After a 25-year clause in his contract with the EVIL Richard Branson of the Virgin mega-empire, Mike Oldfield was able to re-record his defining masterpiece. This album alone has influenced more musicians during the last 30-years then I dare say Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven (even though the Introduction of Tubular Bells is based on a section from Bach's Tocatta and Fugue in D-minor) or anyone else's instrumental music. You can even hear a copy cat variation of TB's Introduction in the 50-cent hit "In Da Club." Even Janet Jackson used Tubular Bells in her hit "The Velvet Rope."

This re-recording is hopefully the last we will hear of the Tubular Bells franchise. I do believe that Mike kept making TB albums (TB2 and TB3) to deal with his own disappointment with the original and not being able to re-record his original. Tubular Bells 2003 is TB the way it should sound. The beauty of the melodies is truly brought out in this recording! Every track from the original 1973 version is brought to life and given a new life in TB2003 - while remaining faithful to it's roots. The only downfall of this re-recording is the use of synths in sections. In my opinion that is what dates an album - keyboard synths. According to Oldfield only 10 percent of this album is keyboard and 90 percent is played by hand.

Some of the highlights of this album is the beautiful and constant use of the Mandolin. Breathtaking!! In the track 'Harmonics' you can hear, about 30 seconds in, a beautiful vocal by Sally Oldfield (Mike's sister) - very haunting!

The strong points in this album are the more relaxing tracks - Latin, A Minor Tune, Ghost Bells, Russian, Harmonics, Peace, and Ambient Guitars.

One of my favourite tracks is the track 'Blues'. Haunting and when you aren't expecting it, the track blows up into this heavy Blues guitar - full throttle!

'Thrash' was a bit of a disappointment as it didn't do as I thought it should have - seemed a little too programmed and perfect.

'Finale' is very good and John Cleese adds a subtle humor to his MC's of the instruments in his Basil Fawlty-esque voice. As opposed to Alan Rickman's MC'ing on Tubular Bells 2 (1992) - Classy. Mike does employ the use of real Tubular Bells instead of keyboard bells - nice and refreshing change from the other bell albums. For those who understand time signatures - the track bounces along nicely a constant 4/4 (as in club music beats.) After John Cleese annouces 'PLUS Tubular Bells' the beat changes - with the beat on 1 and 3 instead of a constant 1-2-3-4. Took some getting used to. The drums are electronic - I believe.

Funny really Tubular Bells has now employeed two Harry Potter stars Alan Rickman (Professor Snape) on TB2 and John Cleese (Nearly-Headless Nick) on TB2003. Now my favourite album and book series have something in common! :)

The 'Caveman' section is indeed a big change from the original 1973 version. There is a cavewoman with the caveman. And an army of Cavemen in sections - nice touch! The only complaint with this track is the use of electronic-esque drums. For those who care and are wondering why you have this screaming Caveman in the first place need not wonder anymore... In 1972 when Mike was trying to get a record company to buy into Tubular Bells, they all told him to throw some vocals on there and they'd consider it. Well, Mike in his sense of humor got trashed one night during the one-week of recording given to him by Richard Branson - hence all the technical imperfections in the original -Mike started screaming at the top his lungs into a microphone and then replied to the record companies by saying 'here's those vocals you asked for!' It was also based on an archeologist hoax of that time called 'Piltdown Man.' Subtle humor really. The screaming caveman and woman sound alot like two Star Trek Klingons speaking Klingon and Mike is a huge fan of Star Trek - go fig! :)

The Sailors Hornpipe - otherwise known to American's as the Popeye theme - is cleaned up and sounds more brilliant than ever.

As for the most famous part of TB - the Introduction - made famous through its use in William Blakes 'Exorcist' is brilliant in its sound quality. The only unusual change is the synth bass played by way of midi on an actual guitar.

Whether this remake will hold up in the test of time as the original 1973 version did- is up to time itself. Either way Tubular Bells will remain one of rock music's classic albums which will brave the tests of time to still be remembered in 50 years and beyond - as Beethovens Nineth Symphony (Ode to Joy). As a matter of fact, I do believe it was Rolling Stone magazine who stated that Tubular Bells is rocks equivalent to Beethoven's Nineth.

