Mit “Tres Lunas” veröffentlichte Mike Oldfield sein “The MusicVR – 3D Interactive PC-Game”. Über das Spiel wird an anderer Stelle berichtet. Hier geht es einzig und allein um das Album. “Tr3s Lunas” wäre im übrigen die richtige Schreibweise für diese Album. Die “3” in dem Wort “tres” gehört da rein, laut der Schreibweise auf dem Cover.
“Tres Lunas” gehört weder zu den besten noch zu den erfolgreichsten Alben von Mike Oldfield. Die Fan-Gemeinschaft ist gespalten und ob neue Fans mit dem Album gefunden wurden, bezweifele ich sehr stark, da die Chartnotierungen absolut dagegen sprechen.
Einzig “To be free” schaffte es in Belgien, Spanien und Österreich sich etwas länger in den Charts zu halten. In Deutschland gab es keine Auskopplung und so wird das Album und die Single bestimmt bald in Vergessenheit geraten.
Es ist ein Album für Fans und Hardcore-Sammler. Mehr leider nicht, die Masse hat wenig Interesse gezeigt.
In Deutschland stieg das Album eine Woche nach Veröffentlichung auf Platz 19 ein und das war dann auch schon die höchste Platzierung. In den folgenden Wochen rauschte es dann bis in die 8. Woche auf Platz 95 und flog anschließend aus den Top 100.
Man sollte Mike Oldfield nicht unrecht tun. Das Album ist nicht schlecht, nur merkt man deutlich das die Priorität beim Spiel lag. Mich persönlich interessiert das Spiel weniger, da ich kein PC-Zocker bin. Aber “Tres Lunas” gehört zu meinen viel gehörten Alben.
Ein gutes hatte dann doch noch sein Spiel. Die Fans auf der Welt wurden kreativ und extrahierten die Soundfiles aus dem Game. Daraus wurde dann mehr als ein neues Album abgemischt und “Tres Lunas II” fand man in den gängigen Tauschbörsen.
Eine ausführliche Rezension zu dem Album, habe ich 2002 vor der Veröffentlichung verfasst, diese findest du am Ende dieses Beitrags.
Zu der Promotion gab es unter anderem diverse Informationen zu dem neuen Album. Derzeit sind hier “Track by Track”, “MusicVR Episode 1” und eine Biografie, leider nur auf Englisch, verfügbar.
Nur wenige Tage nach der Veröffentlichung erschien “Tres Lunas” in einer zweiten Auflage.
| First Release: | 03.06.2002 |
| Label: | Warner Music Spain S.A. |
Details
Misty |
Written by Mike Oldfield |
No Mans Land |
Written by Mike Oldfield |
Return To The Origin |
Written by Mike Oldfield |
Landfall |
Written by Mike Oldfield |
Viper |
Written by Mike Oldfield |
Turtle Island |
Written by Mike Oldfield |
To Be Free |
Written by Mike Oldfield Vocals: Jude Sim |
Fire Fly |
Written by Mike Oldfield |
Tr3s Lunas |
Written by Mike Oldfield |
Daydream |
Written by Mike Oldfield |
Thou Art In Heaven |
Written by Mike Oldfield Vocals Sally Oldfield (spoken) |
Sirius |
Written by Mike Oldfield |
No Mans Land reprise |
Written by Mike Oldfield |
| Produziert: | Mike Oldfield |
| Komponiert: | Mike Oldfield |
| Aufnahme Assistent: | Ben Darlow |
| Stimmen und Gesang: | Sally Oldfield, Amar, Jude Sim |
| Percussion Programmierung: | Philip Lewis, Thomas Süssmair |
| Mike Oldfield spielt: | Electric Guitars, Spanish Guitar, Bass Guitar, Synthesisers, Mandolin, Grand Piano. |
| Aufnahmestudio: | Roughwood Studios und Plan 1 Studios München |
| Veröffentlicht durch: | EMI Music Publishing Ltd. |
| Management: | Nicky Horne |
| Cover: | |
| Art Direction: | Bill Smith |
| Design: | Ian Ross for BSS |
| Fotograf: | Andy Earl |
Cover from an original idea by Hans Claesson of Kebawe
Track by Track
Warner Music Spain S.A. veröffentlichte zu dem Album eine Erklärung von Mike Oldfield, in der man lesen kann, welche Bedeutung die Songs für Mike haben.
