Amarok35th Anniversary Half-Speed Mastered Vinyl edition

Mike Oldfield

35th Anniversary Reissue of Mike Oldfield's 13th studio album, Amarok. Remastered half-speed by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, under Oldfield’s approval.

 

Originally released in 1990, Amarok was composed as one continuous, hour-long journey of instrumental prog/experimental music. For this reissue, the work is divided into four 15-minute edits (rather than the original two halves) to optimise audio fidelity on vinyl.

 

While Oldfield embraced advanced digital technologies in the 1980s, Amarok represented a return to a more hands-on, textural approach: he performed nearly all instruments himself, from piano and organs to percussion, and even unconventional items, avoiding sequencers and computer programming. It was conceived during a period when his relationship with Virgin Records was strained, and the album was, in part, a defiant statement. Though it did not reach high chart positions upon release, Amarok has grown in stature among fans and critics alike. It is often held up as a bold counterpoint to the more polished, commercially oriented works of the 1980s: an album that reminds listeners of Oldfield’s roots in progressive, exploratory soundscapes.