Mike Oldfield - The Killing Fields (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1984/2016) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Mike Oldfield was asked in 1984 to score Roland Joffe’s film about two journalists’ experiences in the ‘killing fields’ of Kampuchea. Although Oldfield’s music is synonymous with film, it is his first and only score to date, The film was highly acclaimed winning two Academy awards and Oldfield’s score was an integral part of it, earning him a BAFTA and Golden Globe nomination. Newly remastered for 2016, The Killing Fields is a well-regarded entry in Mike Oldfield’s illustrious discography. As with all of Oldfield’s critically acclaimed re-release programme, the notes include a new interview with Mike.

Crack all the jokes you want about Mike Oldfield and his Tubular Bells becoming the hit theme song for The Exorcist. While Oldfield is an amazing guitarist who could play with the best of them, with a lithe synth touch that became a trademark, the bottom line is that the man is a serious composer. All the proof one needs apart from his own records like Incantations and Hergest Ridge is this killer movie score. While Oldfield used a purely Western and neo-classical formal approach to write the music for Roland Joffé's dramatization of true events, his musical mates were among the best in the business at helping him to bring it off: David Bedford wrote arrangements and directed the choir, while Eberhard Schoener helped to conduct and direct another choir (!) and master percussionist Morris Pert lent his talents to the mix as well. While many scores written during the 1980s come off as laughable fluff in the 21st century, Oldfield's score for The Killing Fields is in many ways far more memorable than the film itself. The music here is full of drama, dynamic, textures, and unexpected twists and turns even in the smallest of the incidental pieces, and carries within it a certain majesty that lacks pomp and remains graceful throughout.

Tracklist:

01. Pran's Theme (From “The Killing Fields” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015)
02. Requiem For A City (From “The Killing Fields” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015)
03. Evacuation (From “The Killing Fields” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015)
04. Pran's Theme 2 (From “The Killing Fields” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015)
05. Capture (From “The Killing Fields” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015)
06. Execution (From “The Killing Fields” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015)
07. Bad News (From “The Killing Fields” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015)
08. Pran's Departure (From “The Killing Fields” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015)
09. Worksite (From “The Killing Fields” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015)
10. The Year Zero (From “The Killing Fields” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015)
11. Blood Sucking (From “The Killing Fields” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015)
12. The Year Zero 2 (From “The Killing Fields” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015)
13. Pran's Escape / The Killing Fields (From “The Killing Fields” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015)
14. The Trek (From “The Killing Fields” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015)
15. The Boy's Burial / Pran Sees The Red Cross (From “The Killing Fields” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015)
16. Good News (From “The Killing Fields” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015)
17. Etude (From “The Killing Fields” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015)
18. Evacuation (Remastered 2015 / Single Edit / Bonus Track)
19. Etude (Remastered 2015 / Single Edit / Bonus Track)

Personnel:

Mike Oldfield - guitars, synthesizers, Fairlight computer
Preston Heyman - oriental percussion
Morris Pert - percussion
Eberhard Schoener - conductor
Bavarian State Orchestra
Tölzer Boys Choir



All thanks go to the original releaser