Hergest Ridge

Hergest Ridge is the second record album by Mike Oldfield, released in 1974 on Virgin Records. Oldfield was not comfortable with the public attention that had come from the success of Tubular Bells, and retreated to the English countryside to work on the follow-up. The result was Hergest Ridge, named after the hill on the border of Herefordshire and Wales near where he was living at the time. Hergest Ridge entered the UK album charts at number on... More

Hergest Ridge is the second record album by Mike Oldfield, released in 1974 on Virgin Records. Oldfield was not comfortable with the public attention that had come from the success of Tubular Bells, and retreated to the English countryside to work on the follow-up. The result was Hergest Ridge, named after the hill on the border of Herefordshire and Wales near where he was living at the time. Hergest Ridge entered the UK album charts at number one, only to be displaced by its predecessor, Tubular Bells. Oldfield is thus one of only a few artists (among whom are The Beatles and Bob Dylan) to have defeated themselves in this manner. The album was reissued with bonus material and new artwork in June 2010. Like Tubular Bells, the album is divided into two movements, but unlike its multi-themed and rapidly-changing predecessor, Hergest Ridge involves economic use of the various themes and with more sophisticated musical development. Oldfield is also innovative with Hergest Ridge in the...

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