In 1974, Mike Oldfield followed up his hit 1973 debut full-length Tubular Bells with the chart-topping Hergest Ridge. Five decades later, the English prog rocker is prepping a deluxe reissue of his sophomore album, the next step in Oldfield’s “first three” reissue series.
Set for release on June 27, the 2LP set is highlighted by Oldfield’s 2010 mix of Hergest Ridge, which is being pressed to vinyl for the first time. It also features a new half-speed remaster of the 1974 album mix by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, plus new artwork and a new liner quote from Oldfield.
Hergest Ridge: 50th Anniversary will also be available as a Super Deluxe Edition special Blu Ray Audio that offers even more experiences of the album, including a brand new ATMOS and stereo mix by David Kosten, Oldfield’s 5.1 and stereo mix from 2010, the 1976 “Boxed” Quad mix, and the 1974 original stereo mix.
After the breakout success of Tubular Bells—which saw its title suite incorporated into the iconic 1973 movie The Exorcist, in addition to topping the UK albums chart and winning a Grammy—Oldfield, just barely out of his teens, retreated to the English countryside along the Welsh border to duck the spotlight and work on his next creative statement.
The result of those efforts was Hergest Ridge, a pair of sprawling suites that showed off Oldfield’s pastoral spin on progressive rock. The album was named for a large hill in the area, where Oldfield often flew his gliders while writing and recording the music. Though assisted by vocalists and orchestral instruments, Oldfield played almost everything on the album himself, from a range of guitars and organs to glockenspiel, gong, and timpani.
Hergest Ridge spent three weeks at No. 1 in the UK, only to be supplanted by its predecessor, Tubular Bells. Oldfield joined the Beatles and Bob Dylan on the rare list of artists who have replaced themselves atop the chart.
Buy the 50th anniversary edition of Mike Oldfield’s Hergest Ridge now.