Leider habe ich niemanden für die Übersetzung gewinnen können. Daher ist der Text wie im Original in Englisch.
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1.- Misty
“Misty is the name of one of my horses. I used to have much free time and I thought it would be interesting to have a hobby. I´ve always been attracted to this idea of having beautiful animals around me. Misty is an Arabian young mare. I bought her when she was four months old and now she is one year old. We have even celebrated his birthday party. She got a carrot cake with one candle. I like to give them treats. I love it.
“Misty” was the first song where I tried a new musical technique, something I have used in some tracks of the album. I call this technique “saxophone-guitar sound”, and it is a kind of a new instrument. I love playing guitar, and guitar technique helps me- using keyboards and a very complex software- get the sound of a very unique virtual saxophone, mixed with guitar chords.
2.- No Mans Land
“I love the desert. I have traveled very often throughout the desert, when I was living in California and also when I visited Morocco or Mexico. I like that isolation feeling, that sensation of being far away from everything made by men. I love that vastness. It is a very special feeling, but also a formal expression. “No Mans Land” is an expression used mostly in the United States to describe a deserted land. In the MusicVR Game, this desert delimites two different areas, each of them proposing the player multiple options .
3.- Return To The Origin
“It is one of the leitmotifs in both the album and the interactive game.The “origin” is the central point of the tri-dimensional world of MusicVR. As my sister Sally´s voice suggests, sometimes you have to return to that point, to return to the origin, and this way you complete the different phases of the game.
For me this reflects too that need to return to our condition of human beings, something like an spiritual return to what we really are, to our center, something I use to do by practising meditation and Tai Chi.
Sometimes you have to forget the material aspects of life, because these material aspects may cause stress or unhappiness. We have to return to our own origin, or at least we should try to do it as often as possible.
4.- Landfall
“ This is definitely an ambient track. The music describes that moment in the interactive game when you are able to leave the desert and you have collected enough rings to go to a tiny island lying in the middle of one of the game´s seas. “Landfall” was an expression used by sailors such as Christopher Columbus when they arrived at land after a long sea journey.
5.- Viper
“This was the first track in the album that made me feel really satisfied. It´s quite rhythmic, it has that chill out flavour I wanted for my album. This song is also one ot the three snakes in the game. This one is a viper. There were sneakes too in “Tubular Bells III”. Maybe it is one of my personal obsessions, because, according to Chinese horoscope, I am a sneake too.
6.- Turtle Island
“This track is undoubtedly connected to Ibiza and to Café del Mar. It has a very simple and catchy tune. This is the best music I can imagine to hear while you sit down at a bar, you have a drink and you simply enjoy life, in a relaxed way. This song has also its specific moment in the game. When you arrive to the island you can see a turtle. When you are near the turtle, you hear this song, “Turtle Island ”, and lots of tiny turtles appear and you start playing with pearls and oysters emerging around you. If you put three of this pearls into the turtle´s shell, you are allowed to swim with the dolphins. Everything in this project is inter-connected.
7.- To Be Free
“This started as a simple acoustic guitar theme. Later I decided to improve the rhythm and I added some drum loops. When we arrived to this point, we decided to include vocals, so I hired a session vocalist and I wrote the lyrics two hours before her arrival to the studio. We were lucky and everything was easy and quick. We realized that the sound was excellent and suddenly we decided that this song could be the first single. When I had to write the lyrics, I thought about my children. I have three teenage children who are now trying to decide what to do with their lives. I know many people, people of different ages, who are living the same situation. In my opinion, “To Be Free” is a hope chant for those who have problems in their lives. The song talks about those moments when things change in the most sudden way. We have made different remix versions by Pumpin’ Dolls or Soultronik, ranging from House to Chill Out”.
8.- Firefly
“ This song is musically unique. It is a very visual song, you can nearly see the fireflies around you. Luminous is the best word to describe it. I composed it with humble guitar chords, but playing the guitar in a very special way, as if I was caressing the strings.
I always dreamed of a song sounding like this, and now I had the opportunity to do it. I used a similar technique in “Tubular Bells”, but now it has a more defined sound, placed in the foreground.
