Voyager (Mike Oldfield album)

Background

The album was the last in the original three album deal which Oldfield had signed with Warner after leaving Virgin, starting with Tubular Bells II. Oldfield would stay with Warner until 2003, where his final album for the label was Tubular Bells 2003.

In an interview from the time, Oldfield claimed that the album was one of his quickest to create, only taking a month and a half to record, also claiming that he composed and recorded some songs in one morning.

Celtic music

The music on this album is the most overtly Celtic music Mike Oldfield has produced. The album had originally been recorded acoustically using only hand-played instruments. Apparently the daughter of an executive of Warner Music expressed her feelings that the album may have been a little boring; thus Oldfield added Synthesizers and more instruments to the album.

"The Hero" is a Scottish piece originally written by James Scott Skinner in 1903, as "Hector the Hero". "She Moves Through the Fair" is a traditional Irish song, the melody of which had been used by Simple Minds for "Belfast Child" in 1989. "Women of Ireland", although credited as a traditional song, is not: the main theme is a melody written by Irish composer Seán Ó Riada as a musical setting of the poem "Mná na hÉireann", written by Peadar Ó Doirnín; Oldfield's rendition also includes an interpolation of the fourth movement (Sarabande) of George Frideric Handel's Keyboard suite in D minor, popularised by its use by Stanley Kubrick in his 1975 film Barry Lyndon, where Ó Riada's tune also appears (Oldfield's "Women of Ireland" was reportedly insipred by the coupling of both pieces in the film). "Dark Island" is a Scottish song; the original music was written by Iain Maclachlan in 1958, and the words were written by David Silver in 1962. "Flowers of the Forest" is a traditional Scottish song, a lament for the defeat at Flodden in 1513. "The Song of the Sun" is composed by Bieito Romero from Celtic band Luar na Lubre. Its original title is "O son do ar" ("The sound of the air").

"Mont Saint-Michel", a piece on the album composed by Oldfield, refers to a tidal island in France.

Singles

Promotional singles for "The Voyager" and "The Song of the Sun", in Germany and Spain respectively, were released in 1996. Mike Oldfield's rendition of "Women of Ireland" was released as a single in 1997.

Other artists samples

The song "Celtic Rain" was sampled in 2008 by Snoop Dogg, in the song "Why Did You Leave Me" of the album Ego Trippin'. The song was produced by Polow da Don.

Track listing

1. "The Song of the Sun" (Bieito Romero) – 4:32
2. "Celtic Rain" (Mike Oldfield) – 4:41
3. "The Hero" (traditional, arrangement by Oldfield) – 5:03
4. "Women of Ireland" (traditional, arrangement by Oldfield) – 6:29
5. "The Voyager" (Oldfield) – 4:26
6. "She Moves Through the Fair" (traditional, arrangement by Oldfield) – 4:06
7. "Dark Island" (traditional, arrangement by Oldfield) – 5:43
8. "Wild Goose Flaps Its Wings" (Oldfield) – 5:04
9. "Flowers of the Forest" (traditional, arrangement by Oldfield) – 6:03
10. "Mont St Michel" (Oldfield) – 12:18

Charts

The album charted highest in Hungary at number 1, but also charted around Europe.

Personnel