Customer Reviews
music for the soul - By: PAULINE STAVES, 02 Aug 2008 
Hearing this composition is only part of the experience as it is a musical adventure that can be felt itin the very soul of anyone who is appreciative & persevering enough to listen. Each time you play it, it becomes more profound... OLDFIELD'S music is addictive. Hergest Ridge is a real place, a wild desolate spot on the Welsh border that is the epitome of everything English. MIKE OLDFIELD, having lived there whilst composing the album, has succeededin capturing the very essence of the placein a unique piece that has been unsurpassed since its original releasein 1974. Happyin places & dirge-likein others, this album is one of OLDFIELD'S finest &in my opinion it places himin the same league as some of the best composers who have ever lived. I would like to see the eventual release of a classical version of this work. A version was originaly arranged by David Bedford but was never released.
Close but no cigar - By: Mr. P. Ward, 29 Feb 2008 
I have the original album & it remains my favorite Oldfield album along side Ommadawn. This mix has the essence of the original but none of the delicacy found on the vinyl version. Where is the guitar work after the intro, the brass & woodwind during the centre sections. Why was it felt nescessary to bring forward the voices at the end instead of leaving a haunting timbre to the finale.It feels harsher & at some points flat & devoid of emotion. I have deep associations linked to my past with this album & it brings back good memories of a youth well spent, its a shame that this remastering could not retain the original feel of the album. The CD is just another version & I view it as suchin my collection but when so many remastered albums have succeededin their transition, why not this one.
Rubbish. - By: A.N. Other, 16 Sep 2007 
I used to love this album, but hearing the CD it sounds to me like someone forgot to plugin one of the stereo channels when mixing it. Half of the instruments seem to be missing, all the clarity is gone.
Mike, if you're reading this, you or your engineer has ruined a perfectly wonderful album & made it sound very poor indeed.
great! thts all there is to say! - By: matt.B, 31 Aug 2007 having not been around when the lp or remixed version was released i can not comment on the production of the 'remastered version'. however on the music side it is simply stunning! there is so much depth & meaningfulnessin the music. hergest ridge defenantly has a haunting & eerie feel to it, especially the opening few minutes when it sounds so odd & eerie with mainly only a continues dronein the background being heard, however it builds up to a climax on pt 1 with mike doing wht he does best on guitar :).
pt 2 initially has a more carm & pieceful side to it but still with the haunting feel to, this is the trend till about 10 minsin when it suddenly completly changes & has mike thrashing about on the guitar again showing off his great guitar skills :). however by the end of pt2 its gone bck to the quiet & pieceful sound it had at the beginning.
so on the whole a wonderful, v moving, & haunting album if u just take the music into account :). a real shame its seemed to hve been lost between tubular bells & ommadawn, themselves both masterpieces. however this is my fav of the 3 because its just such a phenomenal piece of well written & performed music!
Missing Tracks - By: Paul Haines, 19 Aug 2007 I originally bought Hergest Ridgein the Virgin 3CDS boxset, which also included Ommadawn. That version had 5 tracks on it, though it only lists Hergest Ridge Parts 1 & 2.
The three extra tracks were:
3. An extract from Star's End (7:33)
4. Argiers (3:59)
5. Speak (tho you only say farewell) (2:54)
I have been 'upgrading' my cd collection with remasters over the last couple of years, & recently acquired several of the Oldfield remasters.
Those Hergest Ridge extra tracks are not on the remastered cd. Damn.
The sound quality, however, & if you have a stereo system that can highlight the benefits of remastering, gives more clarity, depth & volume than my original 3CD-boxset pressing. Just a shame about the missing tracks. I'm guessing this will also be the case when I get the "Ommadawn" remaster as it had 3 extra tracks too.
BTW, I never had this on vinyl so have never heard the original mix.