Bottom line - BUY THIS CD!!! You will NOT be disappointed!!! Plus you will hopefully be sending a message to Mike's record company - that Mike Oldfield still has a fan base here in America and they should release this album here and Canada. We shouldn't have to constantly import his music. And the RIAA wonders why people just download music instead of purchasing it. MAKE IT AVAILABLE at a reasonable price in our country and we wouldn't need to download it!!! wink wink ;)

PS I have bought - in spite of the outrageous import price - the Complete TB and TB2003 single album. PLEASE SUPPORT MIKE OLDFIELD - BUY THE ALBUM!!!

When I first heard that Mike Oldfield was planning to re-record the original Tubular Bells with updated technology, I thought that was a wonderful idea. But I did not take into account the measure of disrespect the composer must now feel for his once revered composition. Rather than making this a stronger recording than the original, it seems deliberately weak and watered down. Also, the announcing of the instruments and Cave Man lyrics are unbelievably contrived. You just want to say to him, Mike, are you really taking this thing seriously. And he seems to say back, I can't believe you ever took it seriously.

If you pretend that this is PDQ Bach stealing themes from Mike Oldfield it might just be funny. But otherwise it's just plain painful to listen to.

If you've never heard the original and are considering buying this one first, please reconsider. This parody may poison your appreciation of what was originally one of the most innovative and emotionally stirring classical rock compositions of the early 70's.

There are two versions of this release, the US Version from Rhino, and the Import Version which includes a bonus DVD. I bought the DVD/Import version and I'm glad I did.

The CD is the same in both versions, but the DVD gives you a taste of what Oldfield may have planned for yet another future release. One of the advantages of his re-recording of this masterpiece is that he now has a high end master which he can re-mix in newer audio formats as they come along.

The DVD is only about 9 minutes long, but it does contain a short animated video and an intense audio mix of a couple of tracks in a 5.1 audio format. It would seem to me that producing the entire release in a high end audio format such as DVD Audio or SACD is the next logical step.

One listen to the 5.1 DVD on your surround system and you're hooked.

I've got nothing against remasterings, or even re-recordings. The re-recording of Philip Glass's "Einstein On The Beach", for example, is far more powerful than the original. If only the same were true of Tubular Bells.

It's a common truism amongst artists that if you work and re-work a piece of art too much, you work all the life and spontaneity out of it. That seems to have happaned here. Yes, the recordings of the instruments are all cleaner and sharper, but there's a processed homogeneity to the whole thing, with every sequenced beat being just a little too perfect, every guitar note just a bit too smooth and consistent.

There are some specific flaws too. Piltdown man with vocoders? Please. The original was murky, primitive and threatening; this new version is just silly. Similarly, John Cleese should have been discouraged from camping it up, rather than having "Mandolin!" sampled like a Max Headroom quip. It's symptomatic of the fact that where the original was earnest and a touch angry in places, this new version sounds jokey and artificial. Maybe the Mike Oldfield of 2003 views it as a joke album, or perhaps it's all about the money.

As a final note, I still think the original intended ending of "Tubular Bells" is far better than the cheesy synth Sailor's Hornpipe used on the first release, and inexplicably kept for this re-recording. You'll only hear the real ending on the version of TB included in "Boxed". Personally, I edited the "Boxed" ending onto the 1990s remastered edition of the original "Tubular Bells" using Cubase, and that's my ultimate version. I'm literally throwing the 2003 release away and pretending I never heard it.

Despite being Oldfield's most famous work, Tubular Bells is not my favorite of his works; that distinction goes to a tie between Ommadawn and Five Miles Out.

This newly performed version of his first and best-known work is as good as the original, and even better in spots. It's a bit of a shame that he had to go back to The Beginning to produce something that I really enjoyed, though. (Tres Luna, his most recent all-new work, bored me.)

All-in-all, the melody lines are more distinct in this version, there is more energy in virtually every track, and the Caveman section is even odder than in the original. Even the portions of the original Tubular Bells which felt like they went on just a bit too long for what they were doing musically have been spruced up here and are working far more effectively (the sections titled "A Minor Tune" and "Peace" on this CD being the ones that are most improved in my opinion). John Cleese brings a touch of humor to the "introducing the instruments section," as opposed to the more straight up master of ceremonies approach in the original and in Tubular Bells II. Everything about this CD works, and it's well-worth getting for Oldfield fans or lovers of the original Tubular Bell album.

So, why only Three Stars after that rave review? Well, the DVD is a total waste of plastic and money. The video is unimpressive--I could probably have produced it on my Mac, given stock footage and a few days. I can't comment on the Surround Sound mixes, as I don't have a TV set that fancy. Since the "bonus" DVD ups the price, I need to take off stars in relation to its value. And it drags the package down.