QE2 (album)

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QE2
Studio album by Mike Oldfield

Publication
(s)

October 31, 1980

Label (s) Virgin Records

Genre (s)

Progressive rock

Title (number)

9

running time

39 min 54 s

occupation
  • Mike Oldfield (various instruments)

production

Mike Oldfield

chronology
Platinum
(1979) 		QE2 Five Miles Out
(1982)

QE2 is a studio album by British musician Mike Oldfield from 1980. Like the title of the same name on the album, it is named after the Queen Elizabeth 2 liner . Compared to previous albums, the music generally sounds harder, which is achieved through more frequent use of distorted electric guitars and dissonant harmonies.

particularities

Oldfield's Taurus series begins on QE2 (first track: Taurus I), which is continued on later albums with Taurus II (on Five Miles Out ) and Taurus III (on Crises ). In the following parts of the trilogy, individual themes from Taurus I are taken up, otherwise they are separate compositions.

The album also features the ABBA remake Arrival , which in the Oldfield interpretation was a more successful single than the original. Another cover version included on the album is Wonderful Land , originally from the Shadows . On several tracks Oldfield experiments with the vocoder , a device for alienating the voice. There is also a special emphasis on percussion that sets QE2 apart from its predecessors: Phil Collins plays the drums (tracks 1 and 2). In fact, Oldfield has never worked with so many musicians on any album before, which can be attributed to the large number of different instruments that he uses for the first time: African drums, violins, trumpet and saxophone were played by guest musicians (including Mike Frye, Philipp Todd and Guy Barker ).

Track list

  1. Taurus I - 10:16
  2. Sheba - 3:34
  3. Conflict - 2:53
  4. Arrival - 2:49
  5. Wonderful Land - 3:38
  6. Mirage - 4:42
  7. QE2 - 7:38
  8. Celt - 3:06
  9. Molly - 1:16

Charts

UK # 27, D # 12, A # 8, N # 23, USA # 164

The promotion tour

From December 1980, Oldfield went on a promotion tour for his new album and made two stops in Germany and on the occasion of the wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles in London . During this tour he took part in the famous Montreux Jazz Festival . This concert was filmed and has been available on DVD under the title Live At Montreux 1981 since 2006. From QE2 , Oldfield played a medley from tracks 1, 2 and 6 as well as Conflict .

Web links