QE2 is a record album mostly written and performed by Mike Oldfield, released in 1980.
It was his sixth album and featured both original Oldfield compositions and two short songs from bands ABBA ("Arrival") and The Shadows ("Wonderful Land"). The album went to number one on the German album charts when it was released.
Album analysis
The longest tracks on the album are "Taurus I" and the title track, "QE2", lasting 10 minutes and 7 minutes respectively. Both are typical Oldfield compositions, featuring various strong melodies using both modern and traditional instruments.
Some years later The Shadows responded to Oldfield's cover of "Wonderful Land", by releasing a cover of Oldfield's "Moonlight Shadow". The cover songs were released as singles; and the helicopter cover for "Arrival" was a parody of ABBA's Arrival album cover.
The album was the first Oldfield album to feature Maggie Reilly as a collaborator. Some tracks on the album feature vocals sung through vocoder.
"Conflict" has an excerpt from J. S. Bach’s "Badinerie" (the last part of Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor).
The "Celt" lyrics were by Tim Cross and are nonsense syllables chosen for their pleasing sounds rather than any actual meaning (many Oldfield works feature this, including "Sheba" on QE2).
"Molly" was made for his daughter, Molly Oldfield, who would later play keyboards on The Songs of Distant Earth and play a part in the Songs for Survival project.
The European Adventure Tour 1981, which ran from March to August of that year, was in promotion of the album.
Album title and artwork
The album and its title track were named for the Cunard Line ocean liner RMS Queen Elizabeth 2. In fact, if one looks closely at the album, it appears to be a closeup of the side of the ship, complete with water level marks in the lower left corner. The first pressing even had a porthole cut out in the sleeve. The inside of the original foldout LP sleeve featured a schematic of one of the Queen Elizabeth 2's decks as well as a stylized picture of her engine, these have not been reprinted in later reissues.
Track listing
Side one
- "Taurus I" (Mike Oldfield) – 10:16
- "Sheba" (Oldfield) – 3:33
- "Conflict" (Oldfield) – 2:53
- "Arrival" (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus) – 2:48
Side two
- "Wonderful Land" (Jerry Lordan) – 3:38
- "Mirage" (Oldfield) – 4:41
- "QE2" (Oldfield, David Hentschel) – 7:38
- "Celt" (Oldfield, Tim Cross) – 3:06
- "Molly" (Oldfield) – 1:15
On the original vinyl label of the album "QE2" is listed as two tracks, "QE2" by Oldfield/Hentschel and "QE2 Finale" by Oldfield, but gives them running time as a single piece.
Charts
The album charted at number 1 in West Germany.
Personnel
- Mike Oldfield – Acoustic guitar, African drums, banjo, bass guitar, Celtic harp, drum machine, electric guitar, mandolin, marimbas, percussion, piano, rhythm sticks, Spanish guitar, synthesizers, timpani, vibraphone, vocoder, and vocals
- English Chorale – vocals
- Guy Barker – trumpet
- Phil Collins – drums
- Tim Cross – piano, synthesizers
- Raul D'Olivera – trumpet
- Mike Frye – African drums, vocoder, drums, timpani, hi-hat
- David Hentschel – synthesizers, drums, vocals, horn arrangement
- Paul Nieman – trombone
- Morris Pert – drums
- Maggie Reilly – vocals
- Dick Studt – strings
- Philip Todd – tenor saxophone
- Strings and choir arranged by David Bedford.
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