Review: Mike Oldfield – QE2 (1980)

QE2 is Mike Oldfield’s sixth studio album.

After the release of his 1979 album Platinum, Oldfield toured Europe with a new, smaller band. The In Concert tour covered more than 50 concerts across Europe. The 11-piece band consisted of musicians who had played on Platinum and new names who would become Oldfield’s regular musicians for several years. This time, the tour made a modest profit, unlike Oldfield’s first megalomaniacal tour (recorded on the excellent album Exposed), which was performed with a ”band” of over 50 musicians.

After the In Concert tour, Oldfield decided that he wanted to work more closely with other musicians on his next album. In a departure from his usual practice, he also decided to use an outside producer. Of course, some of Oldfield’s previous albums had also been produced in collaboration with Tom Newman, but Newman was like ”family” and, in a way, Oldfield’s mentor since the days of Tubular Bells. Newman had also been involved in Platinum, but now Oldfield wanted to try something completely new.

Virgin’s A&R director Simon Draper recommended David Hentschel, who was not only a classically trained musician but also a very experienced producer/recording engineer. Hentschel had started his career as an in-house recording engineer at Trident Studios and had worked on albums by Genesis and Elton John, among others. Hentschel’s career as a producer really took off when he produced Genesis’s album A Trick Of The Tail in 1976. After that, he became the regular producer for several years not only for Genesis but also for Renaissance, who specialized in symphonic prog.

David Hentschel and Mike Oldfield worked well together. The two of them built the arrangements and backing tracks at Oldfield’s home studio and invited other musicians to help them polish the final result when necessary. However, things did not always go smoothly. One day, they had worked a grueling 15-hour day and finally decided to call it a day, satisfied with their achievements. The next day, when Hentschel returned to continue the work and asked how yesterday’s material sounded today, he received a laconic response from Oldfield: ”I listened to it last night and didn’t like it. I deleted everything.” Hentschel was furious. This little anecdote shows that even though production responsibility was nominally shared between these two gentlemen, it was clear who was really calling the shots.

However, Hentschel played a major role in the album named QE2 (the name refers to the large cruise ship Queen Elizabeth 2). Not only did he produce the album, he also participated in composing and arranging a few of the songs and brought along his good friend Phil Collins to play the drums.

Alongside Collins, QE2 features keyboardist Tim Cross, percussionist Mike Frye, and singer Maggie Reilly, all of whom had played on Oldfield’s In Concert tour. In addition, the classically trained percussionist/drummer Morris Pert from the jazz-rock band Brand X, who had already played on Platinum, was recruited, along with four wind players. The album also features a string orchestra arranged by David Bedford and the English Chorale choir.

QE2 is the most rock-oriented of Oldfield’s albums released at this stage. Oldfield mixes rich tones from folk music and, of course, progressive rock into compositions that at times border on hard rock.

Uncharacteristically for Oldfield, there are no epic tracks filling half of the album; instead, the songs are short (even the longest ones are ”only” 10 and 7 minutes long). The instrumentation is based more on a basic rock lineup than before, but on the other hand, the drum set is sometimes left out for long periods or replaced by African drums, which are heard a lot on the album. Synthesizers are given more space than ever before, but Oldfield’s fiery yet always well-controlled electric guitar playing still plays the leading role. As a completely new element, Oldfield also introduces a drum machine on QE2.

QE2 is mainly an instrumental album, but wordless vocals (often sung through a vocoder) can be heard on many tracks, and on a few songs Reilly even gets to sing written lyrics, albeit in a made-up language.

”Taurus I” (Oldfield) – 10:16

The first and longest track on the album, ”Taurus I,” begins gently with mandolin and drum machine. A bass guitar and vocoder-processed robotic vocals are added until the electric guitar riff explodes in, backed by Phil Collins’ powerful drums. For Oldfield’s music, the vibe is at times surprisingly heavy. Almost hard rock. Alongside all the rock menace, the tapping banjo creates an interesting contrast and ensures that, along with the other riches of the arrangement, the song never descends into monotonous heavy rock.

In the middle section, there is a beautiful melodic interlude where the string-like synthesizers take the lead, and the finale, where Oldfield’s sharp-sounding electric guitar alternates with the synthesizers, is magnificent. African drums pulsate in the background in the spirit of Ommadawn. The bass track, which rattles among the African drums and is apparently created with bass pedals, is also a delight to hear.

