Tubular Bells: A 50th Anniversary Celebration

CLEOPATRA Mike Oldfield not included.

It’s not a bad idea to take another look at something as idiosyncratic and as popular as Tubular Bells, although Charles Hazlewood had the same idea back in 2011.

Mike Oldfield’s major work can certainly withstand this reworking by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, a gaggle of (shamefully uncredited) session musicians and actor Brian Blessed. (Throw in four more Oldfield pieces and, voila, a double album.) On the downside, it lacks Oldfield’s guitar wizardry and sense of wonder, and where Vivian Stanshall was the original’s perfect MC, Blessed is so far over the top it’s a wonder he doesn’t holler “Gordon’s alive!” rather than “tubular bells!!” at the end of Part One.

Yet there’s much to relish. The orchestra and Simon Dobson’s bold arrangements add layers of depth to Tubular Bells itself, and while Britain’s Got Talent may have brought us singer Ella Shaw, she’s almost as divine as Maggie Reilly singing Moonlight Shadow.