Oldfield Mike: Songs of Distant Earth - CD

“The Songs of Distant Earth“ is the fifteenth studio album by British multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield. It was released in the fall of 1994 and ranked 24th in the UK music album charts.

The album The Songs of Distant Earth is inspired by the sci-fi novel Arthur C. Clark' s Singing of a Distant Earth from 1986. Oldfield, who is a big fan of science fiction, recorded a de facto soundtrack to the book, because the plot on the album and in the novel are identical. The album is completely instrumental and evokes a sci-fi atmosphere. Oldfield (unlike several previous albums) used a large number of synthesizers and computer loops to record The Songs of Distant Earth.

The opening track “In the Beginning“ uses an audio recording of the Apollo 8 ship, in which astronaut William Anders reads Genesis - the first book of Moses - at Christmas 1968 as the ship orbits the moon.

Shortly after the release of the album on CD and LP, a new version on CD with a different cover was released. It also contains a data track with an interactive application and several video sequences.

Playlist

CD
In The Beginning / Let There Be Light / Supernova / Magellan / First Landing / Oceania / Only Time Will Tell / Prayer For The Earth / Lament For Atlantis / The Chamber / Hibernaculum / Tubular World / The Shining Ones / Crystal Clear / The Sunken Forest / Ascension / A New Beginning