Mike Oldfield "Tr3s Lunas (CD-ROM, PC Game, Germany, WEA, 0927 458922)"

Tres Lunas, stylized as Tr3s Lunas, is the twenty-first studio album by English musician and songwriter Mike Oldfield, released in June 2002 by Warner Music Spain. After his previous album The Millennium Bell (1999), Oldfield started work on his first release for MusicVR, a musical virtual reality project with simulator computer game elements and music. The idea developed to have the Tres Lunas MusicVR feature included as part of an album package, for which Oldfield wrote and recorded new music and signed with Warner Music Spain. Tres Lunas saw Oldfield explore electronic and chill-out music.

When translated from the Spanish language to English, the album name Tres Lunas is Three Moons. This is reflected in the typeface on the album cover, with the letter 'e' being replaced with a numeric '3'. Oldfield stated that the title was inspired by an Italian restaurant in Ibiza (where he was living at the time) called Las Dos Lunas, which uses two mirrored C-shaped moons as a logo - as well as by the fact that the Tres Lunas game, which he created simultaneously with the music, features three moons within its landscape. The cover is from an original idea by Hans Claesson of Kebawe.

Oldfield's sister, Sally makes a speaking appearance on this album. The last previous Mike Oldfield album which she had appeared on was 1978's Incantations. The main vocalist for "To Be Free" is the Jazz singer Jude Sim. British-Asian vocalist called Amar, who first appeared on Tubular Bells III, also contributes vocals to the album. The album was recorded at Oldfield's Roughwood Studios, with additional parts recorded at Plan 1 Studios, Munich.

The saxophone sound is played with the use of a guitar synthesizer.

Tres Lunas was the vehicle for Oldfield's first publicly released MusicVR game. It was followed by Maestro. Some of the music from the Tres Lunas game eventually ended up on Oldfield's Light + Shade album.

Oldfield had been working on the idea of melding virtual reality and music throughout the 1990s. Oldfield worked with 3D graphics programmer Colin Dooley and graphic artist Nick Catcheside. The Newlook and Modelworks software packages were used in the creation of the game. Modelworks was used to create the 3D models and Newlook is the game engine, level editor and music sequencer used to create the final game. Both software packages were written by Colin Dooley with Newlook being created specifically for the Music VR project.

2002 saw the release of Oldfield's first new album of the Millennium, entitled Tres Lunas. This was also the first publicly released MusicVR game, also titled Tres Lunas. A demo version of the game came on a second CD packaged with the album, with the full version available for purchase from Oldfield's website. The game has since become available for free. The game featured segments of music from the album Tres Lunas, along with specially composed music. In the game you can fly around the world, collecting a maximum of 7 gold rings, which change the music which you hear. You can also study or manipulate many objects, with various consequences.

By the time of the first release, Oldfield had also expressed the desire for people to share their game with others, and thus the game became a multiplayer game, with people connecting to the game world via the Internet. Each person could have their own avatar, which they would use to fly around the virtual worlds. A maximum of 13 avatars can be in use at any one time, with others being observers, all having the ability to chat. Oldfield would log in from time to time in order to chat with his fans live. Oldfield was interviewed about the game and his faith on The Heaven and Earth Show on BBC One.

Track listing

Disc 1

1. "Misty" – 3:59
2. "No Mans Land" – 6:08
3. "Return to the Origin" – 4:38
4. "Landfall" – 2:19
5. "Viper" – 4:32
6. "Turtle Island" – 3:40
7. "To Be Free" – 4:21
8. "Fire Fly" – 3:46
9. "Tres Lunas" – 4:35
10. "Daydream" – 2:15
11. "Thou Art in Heaven" – 5:22
12. "Sirius" – 5:47
13. "No Mans Land" (Reprise) – 2:56
14. "To Be Free" (Radio edit) (Bonus track) – 3:56

Disc 2

The MusicVR-3D Interactive PC Game

1. MusicVR 1st Episode: 'Tres Lunas'

Issued in a standard double-cd jewel case with clear hinged tray including 10-page foldout booklet.

Some copies with [Warner "W" logo] injection print on the lower right corner of the front panel.

Some copies with squared white on golden hype sticker on front panel.

Mike Oldfield "Tattoo (Single & Video)"

"Tattoo" is a single by musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1992. It is from the album Tubular Bells II. There were two singles released for "Tattoo", one being called the Live at Edinburgh Castle EP.

One of the B-sides is Oldfield's instrumental rendition of the Christmas carol "Silent Night".

