Mike Oldfield / YMMV

Broken Base: Oldfield's output after Crises and before Return to Ommadawn tends to attract divided reactions from fans.
- With the 80s material post-Crises, fans are split on whether or not Oldfield's shift to more accessible material detracted from his quality as an artist or simply helped him reinvent himself for an age where Progressive Rock was no longer considered relevant. Despite this, most fans tend to agree that 1989's Earth Moving was a step too far with its pure pop rock direction.
- With the 90s, 2000s, and 2010s material pre-Return to Ommadawn, fans are split as to whether his more electronic-tinged experimentation was a return to form or a desperate tentative to stay relevant. Similarly with the 80's, there is one big outlier, though in a positive direction rather than a negative one: most fans agree that 1990's Amarok was a huge step up for Oldfield, with many considering it one of his greatest albums.
Covered Up: Daryl Hall & John Oates's cover of "Family Man" is much better-known than the Oldfield original. While the original reached #45 in the UK and failed to chart in the US, the cover reached #15 in the UK and #6 in the US. Being released on the Hall & Oates album H₂O, which featured their massive hit "Maneater", likely helped.
Critical Dissonance: A good number of Oldfield's albums are much more beloved by fans than critics, but Amarok is a standout example. When it debuted in 1990, it was lambasted by critics as being middle-of-the-road at best. Fans, however, welcomed it with open arms; to this day, it's widely considered by fans to be one of the best works in Oldfield's discography.
Even Better Sequel: There is a subset of fans that believes Ommadawn is a much stronger album than the myth-making Tubular Bells. Oldfield may very well agree with them, as he made two attempts to revisit the album: one turning into something different (1990's Amarok) and the other a true sequel (2017's Return to Ommadawn.)
Fanon Discontinuity: Earth Moving tends to get subjected to this a lot, on account of it being much poppier than anything he had ever put out before or since.
First Installment Wins: Tubular Bells, naturally. It is likely the only work that a casual listener of progessive rock will own or even know of.
Fridge Brilliance: The cameo of "Tubular Bells" at the beginning of "Five Miles Out" seems odd at first, until you realize the song is about a near-death experience he had when the inexperienced pilot of the airplane he was a passnger on misinterpreted directions from air traffic control and flew through a thunderstorm. It's generally interpreted as Oldfield's life flashing before his eyes, using a musical reference he knew his fans would recognize.
Funny Moments: On the Incantations tour, the audience would get a sheet of paper to be folded into a paper◊ airplane◊. Naturally, the audiences had no problem throwing them not just at each other, but towards the stage–fortunately, when Mike and company weren't performing. Crosses with Moment of Awesome, as this was Mike's first tour, performing very difficult music, but he made sure the audience and his ensemble got to have some fun during the shows.
- The b-side to the Tubular Bells Theme single, "Froggy Went A-Courting", counts as well.
- "Sally", a goofy New Wave song in which the chorus is "Sally, I'm just a gorilla / I'll say I'll love you ever more / Even an ape from Manila couldn't stop me knocking on your door!" Richard Branson was so repulsed by it that it was removed from Platinum at the last minute, becoming heavily bootlegged in the process.
- The "Lost Version" of Ommadawn, which ducks near the end to allow two Mikes with comically thick accents to pose riddles at each other while constantly spouting, "I say, I say, I say."
Heartwarming Moments: The finale of Return to Ommadawn, a nod to the original's "On Horseback", will no doubt bring a tear to the eye of many a long-time fan.
- The very friendly reunion of Oldfield and Richard Branson that eventually led to Man on the Rocks and Return to Ommadawn released as Virgin albums, both of them peaking in the UK top 15 (#12 and #4 respectively), with the latter topping the charts in Spain!
Memetic Mutation: "Nuclear", due to it being used in the trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
Most Wonderful Sound: His guitar playing.
Once Original, Now Common: Since overdubbing has become much more widespread, people today aren't very likely to be impressed by the recording process used on Tubular Bells and its sequels all that much - to say nothing about the advances of technology making it trivial to create similar results with a phone, rather than an entire studio of sound technicians.
Seasonal Rot: Either the mid-80s, when he switched to more accessible material after the suits saw "Moonlight Shadow" go to #1 in the UK, culminating in the infamously poppy Earth Moving in 1989; or from the 90's onward, when he switched to a more experimental electronic style. This seems to have ended with Return to Ommadawn, which has been considered a huge return to form by fans of his 70's material.
Signature Song: "Tubular Bells" for his instrumental pieces. For his pop/rock songs, it depends on where you look: in the UK and continental Europe, that position is held by "Moonlight Shadow", whereas in the US, the crown goes to "Nuclear" thanks to its inclusion in the trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain which also led to Memetic Mutation.
Sophomore Slump: While Oldfield's second album, Hergest Ridge, is well regarded among fans, general consensus is that it's a noticeable step down from Tubular Bells immediately before it and is surpassed in quality by the darkhorse favorite Ommadawn immediately after it.
Sweet Dreams Fuel: Plenty. For a start there's the "Finale" section of Tubular Bells, then there's "Portsmouth", "On Horseback", the "Hiawatha" section of Incantations, "Punkadiddle", and most of Return to Ommadawn, especially the final sequence of Part 2, with the reprise of "On Horseback".
Suspiciously Similar Song: "Nuclear" sounds very similar to "Epitaph" by King Crimson.
Tough Act to Follow: While many of his albums since have been as well or better received by fans and critics, Tubular Bells remains his best selling record.
Win Back the Crowd: Return to Ommadawn recaptured the attention of fans who felt alienated by his shifts in direction post-Crises.

YMMV / Mike Oldfield

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