These fireflies have a very important role in the game. They emerge from caves and volcanos, and help you find your way out to other areas of the MusicVR Game”.
9.- Tres Lunas
“This is obviously the central track in the album. When I have to explane why did I choose this title, I have to remember the time when I was living in Ibiza. There is an excellent restaurant there. People call it Las Dos Lunas. It is between San Antonio and Ibiza city. The restaurant´s owner lent me a compilation album we used to listen to very often those days. It was full of very simple and relaxing guitar sounds, and I could recognize samplings of some of my own tracks. And I decided then to record a Chill Out album. I had to re-work it five or six times before I was completely satisfied. The key was to make it as simple as possible. The album´s visual appearance is very impressive. I wanted to transmit that feeling of someone who is living in a strange planet and suddenly finds three moons in the middle of the sky, instead of one.
10.- Daydream
“Obviously, this song has an evocative feeling. This song was inspired by a long weekend I enjoyed in Venice, two years ago. While I was there, I visited Burano island, and I found there a a very special cemetery, unforgettable, with an odd but quiet environment. I found there Igor Stravinski´s and Sergei Diaguilev´s tombs (Diaguilev was Stravinski´s choreographer). There was a very special atmosphere, and it impressed me somehow. I have always been attracted to the artistic movements emerging at the end of the nineteenth century and at the beggining of the twentieth century. I adore Surrealism and Salvador Dalí´s works, for example. “Daydream” was also inspired by “Gymnopèdies” a delightful musical piece by Erik Satie.
11.- Thou Art In Heaven
“This song has a long story. I got the central idea when I received the commitment to compose the music for the Millennium Concert in Berlin, something that finally become my penultimate album, “The Millennium Bell”, specially conceived to welcome the new millenium. It was not possible to develop that idea in that moment, but now it is ideal for this chill out project.
The title, “Thou Art In Heaven” is inspired by the first verse of the Lord´s Prayer.
12.- Sirius
”This track talks about a star called Sirius, that has always kept me fascinated. It is a very big star, brilliant, perfect for “Tres Lunas”. Sirius is the name of one of my horses too. I helped his mother deliver him. He is also an Arabian horse, like Misty.
13.- No Mans Land (Reprise)
“It is a special way to finish the album. It is a kind of a virtual duet between a guitar and a saxophone,a real Spanish guitar mixed with a virtual saxophone sound, coming from synthesized keyboards played as if they were guitar strings. There is something magical in this song.
MusicVR Episode 1 ‘Tres Lunas’
Wie Mike Oldfield auf die Idee zum Spiel kam und was sonst noch wichtig ist, veröffentlichte WEA Spain S.A. mit dem Album.
Auch hier fehlt mir noch eine deutsche Übersetzung.
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MusicVR Episode 1 ‘Tres Lunas’ by Mike Oldfield
MusicVR was first conceived by Mike Oldfield back in the early 90’s. Since then it has progressed through many stages to now finally arrive in a form that many home computers can play.
When it started it was necessary to have computers the size of fridges (with a suitably large price tag) to run even a basic version of the game. The only way for people to play the game was on this huge ‘super computer’. Mike toyed with the idea of taking this computer on tour so that many more people could enjoy the experience, but for one reason or another it never happened.
In the last few years computer graphics have been advancing at such a rate that home computers are many times faster than the original computer that Mike used. So he has decided to make the game available to a much wider audience…..
You may be asking why does MusicVR need computers that are so powerful? Well, the answer lies mainly in ‘freedom’. Most of us are aware of the amazing computer graphics that we see on films and television but this is very different from the world of MusicVR. Film and Television computer graphics are all known as ‘Pre-Rendered’. This means that everything that you see has been thought out previously (Pre) and then the computer gets the task of making each separate frame of the film (Rendered). Much in the same way as traditional animation all of these frames are then played one after the other and the animation unrolls in front of us. The advantage with this method is that it doesn’t matter how long the computer takes to make each frame, as we will simply play them all back at the end. The disadvantage with this is that if you decide that you want to change where you go in the film the whole sequence has to be built from scratch. This is where MusicVR comes in….