With ”Taurus I,” the drum machine makes its debut in Oldfield’s music. Fortunately, it is used quite sparingly on the album, alongside real drums and percussion. Nevertheless, the drum machine does detract somewhat from the originality of Oldfield’s music, as a similar sound was heard endlessly throughout the 1980s. The Roland CR78 drum machine used by Oldfield on QE2 was probably brought to worldwide fame just six months later by Oldfield’s QE2 drummer Phil Collins with his hit ”In The Air Tonight.” It is interesting to speculate whether the Oldfield session might have inspired Collins to use this particular device! Perhaps not, however, because as far as I understand, Collins had already made demos for his debut album with the help of a drum machine in 1979.

”Taurus I” was continued on the album Five Miles Out (1982) in the form of the epic ”Taurus II,” which draws on themes from the first part. The third part appeared on the album Crises (1983), but I don’t hear any musical connection to the first two parts.

”Sheba” (Oldfield) – 3:33

”Sheba” begins with Oldfield’s wordless vocals, heavily processed with a vocoder. Gentle percussion beats in the background, and eventually Maggie Reilly’s clear voice takes the lead. The lyrics written for her are just nonsense, however, written to fit the music as well as possible.

Maggie Reilly joined Oldfield on his In Concert tour, where she had a small role as a vocalist. After QE2, she sang on five more Oldfield albums and toured with him several times. The most memorable Reilly moment on Oldfield’s albums is, of course, the 1983 smash hit ”Moonlight Shadow.”

Phil Collins also plays drums on ”Sheba” and does so with great style. On ”Taurus I,” Collins’ drums were more of a cameo role, but on ”Sheba,” they take on a central role alongside Reilly’s vocals.

”Sheba” is an excellent melodic little song that also rocks convincingly. ”Sheba” was also released as a single, but its success (or lack thereof) did not bother the chart makers.

”Conflict” (Oldfield) – 2:53

”Conflic” is a violent, percussion-heavy track in which Mike Frye’s African drums and Morris Pert’s drum kit compete with each other, while Oldfield’s electric guitar plays furiously. The 9/8 time signature brings its own ”conflict” to the music. The song also features a playful synthesizer-played Bach quote (”Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor”). As I understand it, many Oldfield fans dislike ”Conflict.” Apparently, it is too intense a song for them. I personally consider it a powerful song that once again demonstrates the breadth of Oldfield’s stylistic range.

”Arrival” (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus) – 2:48

”Arrival” was the second single release from the album, and it too failed to achieve much success. Oldfield successfully reworks ABBA’s beautiful melody, creating a dignified-sounding anthem that sounds light and airy. Oldfield’s electric guitar plays the leading role, but the richly orchestrated song also features Oldfield playing the harp, mandolin, synthesizers, and African drums, as well as Reilly’s vocals and, ultimately, an entire choir. There is also a string section arranged by David Bedford, which ultimately plays a rather marginal role.

My humble opinion is that Oldfield’s version of ”Arrival” is a big improvement on Abba’s original, which sounds rather anemic. Of course, my perspective on the composition is skewed, as I heard Oldfield’s cover years before I became familiar with the original song.

”Wonderful Land” (Jerry Lordan) – 3:38

In the album’s second cover song, ”Wonderful Land,” originally performed by The Shadows, the string section plays a more prominent role, but the biggest impact comes from Oldfield’s clear guitar playing (on acoustic, electric, and mandolin), which is once again accompanied by African drums. Oldfield really loved African drums at this time!

A few years later, The Shadows struck back and covered Oldfield’s hit ”Moonlight Shadow.”

The cover songs on QE2 were apparently Oldfield’s concession to Virgin, which had begun to demand easier and more commercial music from him. These demands would only grow in the coming years, and the relationship between Oldfield and Virgin became severely strained later in the 1980s.

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”Mirage” (Oldfield) – 4:41

”Mirage” begins with Oldfield’s tense electric guitar playing, accompanied by vibraphone in the background, reminiscent of Incantations. The mood becomes more and more intense as Oldfield’s electric guitar circles around. Finally, Hentschell’s arrangement for the horn section (two trumpets, trombone, and tenor saxophone) joins in. The intensity builds nicely until the end, and Oldfield’s electric guitar is magnificent, but ultimately the song ends a little abruptly. The carefully constructed tension is not released in a satisfying way.