Track listing

CD single

1. "Tattoo" (edit) – 3:41
2. "Sentinel" (live) – 8:06
3. "Silent Night" – 4:19

Live at Edinburgh Castle EP

1. "Tattoo" – 3:44
2. "Maya Gold" – 4:10
3. "Moonshine" – 1:42
4. "Reprise" – 1:20

Mike Oldfield "Islands (2007 Reissue, Remastered, HDCD, Limited Edition Cardsleeve, Japan, Virgin Charisma Paper Sleeve Series, Virgin Charisma, VJCP-68841)"

Islands is the 11th album by Mike Oldfield, released on 28 September 1987 by Virgin in the UK. Guest singers on the album are Bonnie Tyler, Kevin Ayers, Anita Hegerland, Max Bacon, and Jim Price. A different track list and cover was used for the American edition.

Islands was also released as a full-length VHS video album. For each track a video was made and released, often mixing state of the art (for the time) computer-generated images with real life images. This was released as part of The Wind Chimes video.

The album boasts the largest number of co-producers out of all of Oldfield's work; production was handled by Michael Cretu (later of Enigma fame), Geoffrey Downes, Tom Newman, Simon Phillips, Alan Shacklock, and Oldfield himself. Singers on the album are Bonnie Tyler, Kevin Ayers, Anita Hegerland, Max Bacon, and Jim Price.

The UK front cover artwork was of a tropical island, and hidden in the surrounding sea is a large number of hand shapes. The hand images are based on a still frame from the longform video released at the same time as the album; a couple of scenes in the video, which was mainly filmed in Bali, feature a group of natives performing a ritualistic dance which involves hand-waving movements. The American cover is completely different; it displays two cube shapes. The photography on the back of the US version was by Jerry Uelsmann.

The major single in Europe was the title track, "Islands", which was sung by Bonnie Tyler. In the United States, "Magic Touch" was a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts in early 1988.

Tracklist:

1. The Wind Chimes (Part One and Part Two)" – 21:49
2. "Islands" – 4:19
3. "Flying Start" – 3:36
4. "North Point" – 3:33
5. "Magic Touch" (New Jim Price Vocal) – 4:14
6. "The Time Has Come" – 3:51
7. "When the Night's on Fire" (Bonus track on CD version) – 6:41

Mastered at Artisan Sound Recorders.

Master tape recorded using Dolby SR (Dolby Spectral Recording).

Originally released on September 7th, 1987.

Remastered at Chop 'em Out, London - March/April 2000.

This is part of "Virgin Charisma" paper sleeve series.

Issued as a Mini LP designed packaging with OBI strip.

Apart of the original release, this cd contain an additional bonus track - "When The Night's On Fire", as the release is basing on the HDCD remaster from the year 2000.

Mike Oldfield "Discovery (2007 Reissue, Remastered, HDCD, Limited Edition, Promo CD, Virgin Charisma Paper Sleeve Series, Japan, Virgin Charisma, VJCP-68839)"

Discovery is the ninth studio album by English multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Mike Oldfield, released on 25 June 1984 on Virgin Records. It comprises a number of pop songs, most notably the single "To France", as well as the instrumental "The Lake".

After his 1983 tour, Oldfield relocated to Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland for tax purposes and started work on a new album. The album was recorded from January to June 1984. Sessions typically ran from 10:30 a.m. to around 7 p.m. each day. While living in Villars, Oldfield also composed the soundtrack to The Killing Fields (1984). Selections from the two were released as The 1984 Suite, in 2016.

The album contains a number of pop songs, which Oldfield had been encouraged by Virgin Records to write, following the success of "Moonlight Shadow" from his previous album, Crises.

The first track of the album, "To France", with Maggie Reilly on vocals, seamlessly continues into the second track, "Poison Arrows", sung by Barry Palmer.

According to Oldfield, the instrumental "The Lake" was inspired by his time in Switzerland and around Lake Geneva.

During 1984 Oldfield and his band embarked on a Europe wide tour in promotion of the album.

Discovery was re-released in a deluxe edition format on 29 January 2016, as per all previous albums which were originally released on the Virgin label.

The reissue comprises 2 CDs (Discovery and the 1984 Suite) and a DVD featuring 5.1 surround sound mixes. The 1984 Suite is a compilation album of Discovery and Oldfield's other 1984 album, The Killing Fields. It also includes two previously unreleased tracks: "The Royal Mile", a slight reworking of the 1984 track "Afghan", and "Zombies (Halloween Special)", a reworking of the song "Poison Arrows" with the original vocals replaced by a "Macintalk" voice named Fred and the lines "Somebody's out to get you" replaced with "Zombies are out to get you".