MusicVR relies on the computer being able to make each frame of the animation in a fraction of a second. If you can make the computer so fast that it makes 30 or even 60 of these frames a second then you could actually decide in ‘real-time’ where you wanted to go and hence change the animation as you go. This is what Mike wanted so that playing MusicVR is really more like exploring his world because you have the freedom to travel where you like – hence the name of Music Virtual Reality.
As there has not been anything quite like MusicVR with it’s mixture of imaginative images and music before, Mike had to have the software specially written. He got together a team of people to help him both write the new software and make everything in his world. He has decided at every step of the way how the software should look and work and what it should and shouldn’t do. Each part of the world is carefully made on the computers so that it does not slow the final world down. If a part of the world is too complicated then everything slows down and the illusion of a virtual world is lost.
Obviously there are computer games available that seem to have this type of freedom, but most, such as racing games keep you on a very narrowly defined path or area. None have come close to the mix of music and experience. Other computer games are very much goal orientated, whether it is to kill all the enemy, or score the most goals, again MusicVR is not about finishing the game, nor is it violent, it is about enjoying the music, the visuals and the experience.
Not content with only one person being able to play the game, Mike wanted for people to be able to link their games. He has done this with things called Avatars. An avatar is an object in the game such as a humming bird or a butterfly. They can be as varied as an airship or a firebeing and there are 13 of them in total. You don’t need to have an avatar to play the game but if you are connected to the internet then you can link your game of MusicVR to another. Once linked you can see other avatars moving around the game. With the aid of a mobile phone, you could also talk to your friend then meet up and go and explore together. Or if one person is a novice then they could be helped to find their way around. There is also a section on www.mikeoldfield.com where people can post information about their game enabling them to share a game with someone completely different who could be across the other side of the world. This also gives the game an element of randomness as you don’t know what other avatars will do. As there are only 13 avatars per game you can join a game without being an avatar, just as an observer. When an avatar becomes available you can take it and join in.
Mike has used computer technology with his music to make a highly imaginative world that you can explore and experience. As you look around the world things change depending on what you do. As you fly around the central desert area then the music changes depending on where you have been and what things you have found. For instance there are rings that are placed around the world, by collecting these it opens up new areas that you can go and explore. Sometimes you will be helped – there is a bird that takes you out to an island at sea if you have enough rings. It is not necessary to collect the rings, but it is one way of enjoying it.
We have found that in making MusicVR it is very difficult to describe it. When people do finally get to see the game they usually respond with ‘ah this is what you mean’ If left to play the game then they usually develop the MusicVR chuckle as Mike calls it – as they fly around, explore and get the hang of it, people tend to chuckle.
The only way to experience it is to have a go. MusicVR is to be released as a double CD with Mike’s latest album ‘Tres Lunas’ The cd contains a free demo and the installer for the full game which requires an online payment of £11.75. Both of these can also be downloaded from his site, www.mikeoldfield.com.
Biografie
Warner Music Spain S.A. veröffentlichte zu dem Album auch eine Biografie von Mike Oldfield.
Leider habe ich niemanden für die Übersetzung gewinnen können. Daher ist der Text wie im Original in Englisch.
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Nearly 30 years after he burst onto the international musical scene, Mike Oldfield comes back with a new album, ”Tres Lunas” which will be released worldwide next June 3rd.
Michael Gordon Oldfield, born in Reading on May 15th,1953, caused a commotion in the the so-called symphonic rock when he released his first Tubular Bells in June 1973. Mike Olfield´s worldwide sales (over 16 million copies to date) helped him become one of the most respected musicians of our time. Far away from other artists of his generation, he´s been always willing to renew, eager to acustom to new trends and sounds. In fact, it is quite difficult to determinate which one of his musical periods has been the best over the course of his thirty years as a recording artist. The 70´s were an innovative period, and he was ready to explore the new ways of modern music-making. By that time he released albums such as “Hergest Ridge”, “Ommadawn” or “Incantations”, albums that consolidated his own unique style. The 80´s came and it was time for success, represented by vocal songs such as “Five Miles Out”, “Family Man”, “To France” or “Moonlight Shadow”, a tribute to John Lennon. All these songs topped the charts worldwide.
