Five Miles Out
Five Miles Out | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 19 March 1982 | |||
Recorded | September 1981–January 1982 | |||
Studio | Tilehouse (Denham, Buckinghamshire) The Manor (Shipton-on-Cherwell, Oxfordshire) | |||
Genre | Progressive rock, pop rock | |||
Length | 49:56 | |||
Label | Virgin | |||
Producer | Mike Oldfield | |||
Mike Oldfield chronology | ||||
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Singles from Five Miles Out | ||||
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Five Miles Out is the seventh studio album by English recording artist Mike Oldfield, released on 19 March 1982 by Virgin Records in the UK.[1] After touring in support of his previous album, QE2 (1980), ended in mid-1981, Oldfield started on a follow-up with members of his touring band performing the music. The album features the 24-minute track "Taurus II" on side one and four shorter songs on side two. The songs "Family Man" and "Orabidoo" are credited to Oldfield and members of his touring band which included vocalist Maggie Reilly, drummer Morris Pert, and guitarist Rick Fenn.
Five Miles Out marked the beginning of a commercially successful period for Oldfield who scored his first UK top 10 album in seven years, peaking at No. 7. Two of the album's shorter songs, "
Background
In August 1981, Oldfield completed his
Songs
Side one
"Taurus II" occupies the entire first side of the album. At 24 minutes in length, it features a variety of melodies and instrumental settings. It features many familiar sounds from his earlier albums, such as
Side two
"
"Orabidoo" is the second track credited to the group. It features vocals from Oldfield and Reilly through the use of a vocoder. The track opens with the theme to "Conflict" from QE2 and closes with Reilly singing three verses about "Ireland's Eye" accompanied by acoustic guitar. A sample from the Alfred Hitchcock film Young and Innocent (1937) is heard, specifically the moment where the conductor of a dance band criticises the drummer: "Don't come in again like that. It isn't funny and I pay someone else to make the orchestrations!"
"Mount Teidi" is an instrumental named after
"Five Miles Out" features vocals from Reilly and Oldfield, who sings through a vocoder. It was inspired by a near fatal flight that Oldfield had experienced from Barcelona to San Sebastián, where the inexperienced pilot received an incorrect weather forecast and flew through a thunderstorm. When it came to writing the lyrics, Oldfield visited a local pub, "lined up a few pints of Guinness", and wrote the words using a rhyming dictionary with the aeronautical terms he could think of as a basis.[3] The song features the same guitar riff that appears at the beginning of "Taurus II".
Cover
The cover features a Lockheed Model 10 Electra[citation needed] aircraft, with similar markings to the one flown by Amelia Earhart in 1937.[citation needed] This is often mistaken for a Beechcraft Model 18[citation needed] (a very similar aircraft) and is referred to in the lyrics of "Five Miles Out" ; "lost in static, 18" and "automatic, 18". The aeroplane has registration G-MOVJ, as also referenced in the lyrics (as "Golf Mike Oscar Victor Juliet"). The airplane that Oldfield owned at that time was, instead, a Piper PA-31 Navajo.
The inner liner notes (originally the inner gatefold of the vinyl sleeve) feature the track sheet for "Taurus II", with the lyrics of "Five Miles Out" embedded within. The track sheet shows the layout of instruments on the 24 track tape.[2]
Release and reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [5] |
High Fidelity | (not rated)[6] |
Five Miles Out, the album, was more popular than Oldfield's previous few releases. It charted at No. 7 in the
The
In September 2013, the album was reissued as a single CD, vinyl, and a special 2 CD and DVD Deluxe Edition with a new remaster by Oldfield. The Deluxe Edition contains additional videos, live tracks from the 1982 tour, and a 5.1 surround sound mix. The reissue reached No. 48 in Germany.
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Taurus II" | Mike Oldfield | 24:43 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Family Man" | Oldfield, Tim Cross, Rick Fenn, Mike Frye, Maggie Reilly, Morris Pert | 3:45 |
2. | "Orabidoo" | Oldfield, Cross, Fenn, Frye, Reilly, Pert | 13:03 |
3. | "Mount Teidi" | Oldfield | 4:10 |
4. | "Five Miles Out" | Oldfield | 4:16 |
Personnel
Music
- Mike Oldfield – guitars, bass guitars, keyboards, percussion, Linn LM-1 drum machine, vocals, vocoder, Fairlight CMI[7]
- Graham Broad – drums
- Tim Cross – keyboards
- Rick Fenn – guitar
- Mike Frye – percussion
- Maggie Reilly – vocals
- Paddy Moloney – Uilleann pipes on "Taurus II"
- Carl Palmer – drums on "Mount Teidi"
- Morris Pert – percussion, keyboards, strings arrangement on "Five Miles Out"
- Martyn Ford – conductor on "Five Miles Out"
Production
- Mike Oldfield – producer, engineer
- Tom Newman – producer and engineer on "Five Miles Out"
- Richard Mainwaring – engineer on "Mount Teidi"
- Richard Barrie – technical assistant
- Fin Costello – photographer
- Gerald Coulson – cover artwork
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Certifications and sales
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Germany (BVMI)[22] | Gold | 250,000^ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[23] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[24] | Gold | 100,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
References
- ^ ISBN 9780862415419.
- ^ a b ""Five Miles Out" track sheet". Tubular.net Gallery. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
- ^ a b Two Sides (The Very Best of Mike Oldfield) [Booklet notes] (Media notes). Mike Oldfield. Mercury Records. 2012. 5339182.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ "Interview with Mike Oldfield discussing the making of Man on the Rocks". Innerviews. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- AllMusic
- ^ "Five Miles Out review". High Fidelity (hosted on Tubular.net). July 1982. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
- ^ "Interview with Mike Oldfield". Stereo Review. July 1982. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
- ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – Mike Oldfield – Five Miles Out" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Mike Oldfield – Five Miles Out" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
- ^ GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ "Charts.nz – Mike Oldfield – Five Miles Out". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
- ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Mike Oldfield – Five Miles Out". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
- ISBN 978-84-8048-866-2.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Mike Oldfield – Five Miles Out". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ "Mike Oldfield Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
- ^ "Lescharts.com – Mike Oldfield – Five Miles Out". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Mike Oldfield – Five Miles Out". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- GfK Entertainment Charts. 1982. Archived from the originalon 19 October 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Mike Oldfield; 'Five Miles Out')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ISBN 8480486392, retrieved 2 May 2019
- ^ "British album certifications – Mike Oldfield – Five Miles Out". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
External links
- Mike Oldfield Discography – Five Miles Out at Tubular.net
- Explanation of the radio message in "Five Miles Out"