Guitars (Mike Oldfield album)

1999 studio album by Mike Oldfield

Guitars

Studio album by

Mike Oldfield

Released| 24 May 1999 (1999-05-24)
Recorded| Roughwood Studio, Buckinghamshire
Genre| Progressive rock, new age
Length| 42:40
Label| WEA
Producer| Mike Oldfield
Mike Oldfield chronology
| Tubular Bells III
(1998)  | Guitars
(1999)  | The Millennium Bell
(1999)

|
|

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
Allmusic| [1]

Guitars is the 19th studio album written and performed by British musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1999. The concept of the album was to only perform it using guitar-like instruments.

## Background

[edit]

Oldfield plays all the music on the album, using only guitars of various types. This includes using Roland MIDI-equipped guitars[2] to trigger drum samples and produce string-like sounds. "Four Winds" is a four-part work, whose sections are musical portraits of the four compass points (north, south, east and west).

The Live Then & Now 1999 tour was in promotion of this album and Tubular Bells III.[3]

## Track listing

[edit]

1. "Muse" – 2:12
2. "Cochise" – 5:15
3. "Embers" – 3:51
4. "Summit Day" – 3:46
5. "Out of Sight" – 3:48
6. "B. Blues" – 4:30
7. "Four Winds" – 9:32
8. "Enigmatism" – 3:32
9. "Out of Mind" – 3:46
10. "From the Ashes" – 2:28

## Inner cover photo

[edit]

The liner notes has a photo of Oldfield surrounded by some of his guitars, which he used on the album. From the classical (Spanish acoustic) guitar at the top (and slightly to the right) going clockwise, the guitars are as follows:

* José Ramírez Classical guitar
* Fender Stratocaster, salmon pink (1962)
* Martin O-45 Parlour Guitar
* PRS Custom 24 with Roland synth pickup
* Fender Stratocaster, sunburst (1972)
* PRS Custom 24
* José Ramirez Flamenco guitar
* Wal 4 string bass guitar
* PRS McCarty Thinline

## Certifications and sales

[edit]

Region  | Certification | Certified units/sales

|
|

Spain (PROMUSICAE)[4] | Platinum  | 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Mike Oldfield - Guitars review at AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-12-24.
2. ^ "Interview with Mike Oldfield". Roland PowerOn magazine (Issue 4). 6 June 1999. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
3. ^ "Guitars press release". WEA. April 1999. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
4. ^ Salaverrie, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (PDF) (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Madrid: Fundación Autor/SGAE. p. 951\. ISBN 84-8048-639-2. Retrieved 14 May 2019.

## External links

[edit]

* Mike Oldfield Discography - Guitars at Tubular.net

* v
* t
* e

Mike Oldfield

* Albums
* Singles

Studio albums|

* Tubular Bells
* Hergest Ridge
* Ommadawn
* Incantations
* Platinum
* QE2
* Five Miles Out
* Crises
* Discovery
* The Killing Fields
* Islands
* Earth Moving
* Amarok
* Heaven's Open
* Tubular Bells II
* The Songs of Distant Earth
* Voyager
* Tubular Bells III
* Guitars
* The Millennium Bell
* Tres Lunas
* Tubular Bells 2003
* Light + Shade
* Music of the Spheres
* Man on the Rocks
* Return to Ommadawn

Live albums|

* The Orchestral Tubular Bells
* Exposed
* The Art in Heaven Concert

EPs|

* Take Four
* The Singles
* The Mike Oldfield EP

Singles|

* "Mike Oldfield's Single"
* "Don Alfonso"
* "In Dulci Jubilo"
* "Portsmouth"
* "William Tell Overture"
* "Cuckoo Song"
* "Take Four"
* "Guilty"
* "Blue Peter"
* "Arrival"
* "Sheba" / "Wonderful Land"
* "Five Miles Out"
* "Family Man"
* "Mistake"
* "Moonlight Shadow"
* "Shadow on the Wall"
* "Crime of Passion"
* "To France"
* "Tricks of the Light"
* "Étude"
* "Pictures in the Dark"
* "Shine"
* "In High Places"
* "Islands"
* "The Time Has Come"
* "Magic Touch"
* "Flying Start"
* "Earth Moving"
* "Innocent"
* "(One Glance Is) Holy"
* "Heaven's Open"
* "Gimme Back"
* "Sentinel"
* "Tattoo"
* "The Bell"
* "Hibernaculum"
* "Let There Be Light"
* "Women of Ireland"
* "Man in the Rain"
* "Far Above the Clouds"
* "To Be Free"
* "Thou Art in Heaven"
* "Spheres"

Other songs|

* "Foreign Affair"
* "The X-Files Theme"
* "Introduction 2003"
* "Surfing"
* "Song for Survival"

Video albums|

* The Space Movie
* Exposed
* The Essential Live
* Live at Montreux 1981
* The Wind Chimes
* Tubular Bells II Live
* Elements
* Tubular Bells III Live
* The Art in Heaven Concert

Compilation albums|

* Boxed
* Music Wonderland
* Episodes
* The Complete Mike Oldfield
* Elements 4 CD Boxset
* Elements – The Best of Mike Oldfield
* XXV: The Essential
* The Best of Tubular Bells
* Collection
* The Complete Tubular Bells
* The Platinum Collection
* The Mike Oldfield Collection 1974–1983
* Two Sides
* Icon
* Tubular Beats
* Moonlight Shadow: The Collection
* The 1984 Suite

Other media|

* Changeling
* MusicVR
* Tres Lunas
* Maestro

Related articles|

* Sally Oldfield
* Terry Oldfield
* Anita Hegerland
* Maggie Reilly
* The Sallyangie
* Children of the Sun
* Isles of Wonder
* 2012 Olympics opening ceremony

* Category

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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