But it was in the early 90´s when Mike Oldfield turned into a best-seller in Spain. One of the reasons of this success was the freedom feeling Olfield got after leaving his current recording label and signing with WEA. This new professional period started with the fantastic album “Tubular Bells II”, premiered worldwide on September 4th, ,1992, during an unforgettable concert at Edinbourg Castle, in Scotland. That concert is still considered as one of the most brilliant shows in the talented British musician´s career.
In 1994,after the gigantic sales of Tubular Bells II, Oldfield released The Songs Of Distant Earth. Based on Arthur C. Clarke´s works, this was a groundbreaking album, that did not fit current industrial standards, as it was the first album released together with an interactive CD-Rom including a game, a travel and extra music for his fans. Nowadays, this project seems to be more meaningful than ever.
Then he explored Celtic music in his album “Voyager” (1996). His experiences in Ibiza were portraited in Tubular Bells III (1998). This album was premiered in a concert at the Horse Guards Parade in London. As one may supose, the guitar was the great star in “Guitars” (1999). After a few months, as the century ended and the new millenium began, Mike Oldfield released a new album, entitled “Millennium Bell” (1999).
Now, after a two-year pause, Mike Oldfield returns, stronger than ever, with “Tres Lunas”, a chill out album conceived during his long stay in Ibiza. This album will be out next June 3rd and will be officially premiered during a press conference next May 30th at the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciènces in Valencia.
The album will be released together with an interactive CD-Rom entitled
“MusicVR Tres Lunas Game” offering a spatial relaxing travel, non-violent, full of music and dolphins, spatial cities, temples, cats, turtles, scorpions and even 7 gold rings you have to collect if you want to complete the different phases offered by this musical journey. Sally Oldfield, Mike´s sister, contributes her vocal talent.
The first single, “To Be Free”, is again performed by a female singer, something that makes us remember such succesful songs as “Family Man” or “Moonlight Shadow”. This single, including different remix versions, will be officialy launched next May 20th.
http://www.mikeoldfield-treslunas.com
http://www.mikeoldfield.com/
MIKE OLDFIELD – OFFICIAL DISCOGRAPHY
.- TUBULAR BELLS (1973)
.- HERGEST RIDGE (1974)
.- OMMADAWN (1975)
.- INCANTATIONS (1978)
.- EXPOSED (1979)
.- PLATINUM (1979)
.- Qe2 (1980)
.- FIVE MILES OUT (1982)
.- CRISES (1983)
.- DISCOVERY (1984)
.- KILLING FIELDS (1984)
.- ISLANDS (1987)
.- EARTH MOVING (1989)
.- AMAROK (1990)
.- HEAVENS OPEN (1991)
.- TUBULAR BELLS II (1992)
.- SONGS FROM DISTANT EARTH (1994)
.- VOYAGER (1996)
.- TUBULAR BELLS III (1998)
.- GUITARS (1999)
.- MILLENNIUM BELL (1999)
.- TRES LUNAS (2002)
Rezension
Erste Meinung nach Hören der Promotion-CD
Das warten hat sich gelohnt. Mike Oldfield überrascht mit sanften und unaufdringlichen Songs auf seiner neuen Scheibe. Wie zu erwarten ist “To Be Free” das einzige Vocalstück. Die restlichen 12 Tracks sind Instrumental.
Erster Gedanke – Erste Gefühle
Irgendwie hat man Ibiza-Feelings bei dieser gesamten CD. Egal welches Stück man hört.
Mike Oldfield bringt ein Saxophone in ein Stück unter? Beim ersten, zweiten, dritten….mal hören der Scheibe habe ich auf jedem Fall den Eindruck bei “Misty”. Was sanft beginnt, wird nach einiger Zeit elegant von einem Saxophon weiter begleitet, ohne Gitarren zu übertönen. Mal etwas neues und echt gut gemacht.
“No Mans Land”, das längste Stück auf der Scheibe ist ein einzelner “Song” wie alle anderen, der aber mit den anderen Tracks ebenso gut verschmilzt. Es wirkt sehr melodisch und er wird sehr ruhig gespielt. Keine Hektik oder gar Aufregung ist zu spüren. Dennoch lässt “No Mans Land” sich bei strahlendem Sonnenschein im Cabrio genauso genießen wie, Abends am Kamin mit einem leckeren Rotwein in der Hand.
