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Heaven's Open
Released on February 18th, 1991
Tracklist
Side one
01. Make Make
02. No Dream
03. Mr. Shame
04. Gimme Back
05. Heaven's Open
01. Make Make
02. No Dream
03. Mr. Shame
04. Gimme Back
05. Heaven's Open
Side two
01. Music from the Balcony
01. Music from the Balcony
Heaven's Open is the 14th record album performed by Mike Oldfield, released in 1991. It was his last album on Virgin, and also the only album he released under the name Michael Oldfield, instead of Mike Oldfield.
History
By 1991 and the release of Heaven's Open, Oldfield was happy to leave Virgin Records. The final goodbye to Virgin appears at the very end of "Music from the Balcony", where we can hear quiet laughter and Oldfield's voice saying "Fuck off!".
This is the only album where Mike Oldfield performs the lead vocals himself, and was pleased to find to discover that he was not as bad a singer as he thought he was. Probably because of his bad feelings towards Virgin, his name is spelled out in full - Michael Oldfield - on this album. The producer of the album, Tom Newman's name was also spelt out in a similar manner, as Thom Newman.
After leaving Virgin, Oldfield released the anticipated Tubular Bells II in 1992 with Warner Brothers.
This is the only album where Mike Oldfield performs the lead vocals himself, and was pleased to find to discover that he was not as bad a singer as he thought he was. Probably because of his bad feelings towards Virgin, his name is spelled out in full - Michael Oldfield - on this album. The producer of the album, Tom Newman's name was also spelt out in a similar manner, as Thom Newman.
After leaving Virgin, Oldfield released the anticipated Tubular Bells II in 1992 with Warner Brothers.
Connections to other Oldfield albums
The album's cover is a reworked version of a photo originally taken for Tubular Bells, when the working title was Breakfast in Bed; instead of yolk coming out of the egg, blood was pictured. The working title for Heaven's Open was Man in the Rain. The song "Heaven's Open" came largely from an early version of "Man in the Rain". The "Man in the Rain" title was later used by Oldfield for a single from the Tubular Bells III album.
Equipment
Musical equipment on the album includes Atari, C-Lab and Fairlight products. Also featured are Roland D50 and D550s, an Akai S 1100, an EMU Proteus, a Korg M1 and the Steinberg 'Topaz'. A Harrison series X mixing console, a Sony 3348 digital tape machine and microphones made by Bruel & Kjaer were used in the creation of the album.
Personnel
• Mike Oldfield – vocals, guitars, keyboards
• Simon Phillips – drums
• Dave Levy – bass
• Mickey Simmonds – Hammond, piano
• Andy Longhurst – additional keyboards
• Courtney Pine – saxophones, bass clarinet
• The "Sassy Choir"
o Vicki St. James
o Sylvia Mason-James
o Dolly James
o Debi Doss
o Shirlie Roden
o Valeria Etienne
• Additional vocal harmonies
o Anita Hegerland
o Nikki "B" Bentley
o Tom Newman
• Simon Phillips – drums
• Dave Levy – bass
• Mickey Simmonds – Hammond, piano
• Andy Longhurst – additional keyboards
• Courtney Pine – saxophones, bass clarinet
• The "Sassy Choir"
o Vicki St. James
o Sylvia Mason-James
o Dolly James
o Debi Doss
o Shirlie Roden
o Valeria Etienne
• Additional vocal harmonies
o Anita Hegerland
o Nikki "B" Bentley
o Tom Newman
wikipedia