Heaven's Open

Heaven's Open
Studio album by Michael Oldfield
Released	18 February 1991 (1991-02-18)
Recorded	circa. 1990
Genre	Rock, Pop rock, Progressive rock
Length	43:13
Label	Virgin
Producer	Thom Newman
Mike Oldfield chronology
Amarok (1990) Heaven's Open (1991) Tubular Bells II (1992)
Singles from Heaven's Open
"Heaven's Open" Released: January 1991 "Gimme Back" Released: 1991

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Heaven's Open is the 14th record album performed by Mike Oldfield, released in 1991. It was his last album on Virgin, and also the only album he released under the name Michael Oldfield, instead of Mike Oldfield.

History

By 1991 and the release of Heaven's Open, Oldfield was happy to leave Virgin Records.^[2][3] The final goodbye to Virgin appears at the very end of "Music from the Balcony", where we can hear quiet laughter and Oldfield's voice saying "Fuck off!".

This is the only album where Mike Oldfield performs the lead vocals himself, and was pleased to find to discover that he was not as bad a singer as he thought he was.^[3] Probably because of his bad feelings towards Virgin, his name is spelled out in full - Michael Oldfield - on this album. The producer of the album, Tom Newman's name was also spelt out in a similar manner, as Thom Newman.

After leaving Virgin, Oldfield released the anticipated Tubular Bells II in 1992 with Warner Brothers.

Connections to other Oldfield albums

The album's cover is a reworked version of a photo originally taken for Tubular Bells, when the working title was Breakfast in Bed; instead of yolk coming out of the egg, blood was pictured.^[4] The working title for Heaven's Open was Man in the Rain.^[5] The song "Heaven's Open" came largely from an early version of "Man in the Rain".^[5] The "Man in the Rain" title was later used by Oldfield for a single from the Tubular Bells III album.

Singles

"Gimme Back" and the title track "Heaven's Open" were released as singles in 1991. Both were also released under the name Michael Oldfield.

Equipment

Musical equipment on the album includes Atari, C-Lab and Fairlight products. Also featured are Roland D50 and D550s, an Akai S 1100, an EMU Proteus, a Korg M1 and the Steinberg 'Topaz'. A Harrison series X mixing console, a Sony 3348 digital tape machine and microphones made by Bruel & Kjaer were used in the creation of the album.

Track listing

All tracks written by Mike Oldfield.

Side one

1. "Make Make" – 4:18
2. "No Dream" – 6:02
3. "Mr. Shame" – 4:22
4. "Gimme Back" – 4:12
5. "Heaven's Open" – 4:31

Side two

1. "Music from the Balcony" – 19:44

Personnel

• Mike Oldfield – vocals, guitars, keyboards
• Simon Phillips – drums
• Dave Levy – bass
• Mickey Simmonds – Hammond, piano
• Andy Longhurst – additional keyboards
• Courtney Pine – saxophones, bass clarinet
• The "Sassy Choir"
  • Vicki St. James
  • Sylvia Mason-James
  • Dolly James
  • Debi Doss
  • Shirlie Roden
  • Valeria Etienne
• Additional vocal harmonies
  • Anita Hegerland
  • Nikki "B" Bentley
  • Tom Newman

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ "Mike Oldfield has regained his balance back". MAN "El Hombre. 1992-12. http://tubular.net/articles/92_xxc.shtml. Retrieved 2008-06-13. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Not Totally Tubular". Dave Thompson - Goldmine. 1997-07-18. http://tubular.net/articles/97_07.shtml. Retrieved 2008-06-13. 
4. ^ "Tubular Bells - Notes". The Official Mike Oldfield Information Service. http://www.mikeoldfield.org/info/discography/tbells.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-08. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "Mike Oldfield Secrets". Amadian. http://www.amadian.net/secrets.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-08. 

External links

• Mike Oldfield Discography - Heaven's Open at Tubular.net