Mike Oldfield ‘Hergest Ridge 50th Anniversary’

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Mike Oldfield’s ‘Hergest Ridge’, a double-LP set is to be released featuring, for the first time ever on vinyl, Oldfield’s 2010 mix of the album alongside a brand new, half-speed remaster by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios of the 1974 album mix.

To be released on 27 June and available to pre-order now from here, it comes with new artwork approved by Oldfield (including new photographs taken on the Ridge in 2023) alongside a new liner quote from the man himself. It will also be available as a Super Deluxe Edition special Blu Ray Audio that brings together a brand new ATMOS and stereo mix by David Kosten, Mike Oldfield’s 2010 5.1 and stereo mix, the 1976 'Boxed' Quad mix and the 1974 original stereo mix.

‘Hergest Ridge 50th Anniversary’ is the next step in the 'first three' anniversary reissues of Mike Oldfield’s groundbreaking early work and follows the Top 20 UK chart success of ‘Tubular Bells’ in 2023.

In 1974, Mike Oldfield was coming to terms with the enormous success of his debut album, ‘Tubular Bells’, that had been released the previous year. Its success continued to grow stealthily, bolstered by the inclusion of the opening theme in the cinema sensation, The Excorcist. The album became a phenomenon, topping the UK charts, winning a Grammy; giving a green light to Mike Oldfield’s career. 

Oldfield could have at this point done anything he wanted, and he did. He disappeared. He drove west from London and settled on Kington, a beautiful market town in Herefordshire. The town is dominated by Hergest Ridge, the long, high common land with breathtaking views that stretches from the town to Gladestry in Wales. Combining flying his gliders on the Ridge and playing in the local inn, Penrhos Court, Oldfield came up with Hergest Ridge, the successor to Tubular Bells, written at The Beacon, his home there on the borders. 

‘Hergest Ridge 50th Anniversary’ edition offers a chance to re-evaluate this breathtaking English pastoral music, two suites performed and played by a 21-year-old musician running from fame.