As I understand it, this record was initially pressed as a limited run to recoup some of the costs incurred on the tour that Oldfield embarked on post "Incantations". However the record sold so well that Virgin continued to press it and it finally paid off the debt ten years later. My copy is an original pressing from 1979 and is in great condition. This is a SQ Quadraphonic record but sorting out a decoder and the witchcraft required to hear that effect isn't worth the effort.
I've also read online that elements of this record aren't live as the Manor Mobile couldn't record all of the sources on stage - so the multi tracks of "Incantations" were used to fly in the missing elements during the mixing. There is also a suggestion that this nefarious activity resulted in the multi track tapes being lost or damaged and thus the 2011 reissue of "Incantations" didn't include a new mix as with previous albums. I have no idea if its true as reading things on the internet is the twenty first century equivalent of hearing something from a bloke down the pub - but it would explain one or two things.
The cut-down versions of "Incantations" sound remarkably good here and you can't help but wonder at the chops of the performers. Inevitably the second LP contains a live version of "Tubular Bells" and I have no doubt this contributed to the success of the album. The use of drums is probably the most startling difference to the studio recording but there are all kinds of embellishments and changes that you ether love or loathe. "Part Two" is trimmed right down to a lean eleven minutes and is much more upbeat than the album version. I'm no purist and don't regard the original as sacrosanct, but this rendition of "Tubular Bells" isn't to my taste. We finish on a high with the disco tinged joy of "Guilty". 3/5