”QE2” (Oldfield, David Hentschel) – 7:38

The horn section that already featured in ”Mirage” is given more space in the title track ”QE2,” with synthesizers also taking on a central role alongside Oldfield’s nimble electric guitar. ”QE2” is probably Oldfield’s most grandiose music to date, alongside some of the moments heard on Incantations. Its fanfare-like themes exude a majestic zest for life. Perhaps there is something slightly forced about its positivity. On the other hand, the joyful dialogue between the synthetic-sounding Irish bagpipes (played by Oldfield himself, by the way) and the electric guitar in the latter half is genuinely thrilling to hear at times. Oldfield’s fast guitar runs sometimes feel almost exaggerated. In between the prog-like fireworks, there is a folk music-like interlude. Unfortunately, like ”Mirage,” the ending of ”QE2” is also disappointing. The song just fades away without a proper climax, which this type of composition would certainly have deserved. This is unfortunate, as Oldfield has often succeeded in composing very impressive endings in the past.

”QE2” is perhaps the closest thing to ”normal” progressive rock that Oldfield had produced in his career up to that point. Arranged differently, it would be easy to imagine the composition being played by Emerson Lake & Palmer, for example. The same cannot be said of Hergest Ridge or Ommadawn, for example. Oldfield’s music had lost something unique to a certain extent, which does not mean that he was imitating ELP or any other prog band, but stylistically he was moving closer to the mainstream of progressive rock.

”Celt” (Oldfield, Tim Cross) – 3:06

African drums once again play a central role in ”Celt.” This time, they are played with great emphasis by Mike Frye. Reilly’s wordless vocals and Oldfield’s electric guitar, which sounds magnificent at times, are accompanied by complex drumming. The vibe is intense, but ultimately nothing particularly powerful emerges, and the melody of the song is quite simple and unremarkable. ”Celt” remains the most insignificant song on QE2.

”Molly” (Oldfield) – 1:15

The album ends with Oldfield playing solo (guitar, bass, vocoder) on the short, lullaby-like ”Molly,” named after his newborn daughter. It’s not much of a song in itself, but it works well as a small coda for the entire album.

Released in October 1980, QE2 was not a huge hit, but it quickly sold enough copies to go gold in England and Germany. However, Oldfield’s popularity was clearly on the decline. The former top-five artist on the UK album charts had become a guy dredging up positions 20-30. Virgin began to worry, which was reflected in constant pressure on Oldfield to move toward more pop-oriented music.

All in all, QE2 is a pretty decent and fairly consistent album, but its compositions never quite reach the highest level. It seems that Oldfield was probably not particularly inspired when making the album, but he still achieved a fairly good result thanks to his professionalism and natural musicality. Looking at Oldfield’s discography as a whole, QE2 is not a particularly significant album and ranks somewhere in the middle in terms of quality. Oldfield’s next album, Five Miles Out (1982), builds to some extent on the foundation laid by QE2, but is a much stronger album overall.

Best tracks: ”Taurus 1”, ”Sheba”, ”Conflict” ja ”QE2”.

Author: JANNE YLIRUUSI

Tracks

”Taurus I” (Mike Oldfield) – 10:16
”Sheba” (Oldfield) – 3:33
”Conflict” (Oldfield) – 2:53
”Arrival” (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus) – 2:48
”Wonderful Land” (Jerry Lordan) – 3:38
”Mirage” (Oldfield) – 4:41
”QE2” (Oldfield, David Hentschel) – 7:38
”Celt” (Oldfield, Tim Cross) – 3:06
”Molly” (Oldfield) – 1:15

Musicians

Mike Oldfield: acoustic guitar, African drums, banjo, bass guitar, Celtic harp, drum machine, electric guitar, mandolin, marimba, percussion, piano, rhythm sticks, Spanish guitar, synthesizers, tambourines, vibraphone, vocoder, vocals Maggie Reilly: vocals (1,2,4,8) David Hentschel: synthesizer (1,4,7) drums (4,7), steel drums (5) , synthesized French horn (5), vocals (4,7), horn arrangements (6,7) Tim Cross: piano, synthesizer (3,8) Raul d’Oliveira: trumpet (6,7) Guy Barker: trumpet (6,7) Paul Nieman: trombone (6,7) Philip Todd: tenor saxophone (6,7) Phil Collins: drums (1,2) Morris Pert: drums (3) Mike Frye: African drums (1,3,8), drums (6,7), congas (3,7,8), tambourine (7), hi-hat (8), vocoder (6) David Bedford: strings and choir arrangements (4,5) Dick Studt: string orchestra conductor (4,5) English Chorale: choir (4)