Tracklist:

1. To France 4:50
2. Poison Arrows 3:45
3. Crystal Gazing 3:03
4. Tricks Of The Light 3:52
5. Discovery 4:32
6. Talk About Your Life 4:24
7. Saved By A Bell 4:36
8. The Lake (Instrumental) 12:08

Japan PROMO issue includes extra promo text around the inner rim of the label plus a small promo sticker on the back of the card sleeve.

Recorded in the Swiss Alps at 2000 meters within sight of Lake Geneva on sunny days.

Originally Released on June 25th, 1984.

Remastered At Chop 'em Out, London - March/April 2000.

This is part of "Virgin Charisma" paper sleeve series.

Issued as a Mini LP designed packaging with OBI strip.

Mike Oldfield "Crises (2013 Reissue, Remastered, Stereo, UK, Mercury Records, 374 044-5)"

Crises is the eighth studio album by English musician and songwriter Mike Oldfield, released on 27 May 1983 on Virgin Records. Oldfield started recording the album towards the end of his 1982 tour supporting his previous record, Five Miles Out. It marked a continuation of Oldfield's experimentation with more accessible music which began in the late 1970s; side one contains the 20-minute "Crises" and side two contains a collection of shorter songs which feature vocalists Maggie Reilly, Jon Anderson, and Roger Chapman. Oldfield produced Crises with drummer Simon Phillips, who also plays on the album.

Crises reached No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart and became Oldfield's most successful record of the 1980s following the release of the single "Moonlight Shadow", which went to number one in nine countries and sold in excess of a million units. Oldfield supported the album with the Crises Tour across Europe in 1983 that featured most of the musicians that played on the album.

By the 1980s, Oldfield had shifted musical direction from the longform compositions that he had become known for throughout the previous decade, towards more commercial and straightforward rock and pop songs. By the time he had finished the 1982 world tour in support of his previous album Five Miles Out in December of that same year, Oldfield had already started work on a follow-up. Crises sees Oldfield explore heavy metal elements which he had been a fan of for some time and enjoyed playing.

Oldfield described side one as material that he had wanted to write and perform "for personal satisfaction", while side two is "very commercial, full of singles". He added: "It's a case of keeping everybody happy." The North American version of Crises featured a different running order to capitalize on the commercial songs by switching the order of the sides, adding the non-album single "Mistake" as the lead track, and moving "Moonlight Shadow" to the end of its side. This North American version has not been reissued since its initial pressing. The "Moonlight Shadow" single from this album includes the rare track "Rite of Man".

The album was recorded from November 1982 to April 1983 at Tilehouse Studios in Denham, Buckinghamshire, using an Ampex ATR 124 tape recorder, a Neve 8108 with Necam console and Westlake Monitors. Oldfield used a Gibson SG Junior for overdriven guitar sounds and a Fender Stratocaster for clean sounds. Tama drums were Simon Phillips' brand of choice for drums on the album; Phillips also did some production work. Oldfield makes extensive use of Oberheim and Fairlight keyboards. Asked how he recruited Chapman and Anderson in an interview, Oldfield answered "we just hang out in the same bar".

The title track of the album is a twenty-minute-long piece, featuring a small amount of vocals, sung by Oldfield. The beginning and end of the track are driven by a synthesised lead passage, stylistically similar to the opening theme to Oldfield's Tubular Bells. Oldfield rated "Crises" as one of the best tracks he had done since "Tubular Bells".

"Moonlight Shadow" features Oldfield's touring vocalist Maggie Reilly, who had also sung on his previous albums. Oldfield had singer Hazel O'Connor sing on an early version of the track, which was then titled "Moment of Passion", but it failed to produce sufficient results. He then booked Reilly for a studio session, for which he prepared by drinking wine and writing a set of lyrics using a rhyming dictionary. Reilly sang the lyrics in a rock style at first, which prompted Oldfield to suggest a softer tone and "in the manner of a lullaby". The idea worked, despite recording the song in small sections and using multiple drop-ins which took some time to finalise and piece together.

"In High Places" was written by Oldfield with lyrics by himself and Yes vocalist Jon Anderson, who sings on the track. The pair had worked on several occasions prior to recording Crises, and Oldfield had enjoyed Anderson's vocal style and how easy it was working with him. Anderson was living in Barbados at the time of writing, so Oldfield phoned him from England and sang the song's tune to him, after which Anderson went away and wrote lyrics to it. The two later met and finished the song in Oldfield's studio. The track features Pierre Moerlen, who had toured with Oldfield and played on his albums, on vibraphone. On the occasion of Virgin Records founder Richard Branson's launch of the then-largest hot-air balloon ever made, the song was released as a single in 1987, four years after the Crises LP.

