Amarok (album)
| Amarok | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Mike Oldfield | ||||
|
Publication |
June 14, 1990 |
|||
| Label (s) | Virgin Records | |||
|
Format (s) |
CD, LP, MC, HDCD |
|||
|
Title (number) |
1 |
|||
|
running time |
60 min 2 s |
|||
| occupation |
|
|||
|
Studio (s) |
September 1989 – April 1990 |
|||
|
||||
Amarok is the 13th studio album by British musician Mike Oldfield , released in June 1990 ; a remastered version was released in 2000 . It is the penultimate album Oldfield produced for Virgin Records due to disagreements over marketing policies ; with the album after that, Tubular Bells II , he was already under contract with Warner Bros. Records .
Structure and instruments
Amarok is unique among Mike Oldfield's albums in many ways. On the one hand, it is a single piece of music (also not divided into tracks on the CD) of exactly 60 minutes in length. On the other hand, Oldfield does without computer technology and plays all instruments by hand, but also uses unconventional instruments; For example, toothbrushes , a toy dog , chairs , spoons , fingernails , a whistle , water glasses , a door , a hammer and a bucket, and the contents of a model airplane set . Towards the end there is a parody of Margaret Thatcher ; sung words are in isiZulu . The message transmitted in Morse code at minute 48 results: " fuck off rb". With RB Richard Branson , the owner of Virgin Records , is meant. However, there is also a Morse code in minute 23, which results in " SOS ". That message could also revolve around Oldfield's departure from Virgin.
background
After the predominantly poppy previous albums, Oldfield returned with Amarok to his beginnings, which were characterized by longer instrumental pieces. As with his debut, Tubular Bells , he worked with producer Tom Newman . Oldfield felt the work at times as a continuation of Ommadawn and refused to market the album as Tubular Bells II (an album of this title he only released after his departure from Virgin). According to Oldfield , the title Amarok ultimately chosen has no meaning of its own, but it sounds like "tomorrow" or "happy" in Gaelic . The spoken word "happy" can also be found several times on the CD, sometimes stuttered. Another interpretation of the title is the division into the three words "am a rock" (Eng .: "I am a rock"), which indicates that Oldfield refused to comply with the wishes of his record company.
With Amarok, Oldfield had nearly fulfilled his fourteen-album contractual obligations. The album was deliberately produced without regard to commercial success. The rapidly successive changes in music were also specifically designed not to offer the possibility of an adequate single release . The cover even contains the explicit note: “HEALTH WARNING - This record could be hazardous to the health of cloth-eared nincompoops. If you suffer from this condition, consult your Doctor immediately. ”(Eng .:“ WARNING OF A HEALTH HAZARD - This disc could be harmful to the health of deaf idiots. If you suffer from this disease, see your doctor immediately. ”) Accordingly, was Oldfield was not disappointed when the album only reached number 49 in the British album charts, which was unusually bad for him.
Trivia
- The free audio player Amarok is named after this album. When you play it in the player, a message appears, thanking you for using the software.
Track list
- Amarok - 60:02
Charts
UK # 49, D # 16, A # 26, CH # 30, S # 50
Web links
- Reviews of Amarok on the baby blue pages