Tag: virgin

Mike Oldfield – Platinum [1979; Virgin]

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Smooth-flowing (mostly) instrumental prog rock, opening with a four-part title suite which shows a funkier side to Mike Oldfield’s output, Platinum makes melodic references to some of his other work at points, most noticeably with a direct dip into “Tubular Bells” towards the end of the suite, which continues on into the next full song.  The arrangements are lushly orchestrated without sacrificing clarity of sound or direction, and the music often has a compellingly melancholy tone to its long and winding forms.  Despite the consistently high quality, the heavy usage of previous works, along with the sense of disconnection between the songs, makes it feel more like an offloading of spare ideas than a full-fledged album.

Here’s the alternate cover lettering.

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Gearwhore – Drive. [1998; Astralwerks, Virgin]

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On Gearwhore’s only album, the group turns out some breakbeat/techno tunes in the vein of The Prodigy’s early releases, with thick layers of building percussive interactions and jabs of punkish synth abrasion slipping into trance-like cycling once it hits sufficient accumulation.  The track wrap-ups tend to be the weakest part, often opting for simple fade-outs, something made all the more disappointing by the proficiency demonstrated on the way to those points. 

Some surprisingly tender tones crop up (with “Love” being a stand-out track in that regard), and the song-writing finds some clever ways of twisting the base patterning.  The album flow and transitions occasionally get a little choppy, and the song build-up sometimes takes a while to kick into gear, but for the most part, the music shows some excellent technique and knack for grooves being deployed.  Quite a shame that no follow-up album was created, but as a one-off, it stands pretty strong.