Blu-ray: Tubular Bells Mike Oldfield SDE Surround Series Dolby Atmos BluRay Slipcase New

The Dolby Atmos Mix has been created by producer David Kosten (who’s worked with the likes of Steven Wilson and Bat For Lashes) and he had the challenge of trying to recreate Oldfield’s original 1973 mix in immersive audio, going back to the original multi-track stems which feature almost none of the processing you hear on the final mixes – the levels, echoes, reverbs, radical tone shifts, panning etc. Kosten also created a new stereo mix and the blu-ray also includes a new edit of the classic Tubular Bells intro which is also in stereo and Atmos. All four versions are only available physically via this SDE-exclusive Blu-ray Audio!

Additionally, Mike Oldfield’s 5.1 Surround Mix from 2009 is also included. That was only ever issued on DVD at the time, so it sees its debut here on Blu-ray as lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1.

The four-channel Quad Mix was mixed by Phil Newell in 1975 and was issued on 2001 on SACD. It has some differences to the original stereo and 5.1 mixes, most notable the Viv Stanshall voiceover on ‘Sailor’s Hornpipe’ at the end It has been unavailable since that time but is the third different spatial audio mix on this Blu-ray.

The original stereo mix on the Blu-ray is as used on the new half-speed mastered vinyl and of course fans will be very interested in the Tubular Bells 4 demo. The story is, Mike Oldfield retired from releasing music in 2018, after giving up touring many years previously. In the months after his last album, Return To Ommadawn in 2017, Oldfield toyed with going the whole way and making a fourth and final instalment of Tubular Bells in time for its 50th anniversary. Work began in earnest, and Mike felt he had finally cracked the secret of being able to successfully return to and rework the opening motif. An eight-minute taster was sent to his A&R team. And then, nothing. Mike decided against continuing. Five years later, this final paragraph of the Tubular Bells story is being released as part of the 50th anniversary celebration. It may well be the last thing ever recorded by Oldfield and this is stereo-only.

Global shipping.