Tubular Tropes'':

* EpicRocking: Probably one of the most extreme examples of the LP era; the original 1972 album consists of just two tracks, each one taking up the entirety of one side of the record. Oldfield would continue this practice up until ''Incantations'', before eventually reviving it with the release of ''Return to Ommadawn'' in 2017. The 2003 version, meanwhile, separates Part 1 and Part 2 into multiple tracks, each based on a specific movement in the piece.

* IdiosyncraticCoverArt: Every sequel and re-release (as well as ''Tubular Beats'') features the iconic bent tubular bell logo on a different background, and sometimes in a different color.

The hugely successful debut album by Music/MikeOldfield. The album is known for its one and only track, which was soon used as the recognizable music to the film ''Film/TheExorcist'', and also for its financial success, providing the foundation for what became Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Empire. Previously, Branson had been the owner of a single, though quite successful, record shop.

! '''''Tubular Tropes''''':

* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: ''Tubular Bells 2003'' is rerecorded with all the recording, mastering, and editing equipment that didn't exist in 1973. Most bits are more or less the same, but there are some significant differences.

* UncommonTime:
** From the first:
*** The opening riff is in 15/8 (7/8, then 8/8).
*** The "Thrash" section just before the nasal choir switches between 7/4 and 4/4.
*** The album in general seems to come across as this due to its heavy use of polyrhythms, which each instrument playing in a considerably different time signature than the rest. Combined with the specific choice of instrumentation, this makes the whole album sound both jarring and mesmerizing at the same time.

''Tubular Bells'' was released in 1973, and its success spawned the recording of ''The Orchestral Tubular Bells'' in 1974, but it was not until much later that Oldfield returned to his first album in force, releasing ''Tubular Bells II'' in 1992, ''Tubular Bells III'' in 1998, ''The Millennium Bell'' in 1999, ''Tubular Bells 2003'' in, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin 2003]], and ''Tubular Beats'' in 2013. Oldfield has recently announced ''Tubular Bells IV'' to be released at an unknown date.

* PublicDomainSoundtrack: The first album ended with "The Sailor's Hornpipe".

Although Oldfield was to later become known as a New Age artist, he has stated that ''Tubular Bells'' is too dynamic to fall into such a category, though some elements are similar. It has, by contrast, been featured on rock album lists, and is usually classified as a ProgressiveRock album.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Tubular_Bells_5980.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Plus... [[TitleDrop Tubular... Bells!]]" '''''DONNNNNNNGGG!''''']]

''Tubular Bells'' was released in 1973, and its success spawned the recording of ''The Orchestral Tubular Bells'' in 1974, but it was not until much later that Oldfield returned to his first album in force, releasing ''Tubular Bells II'' in 1992, ''Tubular Bells III'' in 1998, ''The Millennium Bell'' in 1999, ''Tubular Bells 2003'', and ''Tubular Beats'' in 2013. Oldfield has recently announced ''Tubular Bells IV'' to be released at an unknown date.

* TheCameo: [[Creator/AlanRickman Snape himself]] pulls Narrator duties in "Tubular Bells 2".