There is a generation out there of multi-instrumentalists who alternate between putting out new efforts in prog and indulging in nostalgia from the heyday of the genre, the Steven Wilsons, Mikael Åkerfelds, Arjen Anthony Lucassens and other Rob Reeds. Said Rob Reed does not hide that Mike Oldfield was one of his earliest inspirations, leading him to pick up a guitar and go down the prog road. And of course, Mike Oldfield is known for having come out of nowhere in 1973 with a phenomenally ambitious instrumental project, Tubular Bells. The impact of the album has faded as few artists have been willing or able to follow but at the time, it was a quantum singularity, launching the career of a British prodigy, starting a legendary record label (Virgin) and propelling Virgin's co-creator Richard Branson among the glitterari.
The impact of Tubular Bells was such that Mike Oldfield followed it with two variations on a theme, Hergest Ridge in 1974 and Ommadawn in 1975, followed by a little pause and 1978's Incantations, signaling a slight change of bearing, particularly rhythmically, but still in the same vein. After which Oldfield reached Top 40 success, therefore losing his prog credentials, before going back to the well many times to try to bottle lightning again with various follow-up "Bells". Meanwhile, Virgin itself had sneakily tried to repeat Tubular Bells success with Frenchman Cyrille Verdeaux Clearlight Symphony, recorded not long after Oldfield masterpiece in the same studio and a very good recording in its own right (check out Verdeaux' new Impressionist Symphony, equally beautiful). Others have tried, notably Stephen Caudel with Wine Dark Sea in 1986 and Colin Masson with most of his work.
But Rob Reed, usually band leader of the excellent welsh outfit Magenta and more recently of Kompendium, achieves the Tour de Force of being the best of them all, recent Oldfield included. Sanctuary is a phenomenal pastiche evoking and blending the spirit of Oldfield's canonic four albums. The instruments are very much the same as is their treatment and you keep almost recognizing a familiar passage except that you don't, because Reed does not plagiarize here. He comes across the same way Emilie Simon does in her uncanny Kate Bush-sounding The Big Machine, or Nick Mason in the pieces of his 1985 Fictitious Sports that come out sounding like genuine Pink Floyd (Hot River).
For anyone who loves Mike Oldfield initial albums, this is a treat. For those with passing familiarity, it is a fascinating curiosity. It does, however, make one wonder how far homage needs to go. You know, imitation, flattery... For any musician less brilliant than Rob Reed (Magenta's Twenty Seven Club last year was their best ever), there would be some discomfort at hearing such a faithful pastiche, very much like when one hears one of the many Floyd, Genesis or Yes "tribute" bands, usually lesser impersonators with a few exceptions like the Jon Davison's version of Glass Hammer. Reed is even a recidivist: Magenta's first album, revolutions, was chock-full of interspersed Genesis- and Yes-worshipping constructs.
But Reed is so masterful on this album that he wins you over. Not quite as much as with completely original material but, hey, it's way better than what Mike Oldfield has done in years...
