Released as another lengthy composition,
Hergest Ridge was the album that followed
Mike Oldfield's momentous
Tubular Bells release, with many of the same instrumental elements and methods employed throughout its two sections. Because of the time of its release,
Hergest Ridge was overshadowed by the effects of
Oldfield's first album for Virgin, but even so he manages to invoke some interesting patches of music by using instruments like the glockenspiel, sleigh bells, the Lowrey organ, oboes, and a variety of mandolins and guitars to maintain the same type of diversity as
Tubular Bells. Symphonic throughout most of the album's two parts, the highlight of
Hergest Ridge is
Oldfield's use of 90 multi-tracked guitars clustered together to create one of the most unique sounds ever to surface on his albums. Actually,
Hergest Ridge entered the British charts in the number one spot in the fall of 1974, but
Tubular Bells finally took its place only three weeks later. The album was highly regarded in the U.K. upon its release and it continued
Oldfield's creative pace, proving that the genius put forth on his claim-to-fame album would indeed have some effect on works to come. ~ Mike DeGagne