“Return, Return, Return” haucht uns eine sanfte Stimme bei “Return To The Origin” ins Ohr. Irgendwie “Slomotion” aber mit Stil, Eindringlich aber nicht Aufdringlich. Das ist die Beschreibung die mir dazu einfällt. Nur wo bleibt die Sonne, wenn ich die Augen wieder aufmache? Da bin ich wohl mit meinem geistigen “Chill-Out” ein wenig von der Spur abgekommen.
Eingangs mit Piano und elektronisch verfremdeten Klängen übernimmt nach wenigen Sekunden die Gitarre ruhig aber bestimmend die Oberhand in “Landfall” und verschwindet dann wieder. Das Piano beendet auch wieder.
“Viber” ist für mich das flotteste Stück auf der gesamten Scheibe ohne überschwänglich den anderen “Songs” die Show zu stehlen. Es ist Rhythmus und ein eindringlicher Groove der gefällt. Das Ende wird von leichten aber markanten Vocals untermalt.
Ohne es dann groß zu bemerken ist man schon bei “Turtle Island”. Auch hier sanfter Rhythmus der sich nach und nach zu einem schönen “Song” entfaltet. Bis jetzt ist es mein Lieblingssong und ich weiß noch nicht warum.
“To Be Free”, die erste Auskopplung aus dem neuen Album ist und bleibt das einzige Vocalstück auf der Scheibe. Mit Jude Sim hat er wieder eine Sängerin an Bord genommen, die es schafft einem Song von Mike Oldfield noch eins draufzusetzen.
“Firefly” kommt mit spielerischen Klängen und einem taktvollem, aber deutlich hörbaren Bass rüber. Den sanften Melodie werden immer wieder andere Instrumente beigefügt. Das Piano ist eindringlich aber sehr melodisch.
“Tres Lunas” das Titelstück der neuen Scheibe startet wie ein Song zu einem Game. Locker, flockig mit Rhythmus. Mike Oldfield packt wieder viele Gitarren und Gitarrensounds rein, so wie man es von ihm kennt. Auch das Piano kommt hier nicht zu kurz. Kleine Vocaleinlagen unterstreichen dieses Stück hervorragend.
“Daydreamer” ein Pianostück mit Effekten und später einsetzender Gitarre, das man sich gerne Abends bei einem Glas Wein anhört. Das kann am Strand in der Karibik genauso romantisch wie in einer tollen Hotel in der Bar entspannend sein.
“Thou Art In Heaven” beginnt mit einem kleinen Vocal und wird spielend zu einem soften Chill-Out mit anschließenden anwachsenden Groove der sehr sympathisch wirkt. Auch in diesem Stück findet ein Saxophone mit sanften Klängen seinen Platz.
“Sirius” startet mit tiefen Bässen und wird anschließend von verschiedenen Effekten getragen zu einem weiteren sanften Instrumentalstück ohne übertriebenen Schnickschnack. Hier versteht es Mike Oldfield wieder nacheinander das Stück zu steigern auf Grund der eingebrachten Soundeffekte mit Gitarre, Keyboard und anderen Geräten.
Fazit:
Wer tatsächlich glaubte eine Fortsetzung von “The Songs Of Distant Earth” in dieser Scheibe zu finden liegt falsch. Genauso falsch wie die, die glauben Mike Oldfield bereitet “Tubular Bells” in irgendeiner Art und Weise zum x-tenmal neu auf.
Nichts von dem kann man direkt mit “Tres Lunas” in Verbindung bringen. “Tres Lunas” ist ein ruhiges aber auch verspieltes Album das seinen eigenen Weg gehen wird. Vielleicht nicht so hochgelobt wie “Ommadawn” und auch nicht so wie von Kritikern zerrissen “Amarok”.
Insider hören auf dem Album klar und deutlich, dass es von Mike Oldfield ist, denn dafür sind seine Gitarreneinlagen und der Aufbau der Songs einfach zu prägnant.
“Tres Lunas” bringt uns einen neuen Mike Oldfield Sound, der an die alten Alben anknüpft, sie aber nicht auftaut. Mir gefällt es einfach und es passt, wie sooft in vielen Lebens und Gemütslagen.
