This article is about the album containing the song Taurus II. For the rocket, see
Taurus II.
Five Miles Out is a record album written and mostly performed by Mike Oldfield. It was his seventh album of original material, and was released in 1982 (see 1982 in music), at a time when his music was moving away from large-scale symphonic pieces towards a more accessible pop style. It is one of the very few albums on which Oldfield sings lead vocals, as he is noted for not having any confidence in his voice's qualities. The album uses the Fairlight CMI as a main instrument.
Album analysis
The first track, "Taurus II", is a long-form piece with changing melodies and instrumental settings. It features many familiar sounds from his earlier albums, such as uilleann pipes and female chorus. After the vocal section (called "The Deep Deep Sound") the music quotes the main riff from "Taurus I", a song from Oldfield's previous album, QE2.
"Family Man" was Oldfield's first "real" rock song; Maggie Reilly provides vocals. It was released as a single. Hall & Oates covered the song in 1982 for their album H2O, with their version reaching #6 on the US pop charts and #15 in the UK. It thus became one of the very few songs penned by Oldfield to chart in the United States.
"Orabidoo" is another long and changing tune. It features vocals sung by Oldfield and Reilly, both through a vocoder. At the end of the track, there is a song, "Ireland's Eye", sung by Reilly and accompanied by acoustic guitar. "Mount Teidi" is a shorter instrumental piece, named after Mount Teide on the Spanish island of Tenerife.
"Five Miles Out" was also released as a single. Despite being less than five minutes long, it had an unusually complex structure, with multiple vocal parts. The lyrics concerned Oldfield's experience of a near-tragic aeroplane flight. Reilly sings with a clean voice while Oldfield uses vocoder most of time himself. The song features the same guitar riff that appears in the beginning of "Taurus II".
Five Miles Out, the album, was more popular than Oldfield's last few releases. It charted at #7 in the UK, whereas both QE2 (1980) and Platinum (1979) had failed to reach the top twenty. Oldfield's commercial revival would continue with subsequent albums Crises (1983) and Discovery (1984).
The album was recorded in Buckinghamshire in 1981 and 1982, and the Five Miles Out World Tour 1982 was in promotion of the album.
Album artwork
The cover of the album features a vintage Lockheed L-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 airplane has registration G-MOVJ, as also referenced in the lyrics (as "Golf Mike Oscar Victor Juliet").
The inner liner notes 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 and indicates that it was recorded on an Ampex ATR-124 between September 1981 and January 1982.[1]
Charts
The album peaked at #7 in the UK Album Chart and at #16 on Norway's album chart, staying there for 7 weeks.
Track listing
Side one
- "Taurus II" (Mike Oldfield) – 24:43
Side two
- "Family Man" (Oldfield/Tim Cross/Rick Fenn/Mike Frye/Maggie Reilly/Morris Pert) – 3:45
- "Orabidoo" (Oldfield/Cross/Fenn/Frye/Reilly/Pert) – 13:03
- "Mount Teidi" (Oldfield) – 4:10
- "Five Miles Out" (Oldfield) – 4:16
Personnel
References
External links
