Mike Oldfield - Man On the Rocks (Limited Super Deluxe Edition) 3CD (2014)

"Let me out, I can't breathe/ Gotta get out of this concrete hole," are the first words on Mike Oldfield's first album in six years – a cri de coeur accompanied by a video shot on a beach in the Bahamas, where he has lived since 2009. His concrete holes, clearly, are not as others'. But that doesn't impair the listening experience – if you accept that Man on the Rocks is the pop equivalent of a historical re-enactment society, it's oddly engrossing. The sound recreated here is the 1970s rock of Toto and the Steve Miller Band: all amiable, mid-tempo guitar amblings underscored by wistful thoughts about escape and freedom. Oldfield plays guitar – often quite crunchily, as on the Tom Pettyish opener, Sailing – and young English vocalist Luke Spiller sings, broodingly. Dreamy throwbacks such as Castaway and Dreaming in the Wind shut out 2014 entirely, as does Meat Loafish doomsday rocker Nuclear. Overall, a curious but likable diversion from his multilayered new-age work.

TRACKLIST

1. Sailing [4:46]
2. Moonshine [5:49]
3. Man on the Rocks [6:10]
4. Castaway [6:34]
5. Minutes [4:51]
6. Dreaming in the Wind [5:28]
7. Nuclear [5:03]
8. Chariots [4:38]
9. Following the Angels [7:04]
10. Irene [3:59]
11. I Give Myself Away [5:10]

CD 2 (Instrumental)

1. Sailing [Instrumental] [4:46]
2. Moonshine [Instrumental] [5:49]
3. Man On the Rocks [Instrumental] [6:11]
4. Castaway [Instrumental] [6:37]
5. Minutes [Instrumental] [4:51]
6. Dreaming in the Wind [Instrumental] [5:33]
7. Nuclear [Instrumental] [5:03]
8. Chariots [Instrumental] [4:26]
9. Following the Angels [Instrumental] [7:06]
10. Irene [Instrumental] [3:58]
11. I Give Myself Away [Instrumental] [5:08]

CD 3 (Demos & Alternative mix)

1. Sailing [Demo] [4:14]
2. Moonshine [Demo] [5:24]
3. Man On the Rocks [Demo] [5:40]
4. Castaway [Demo] [6:24]
5. Minutes [Demo] [4:28]
6. Dreaming in the Wind [Demo] [5:27]
7. Nuclear [Demo] [4:54]
8. Chariots [Demo] [3:54]
9. Following the Angels [Demo] [6:24]
10. Irene [Demo] [3:59]
11. I Give Myself Away [Demo] [5:08]
12. Sailing [Alternative mix] [4:45]
13. Dreaming in the Wind [Alternative mix] [5:28]
14. Following the Angels [Alternative mix] [7:04]
15. I Give Mylsef Away [Alternative mix] [5:11]