Return to Ommadawn

In March 2014, Oldfield released his album Man on the Rocks, which marked a diversion from his traditional long-form, instrumental style of music as it comprised standard rock songs with vocals. When Oldfield started on his next album he took to social media, asking fans what sort of album they would like from him. He found that the majority of people who responded wished for a long-form, acoustic-oriented one similar to that of his first three: Tubular Bells (1973), Hergest Ridge (1974), and Ommadawn (1975), and learned that the latter had become a particular favourite among fans. This influenced Oldfield to record a sequel to Ommadawn which had been on his mind for some time; his 1990 album Amarok was originally going to be Ommadawn II before the material "went off in its own direction" and the idea was shelved. In addition, Oldfield wished to make the sequel after he logged into an online chat with French musician Jean-Michel Jarre, who said that he was a fan of Oldfield's music and wished to collaborate with him on his Electronica project, but considered his music "too acoustic". Oldfield recalled: "This got me thinking. If someone like him believes I'm an acoustic musician, then it showed how important that part of my career has been."

On 16 October 2015, Oldfield posted on his Twitter account that he had started working on music for "a new Ommadawn" for the past week to see if the concept "actually works".{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/GordenMikefield/status/654968898727505920 |title=Mike Oldfield's Twitter |publisher=Mike Oldfield |date=16 October 2015 |access-date=8 December 2016}} Oldfield was aware of the popularity of Hergest Ridge and used the album for inspiration for Return to Ommadawn. This was the case for the introduction, whereby a folk melody was to start the piece before Oldfield changed it to a more atmospheric one. Ideas were explored further in subsequent weeks, and Oldfield began recording in December 2015 at his home studio in Nassau, Bahamas. Early on, Oldfield realised that he was out of practise in his guitar technique, as his fingertips had softened, causing pain when playing. He focused on the instrument for three weeks to get up to scratch.

Oldfield began by gathering the necessary instruments that he intended to play on the album and arrange his studio into an environment that he could work in. This involved the purchase of a mandolin, ukulele, and bodhrán. He then decided to record in time with a wind-up metronome, as opposed to a programmed click track, and set up his workspace and Pro Tools software to resemble a 24-track machine that he had used in the 1970s.{{cite web |url=https://thequietus.com/articles/21611-mike-oldfield-interview-favourite-albums |title=An Ommadawn Chorus: Mike Oldfield's Favourite Albums |first=Gary |last=Kaill |date=3 January 2017 |publisher=The Quietus |access-date=26 July 2020}} Oldfield had used Logic Pro software but found it increasingly unreliable, which prompted him to switch to Pro Tools and invest in larger, 4K resolution screens, which allowed him to view a 20-minute piece on one display without scrolling.{{cite web |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/mike-oldfield-i-used-to-think-whats-gone-wrong-with-the-world |title=Mike Oldfield: "I used to think 'What's gone wrong with the world?'" |first=Daryl |last=Easlea |date=14 February 2017 |publisher=Loudersound |access-date=28 July 2020}}{{cite web |url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/mike-oldfield-its-the-age-old-story-out-of-suffering-comes-beauty |title=Mike Oldfield: "It's the age-old story. Out of suffering comes beauty" |first=Henry |last=Yates |date=22 September 2017 |publisher=Music Radar |access-date=28 July 2020}} Oldfield played sections of the album to his two sons for feedback; one suggested that a part sounded too busy and should instead feature just one instrument, which Oldfield took onboard and has bits that feature one guitar. As with the original Ommadawn, Oldfield left mistakes in the recording to retain a human quality to the music as opposed to a highly produced sound.

In May 2016, Oldfield stated on Facebook that the album was finished and that an official release date had yet to be confirmed. Towards the end of recording in late 2016, the Bahamas suffered a direct hit from Hurricane Matthew, which caused extensive damage to Oldfield's home, resulting in loss of main power for three weeks. When the album was finished, Oldfield delivered the recordings to Virgin EMI using a backup Internet connection through a small satellite dish installed on his roof. The transfer took around 24 hours due to the low speeds.{{cite web |url=http://domino.elfworld.org/mike-oldfield-technology-finally-caught-up-with-me/ |title=Mike Oldfield: – Technology finally caught up with me |first=Hogne Bø |last=Pettersen |date=24 January 2017 |publisher=The Domino Elf |access-date=1 August 2020}} On 7 December 2016, Oldfield announced a release date of 20 January 2017.{{cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/MikeOldfieldOfficial/?fref=ts |title=Mike Oldfield on Facebook |publisher=Mike Oldfield |access-date=8 December 2016}} On the same day, a 3-minute excerpt aired on Steve Wright's afternoon show on BBC Radio 2.{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0848fc4 |title=Steve Wright in the Afternoon: Jennifer Aniston, Aled Jones and Mike & Beth from GCHQ |publisher=BBC |date=7 December 2016 |access-date=7 December 2016}}

Return to Ommadawn is Oldfield's first album since Incantations (1978) that follows the format of having one track per side of vinyl simply titled "Part One" and "Part Two".

On Metacritic the album has a score of 64 out of 100 based on reviews from 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/return-to-ommadawn/mike-oldfield/critic-reviews |title=Critic reviews for Return to Ommadawn |website=Metacritic |publisher=CBS Interactive |access-date=2 February 2020 }} It charted at number 1 in Spain.{{cite web |url=https://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Mike+Oldfield&titel=Return+To+Ommadawn&cat=a|title=Lescharts - Return to Ommadawn|publisher=Lescharts|access-date=25 February 2019}}

All music by Mike Oldfield.

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Return to Ommadawn Pt. I

| length1 = 21:10

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| title2 = Return to Ommadawn Pt. II

| length2 = 20:56

}}

All instruments played by Mike Oldfield.{{citation |title=Liner notes to the Return to Ommadawn album |date=20 January 2017 |publisher=Virgin EMI Records}}

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

Stringed instruments:

• Acoustic steel guitar
• Flamenco guitar
• Bass guitar
• Acoustic bass guitar
• Electric guitars
• Gibson
• Fender Telecaster
• Fender Stratocaster
• PRS Signature
• Mandolins
• Banjo
• Ukulele
• Celtic harp

{{col-2}}

Keyboards:

• Vox Continental organ
• Hammond organ
• Farfisa organ
• Mellotron
• Solina string machine
• Clavioline
• Piano

Percussion:

• Bodhran
• African table drums
• Glockenspiel
• Penny whistles in B♭, C, D, E♭, F, and G
• Vocal effects derived from the original Ommadawn

{{col-end}}

• Mike Oldfield – production, engineering, inner cover photography, 5.1 surround sound mixing
• Paschal Byrne – mastering at Audio Archiving
• Miles Showell – half-speed vinyl mastering at Abbey Road Studios
• Daryl Easlea – project co-ordination
• Rupert Lloyd – illustration
• Phil Smee – artwork

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.mikeoldfieldofficial.com Mike Oldfield]
• [http://tubular.net/discography/ReturnToOmmadawn Mike Oldfield Discography – Return to Ommadawn] at Tubular.net

{{Mike Oldfield}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:2017 albums

Category:Mike Oldfield albums

Category:Virgin EMI Records albums

Category:Sequel albums