"Collaborations" was the compilation disc included in Mike Oldfield's imaginatively titled 1976 box set, "Boxed". The original reason for the collection was that Oldfield and engineer Phil Newell had remixed his first three albums using a proprietary surround-sound system called SQ Quadraphonic. Despite support from numerous record companies, the format never gained a significant foothold and was quietly put out of its misery in the early 1980s. This makes me wonder how many people have ever heard these albums as intended. A quick search online suggests that the audio can be captured and decoded using software, but that sounds like rather a lot of effort when I already own the music on various DVD and Blu-ray releases in the Dolby 5.1 format. Vintage decoders are also predictably expensive, so stereo will have to do this time. My ears have agreed not to lodge a formal complaint.
"Collaborations" was reissued as a stand-alone album in 2016, but I did not feel it warranted another purchase, as my copy from "Boxed" had only seen daylight once. That copy appears to be an undocumented Discogs variant, which makes its vintage uncertain. However, the box carries a distinctive W.H. Smith price sticker, so I asked AI whether it could help date it. The answer was delivered with magnificent confidence: "The lone digit 6 before the price actually narrows down the date: it represents the year 1976. Before the era of universal barcodes, massive UK retailers like WH Smith used centralised mechanical pricing guns that included internal date-coding. To track inventory and age on the shop floor, the operator would input a single digit to represent the year of processing." Therefore, if you trust AI's detailed knowledge of 1970s pricing guns, this is an original pressing from 1976. For a fifty-year-old set, everything is in remarkably good condition, and the records look as though they have been played only a handful of times. Either that, or someone was exceptionally good with a cleaning cloth.
The album opens with electronic instruments on "The Phaeacian Games", a composition from David Bedford's album "The Odyssey". As Bedford races up and down the keyboard, Oldfield follows with his customary skill and dexterity, making for a pleasant introduction. The second track is an extract from Bedford's "Star's End", in which a timpani pounds out the beat while Oldfield's guitar wails over the orchestra. It is interesting stuff, although hardly indispensable listening. Side one closes with an agreeable recording of the sea shanty "The Rio Grande", taken from another Bedford solo album and featuring Oldfield's guitar alongside a choir of schoolchildren. It is an unusual combination, but prog was never a genre troubled by the phrase "perhaps we shouldn't".
On the flip side is "First Excursion" which was co-written with David Bedford and released as a B-side. It is pleasant enough, but also the very definition of progressive rock: Oldfield's guitar supplies the long, meandering melodies while Bedford accompanies him skilfully on grand piano. You could probably leave the room halfway through and return without feeling that you had missed much. "Argiers" is another traditional piece used as a B-side, featuring collaborator Leslie Penning on recorder and Oldfield on acoustic guitar. Again, the tune is pleasant, although it sounds as if it may have been more enjoyable to play than to sit and listen to.
Next is the non-album single "Portsmouth", another traditional sea shanty that Oldfield somehow turned into a substantial hit. "In Dulci Jubilo" is the sort of tune that reappears every Christmas whether invited or not, and although it was released under Oldfield's name, Les Penning's contribution on recorder qualifies it for inclusion here. The less said about Bedford and Oldfield's disastrous vocals on "Speak (Tho' You Only Say Farewell)", the better. They may be gifted instrumentalists, but as singers they make a persuasive case for recording studios without microphones. 2/5
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