"Foreign Affair" features Reilly on vocals, who co-wrote the lyrics with Oldfield.

"Taurus 3", a short fast-paced guitar piece unlike the previous two long multi-themed "Taurus" tracks featured on QE2 and Five Miles Out respectively.

"Shadow on the Wall" features vocals by Roger Chapman. Oldfield wrote the song with Chapman's voice in mind.

The album's cover art was by Terry Ilott and was originally created as an illustration for an edition of J. G. Ballard's The Drowned World. Oldfield makes reference to the artwork with the line, "the watcher and the tower, waiting hour, by hour" (printed in the back cover of the LP, and sung by Mike Oldfield on the title track). In the interview mentioned before, Oldfield stated that "I'm the man in the corner, and the tower is my music".

It spent 19 weeks on Norway's album chart, peaking at No. 1 for two weeks, and is Oldfield's best selling album there. The album also topped the charts in Germany and Sweden.

Tracklist:

1. Crises   Mike Oldfield  20:57
2. Moonlight Shadow    Mike Oldfield  3:38
3. In High Places  L:Jon Anderson, Mike Oldfield, M: Mike Oldfield  3:33
4. Foreign Affair  L: Maggie Reilly, M: Mike Oldfield  3:53
5. Taurus 3  Mike Oldfield   2:25
6. Shadow On The Wall   Mike Oldfield  3:10
7. Moonlight Shadow (Unplugged Mix)   Mike Oldfield    3:35
8. Shadow On The Wall (Unplugged Mix)   Mike Oldfield   3:21
9. Mistake   Mike Oldfield   2:56
10. Crime Of Passion (Extended Version)   Mike Oldfield  4:10
11. Jungle Gardenia   Mike Oldfield   2:46
12. Moonlight Shadow (12 Inch Single Version)   Mike Oldfield   5:15
13. Shadow On The Wall (12 Inch Single Version)  Mike Oldfield   5:09

Recording information:

Mike Oldfield – producer

Nigel Luby – engineer

Simon Phillips – co-producer, engineer (uncredited)

Crises 30th anniversary.

Packaged in a jewel case with clear tray and 4-page booklet.

Mike Oldfield "Five Miles Out (2013 Reissue, Remastered, Unofficial Release, Russia, Mercury Records, 374 043-8)"

Five Miles Out is the seventh studio album by English recording artist Mike Oldfield, released on 19 March 1982 by Virgin Records in the UK. After touring in support of his previous album, QE2 (1980), ended in mid-1981, Oldfield started on a follow-up with members of his touring band performing the music. The album features the 24-minute track "Taurus II" on side one and four shorter songs on side two. The songs "Family Man" and "Orabidoo" are credited to Oldfield and members of his touring band which included vocalist Maggie Reilly, drummer Morris Pert, and guitarist Rick Fenn.

Five Miles Out marked the beginning of a commercially successful period for Oldfield who scored his first UK top 10 album in seven years, peaking at No. 7. Two of the album's shorter songs, "Five Miles Out" and "Family Man", were released as singles which peaked at Nos. 43 and 45 in the UK, respectively. The latter became a bigger hit when pop duo Hall and Oates recorded a cover of the song. Five Miles Out was further promoted with the 100-date Five Miles Out World Tour 1982, the largest tour of Oldfield's career. It was reissued in 2013 with new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes and previously unreleased material.

In August 1981, Oldfield completed his European Adventure Tour 1981 which was staged in support of his previous studio album, QE2 (1980). The tour saw Oldfield perform with a group consisting of drummers/percussionists Mike Frye and Morris Pert, guitarist/bassist Rick Fenn, keyboardist Tim Cross, and vocalist Maggie Reilly. In the month following the tour, Oldfield started work on a follow-up at Tilehouse Studios, his home recording studio in Denham, Buckinghamshire. Recording took place between September 1981 and January 1982 with an Ampex ATR-124 24-track machine. The music was performed by Oldfield and his six-piece band with Graham Broad on additional drums.

"Taurus II" occupies the entire first side of the album. At 24 minutes in length, it features a variety of melodies and instrumental settings. It features many familiar sounds from his earlier albums, such as uilleann pipes and female chorus, and extensive use of the Fairlight CMI. The vocal section, called "The Deep Deep Sound", features themes from "Taurus I" from QE2. The main theme from "Taurus I" is referenced once more in the following section. Oldfield's 1981 track "Royal Wedding Anthem", written and performed for the Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer, also has similarities to "Taurus II".

