Short Reviews [The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - 2022 - "Tubular Bells. 50th Anniversary Celebration"]

A large part of me really wants to dislike this album, as I see it as a pointless exercise in recreating a rock work which was already hugely orchestral in its approach anyway. Due to the importance of the electric guitar in the original they have had to keep an electric in this one which in many ways negates the validity of the attempt itself. But, and there is the kicker, it is all done so incredibly well that anyone who loves the original will also thoroughly enjoy this one, and just shows how incredible the achievement was of the teenager who originally conceived and performed this amazing work. As well as the complete original album we also get excerpts from both ‘Ommadawn’ and ‘Hergest Ridge’ plus the wonderful pop of “Moonlight Shadow” which is even further removed from an orchestral performance than the rest and even has a lovely vocal performance. I did spend much of the time thinking how close the music on this album is to the originals, which does make the exercise rather pointless, but there was a tour which followed this release that was MC’ed by Brian Blessed and perhaps that was always the original intent. This has been enjoyable, but I can’t imagine listening to it again as the original will always take premier place for me.