Incantations (album)

Overview

Originally released as a double album, it is Oldfield's second longest album after Light + Shade. Despite the length, much of the album can be described as being compositionally minimalist, including melodic lines played by only a few instruments at a time.

The album as a whole is unusual in that it makes extensive use of the circle of fifths as an accompaniment to many of the musical ideas. Since this musical structure requires that each idea be modulated through twelve keys, before the next is introduced, more time is required to develop each idea, so that each section unfolds more slowly than is usual in Oldfield's work. A byproduct of this musical structure is that most of the album is not in any one key, but cycles continuously through them all.

Incantations was recorded at Througham, Mike Oldfield's home after he completed Ommadawn. It was during the creation of Incantations that Mike Oldfield underwent the assertiveness training course Exegesis, and almost immediately thereafter Oldfield went on his first solo live tour around Europe with Incantations.

Along with some other pieces of Oldfield's work, a different version of "Part Four" was used for the soundtrack of Tony Palmer's The Space Movie; the lyrics there are from Kathleen Raine's "A Spell for Creation".

When the CD version was released, due to the shorter length of the format at the time (early redbook standards only allowed for a maximum playing time of 74:33), many early pressings unnecessarily have "Part Three" shortened from 16:59 down to 13:49 by cutting from the beginning. When 80-minute CDs became the norm and quality control was increased, the full cut of "Part Three" was restored. All modern pressings have the full version of the piece.

Lyrical content

The lyrics in "Part One" simply repeat the names of the goddesses Diana, Luna, and Lucina.

The lyrics in "Part Two" are taken from the beginnings of chapter XXII and XII (in that order) of Longfellow's "The Song of Hiawatha".

The lyrics in "Part Four" are Ben Jonson's "Ode to Cynthia" from Cynthia's Revels, but adjusted again to match the music.

Artwork

The cover was once again done by Trevor Key. The beach in the cover photograph is Cala Pregonda, in Menorca. The current CD sleeve has a different typeface than the original LP artwork (which is shown at the top of the page). Early copies of the album came with a poster showing a subtly different photograph from the one used on the cover.

The cover photograph used may have been altered by Key. There have been some theories about why this may have been done, although the claim that Oldfield was not actually on the beach is easily contradicted by other photographs from the shoot. It is assumed that Key simply cut and pasted the image of Oldfield onto a slightly different background for artistic reasons.

The 2011 reissue of the album was given new artwork, showing a new photograph of the same rock formation and no image of Oldfield.

Track listing

Side A

1. "Incantations (Part One)" – 19:08

Side B

1. "Incantations (Part Two)" – 19:36

Side C

1. "Incantations (Part Three)" – 16:58

Side D

1. "Incantations (Part Four)" – 17:01

Charts

The album went platinum but did not enter the top 10 in the United Kingdom, unlike Oldfield's previous studio albums of the 1970s, peaking at number 14. In 2011 the reissue charted at number 70 in the UK.

Personnel

With, alphabetically:

2011 reissue

The album was re-released by Mercury Records on 25 July 2011 as part of a deal in which Oldfield's Virgin albums were transferred to Universal's label. Standard and Deluxe versions were available, as well as some signed vinyl copies from MikeOldfieldOfficial.com. The standard edition contained a remastered mix of the album, as well as "Guilty". The Deluxe Edition contained the disc from the standard edition as well as a second disc containing singles and other smaller pieces, and a DVD with 5.1 mixes, promotional videos and a live version of the album.

Unlike the first three re-issues in the campaign, there was no surround mix of the album on the DVD, only of the five remixed edits on the 'bonus' CD. Oldfield explained during an interview for BBC Radio 6 Music that this was because the original multi-track tapes for the album had either badly deteriorated or been lost. Though Oldfield has also noted that some tapes containing out-takes were found. The 2011 reissue of the album was given new artwork.

Deluxe Edition track listings

Disc 1

1. "Incantations {Part One}" (2011 remaster)
2. "Incantations {Part Two}" (2011 remaster)
3. "Incantations {Part Three}" (2011 remaster)
4. "Incantations {Part Four}" (2011 remaster)
5. "Guilty" (2011 remaster)

Double Album Vinyl Edition track listing

Side A

1. "Incantations {Part One}" (2011 remaster) – 19:11

Side B

1. "Incantations {Part Two}" (2011 remaster) – 19:34

Side C

1. "Incantations {Part Three}" (2011 remaster) – 16:58

Side D

1. "Incantations {Part Four}" (2011 remaster) – 16:57