Michael Gordon "Mike" Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English musician and composer whose work blends progressive rock with world, folk, classical, electronic, ambient, and new-age. It is often elaborate and complex in nature. He is best known for his 1973 album Tubular Bells – which launched Virgin Records and became a hit after its opening was used as the theme for the film The Exorcist – and for his 1983 hit single "Moonlight Shadow".

Ommadawn was Oldfield's third album, after Tubular Bells and Hergest Ridge. It was released in 1975 and, like the previous albums, was a smash hit on, landing at No. 4 in the UK charts. With this album, Oldfield perfected his unique approach to music that had begun with Tubular Bells: a mixture of instrumental prog, world and classical music, defined not by lyrics or riffs, but by an emphasis on intricate melodies and thru-composition. Like the previous two albums, Ommadawn is devoid of individual tracks or songs. Instead, the album is divided into two halves, Part 1 and Part 2, and the music is presented as a journey that the listener embarks on, not as a collection of easily digestible hooks and choruses. And make no mistake, if you approach this album with open ears, it will take you on one hell of a journey. 

Where Tubular Bells opened with an instantly recognisable piano riff, and Hergest Ridge slowly unfurled with dreamy synths, Part 1 of Ommadawn announces itself with an instantly bewitching guitar melody, played over a minimalist bass line and an ethereal vocal/synth mix. Part of what makes the intro stand out so much is just how much darker it sounds compared to Oldfield's previous work. While Tubular Bells has something of a scary reputation due to it's fame as the theme from The Exorcist, the actual music was far more melancholic than it was out-and-out dark. The opening to Ommadawn, by contrast, is a brooding piece that, while beautiful, shows off a darker heart beating in its chest. While the music soon progresses, in typical Oldfield fashion, to explore different musical ideas flung far and wide across the genre-spectrum, it keeps returning to the same menacing feel of the intro, creating an atmosphere that is both achingly beautiful and quite unsettling. As with other albums, contrast is the key thing here: after setting up Part 1 with it's eerie intro, Oldfield goes off on a tangent of lovely folky ideas played on harp, banjo, bouzouki and all other manner of instruments. Having led the listener through an up-beat, eclectic collection of musical ideas, Oldfield then returns to the more sombre feel of the introduction, but imbues it with a greater sense of gravity, thanks to some truly wonderful lead playing on his guitar. Make no mistake, Oldfield was and is a master guitar player, fitting all sorts of fiendish runs and licks into this section, obviously designed to allow him to show off his chops. To his credit, while the guitar playing is certainly flashy, it is always in service to the music, and never draws attention from the feel of the overall piece.

DFF tracks extracted with Scarletbook
 
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from the Japanese 2012 SHM-SACD.

SHM-SACD-ISO-DFF-1Bit-2.8Mhz.