Classic Rock Radio

Mike Oldfield: The best Of: 1992-2003
This 31-Track Collection Spans Eight Albums The Acclaimed Artist 
Recorded With Warner Bros. And Includes An Entire Disc Of Rarities

Mike Oldfield is one of the most influential figures in popular music, and his 11-year, eight-album tenure at Warner Bros. Records covers some of his most exciting and experimental work, including several sequels to his Grammy^®-winning 1973 masterwork Tubular Bells.

 A new two-disc collection from Rhino highlights key moments from that era and uncovers more than a dozen rarities, including b-sides and remixes.

The first disc spotlights Oldfield’s singles and includes more than an hour of music drawn from eight studio albums: Tubular Bells II (1992), The Songs of Distant Earth (1994), Voyager (1996), Tubular Bells III (1998), Guitars (1999), The Millennium Bell (1999), Tr3s Lunas (2002), andTubular Bells 2003 (2003).

Among the standout tracks on the opening disc are “Man In The Rain,” “Sunlight Shining Through The Cloud” and “The Sailor’s Hornpipe 2003,” the latter being the final track on Oldfield’s final album for Warner Bros. Several songs included here are non-album versions, like “Far Above The Clouds” (Timewriter’s Radio Mix) and “Women Of Ireland” (Lurker’s edit), as well as the radio edit for “Thou Art In Heaven.”

The second disc delves deep into Oldfield’s catalog to come up with rare versions of classic tracks, including remixes of “To Be Free” by Soultronik and “Let There Be Light” by BT. In the late 1980s, Oldfield became known as the godfather of ambient house music, which led The Orb—one of the genre’s leading artists—to pay tribute to him with the epic Orbular Bells mix of “Sentinel” included here. In addition to those remixes, the collection also features a number of b-sides, like “Silent Night,” “The Spectral Army” and “Mike’s Reel.”

THE BEST OF 1992-2003 provides a fascinating snapshot of an exciting period in Oldfield’s illustrious career. Mike Oldfield’s tenure at Warner Bros. is a constantly surprising, ever-evolving body of work; it is a quiet gift that goes on giving.

THE BEST OF 1992-2003

Track Listing

Disc One: Singles

1.      “Sentinel” – Single Restructure

2.      “Tattoo” – Single Edit

3.      “The Bell” – Remix (MC Viv Stanshall)

4.      “Hibernaculum”

5.      “Let There Be Light”

6.      “The Voyager”

7.      “Women Of Ireland” – Lurker Edit

8.      “Man In The Rain”

9.      “Far Above The Clouds” – Timewriter’s Radio Mix

10.   “Cochise”

11.   “Out Of Mind”

12.   “Pacha Mama”

13.   “Sunlight Shining Though Cloud”

14.   “Amber Light”

15.   “To Be Free” – Single Remix

16.   “Thou Art In Heaven” – Radio Edit

17.   “Introduction 2003” – Single Remix

18.   “The Sailor’s Hornpipe 2003”

Disc Two: Rarities & Mixes

1.      “Early Stages”

2.      “Silent Night”

3.      “The Bell” – Remix (MC Billy Connolly)

4.      “The Spectral Army”

5.      “The Song Of The Boatmen”

6.      “Indian Lake”

7.      “Mike’s Reel”

8.      “Sentinel” – Orbular Bells Mix

9.      “Let There Be Light” – BT’s Pure Luminesence Remix

10.   “Women Of Ireland” – System 7 12” Mix

11.   “Far Above The Clouds” – Jam & Spoon Mix

12.   “To Be Free” – Soultronik Mix-tical Mix

13.   “Thou Art In Heaven” – Pumpin’ Dolls v Mighty Mike Club Mix (Radio Edit)