In 1990 Mike Oldfield was not a happy bunny – at least when it came to his deteriorating relationship with Virgin. He felt he’d done things their way on 1989’s Earth Moving, a songs-and-synths project, and wanted to follow his own muse again. So he made what he considered an “angry protest album” to irritate them.
An hour long, with no track breaks as such, and instrumental with bursts of an African choir and spoken voice, it now sounds more like an inspired act of creativity than a raging blow-out. The label wanted to call it Tubular Bells 2. He refused, later saying, “If anything, it’s Ommadawn 2.”
Now split into four sections – with Oldfield’s blessing – Amarok is a spectacular showcase for his talents. It’s a runaway train of sonic ideas with themes barely allowed to settle before another pushes in.
This was partly because he didn’t want Virgin to dig out a single, but the result nudges Oldfield closer to the restless, less repetitive Krautrock artists than anything else in his canon.
Yet there’s also that African influence, in percussion and the voices, and a degree of musique concrète in the way he leaps from his usual strong suits – guitars, mandolins, folk tropes – to one-off peculiarities such as spoons, vacuum cleaners and a ringing phone, which lifts the listener out of their seat.
Those perverse quirks that could only be Oldfield are there too; for example, the “caveman” voice, an utterance of “Happy?” and impressionist Janet Brown doing her period-piece take on Margaret Thatcher. Which, it has to be said, is rather triggering; it definitely spoils one’s immersion in what has been, until her extended cameo, an irresistibly involving musical extravaganza.
Oldfield refuted any notion this was new age, claiming: “It kicks you in the arse occasionally.” He wasn’t wrong.
Whether it’s competing brass stabs seeming to have a fight or a gentle waltz interlude which he’s too fired up to linger on, Amarok is one of Oldfield’s most skilful sculptures.
The 35th anniversary vinyl edition of Amarok is on sale now via BMG.