"Family Man" is a rock song that is credited to Oldfield, Cross, Fenn, Frye, Reilly, and Pert. The main guitar riff was devised by Fenn, from which Oldfield wrote the chorus and Reilly the verses with assistance from Cross. Hall & Oates covered the song in 1982 for their album H2O, with their version reaching No. 6 on the US pop charts and No. 15 in the UK. It thus became one of the very few songs penned by Oldfield to chart in the United States.

"Orabidoo" is the second track credited to the group. It features vocals from Oldfield and Reilly through the use of a vocoder. The track opens with the theme to "Conflict" from QE2 and closes with Reilly singing three verses about "Ireland's Eye" accompanied by acoustic guitar. A sample from the Alfred Hitchcock film Young and Innocent (1937) is heard, specifically the moment where the conductor of a dance band criticises the drummer: "Don't come in again like that. It isn't funny and I pay someone else to make the orchestrations!"

"Mount Teidi" is an instrumental named after Mount Teide on Tenerife, Canary Islands and features drummer Carl Palmer. Oldfield recalled that some of the music was originally scribed on a sheet of cigarette rolling paper so that he would not forget the idea.

"Five Miles Out" features vocals from Reilly and Oldfield, who sings through a vocoder. It was inspired by a near fatal flight that Oldfield had experienced from Barcelona to San Sebastián, where the inexperienced pilot received an incorrect weather forecast and flew through a thunderstorm. When it came to writing the lyrics, Oldfield visited a local pub, "lined up a few pints of Guinness", and wrote the words using a rhyming dictionary with the aeronautical terms he could think of as a basis. The song features the same guitar riff that appears at the beginning of "Taurus II".

The cover features a Lockheed Model 10 Electra aircraft, with similar markings to the one flown by Amelia Earhart in 1937. This is often mistaken for a Beechcraft Model 18 (a very similar aircraft) and is referred to in the lyrics of "Five Miles Out"; "lost in static, 18" and "automatic, 18". The aeroplane has registration G-MOVJ, as also referenced in the lyrics (as "Golf Mike Oscar Victor Juliet"). The airplane that Oldfield owned at that time was, instead, a Piper PA-31 Navajo.

The inner liner notes (originally the inner gatefold of the vinyl sleeve) feature the track sheet for "Taurus II", with the lyrics of "Five Miles Out" embedded within. The track sheet shows the layout of instruments on the 24 track tape.

Five Miles Out, the album, was more popular than Oldfield's previous few releases. It charted at No. 7 in the UK, whereas both QE2 (1980) and Platinum (1979) had failed to reach the top twenty. Oldfield's commercial revival would continue with subsequent albums Crises (1983) and Discovery (1984). In Canada, the album reached No. 29 on the top 50 albums list on 2 separate occasion in May and June, then made a brief re-appearance at No. 72 in October's new top 100 album chart.

The Five Miles Out World Tour 1982 was staged to promote the album.

In September 2013, the album was reissued as a single CD, vinyl, and a special 2 CD and DVD Deluxe Edition with a new remaster by Oldfield. The Deluxe Edition contains additional videos, live tracks from the 1982 tour, and a 5.1 surround sound mix. The reissue reached No. 48 in Germany.

Track listing

1. "Taurus II" Mike Oldfield 24:43
2. "Family Man" Oldfield, Tim Cross, Rick Fenn, Mike Frye, Maggie Reilly, Morris Pert 3:45
3. "Orabidoo" Oldfield, Cross, Fenn, Frye, Reilly, Pert 13:03
4. "Mount Teidi" Oldfield 4:10
5. "Five Miles Out" Oldfield 4:16
6. "Waldberg (The Peak)" (B-side Of Single)  Mike Oldfield  3:28
7. "Five Miles Out (Demo Version)"  Mike Oldfield  4:11

Recording infromation:

Mike Oldfield – producer, engineer

Tom Newman – producer and engineer on "Five Miles Out"

Richard Mainwaring – engineer on "Mount Teidi"

Richard Barrie – technical assistant

Fin Costello – photographer

Gerald Coulson – cover artwork

Pirate Russian version, which claims to be 'Made in the EU' on back cover.

CD picture side looks blurred, the text is not contrast.

Packaged in a jewel case with clear tray and 4-page booklet.

From back cover:

This compilation ℗ and © 2013 Mike Oldfield, under exclusive license to Mercury Records Ltd.

Track 6:

Released as August 1982

Track 7:

Previously unreleased