Some of the notes on the rear cover made me chuckle ....

"This stereo record cannot be played on old tin boxes no matter what they are fitted with. If you are in possession of such equipment please hand it in to the nearest Police Station"

"In Glorious Stereophonic Sound. Can also be played on mono equipment at a pinch"

MIKE OLDFIELD - Tubular Bells (Deluxe Edition)

Virgin - Universal Music Group

Cat# 0600753695036

2x 180g Black vinyl

2016

European release - Remastered (Abbey Road Studios) & Half-Speed mastered

Heavy cardboard gatefold cover is in very good condition. No personal writing, no seam splits, no tears. If I was to make any negative comment, I can see very light opening edge damage on the front where a security label was poorly removed. Both inner printed sleeves are in very good condition.

2x new plastic inner sleeves

Both 180g vinyl media are in very good condition. Visually inspected under a bright White halogen light source and I cannot see any scratches or marks on any of the four sides. Just looking at the vinyl just doesn't cut it though so I have played the ENTIRE release, all four sides and every track completely, and here are my personal comments ...

It should be said from the outset that I do NOT like "modern" vinyl very much, it does seem much less durable than the old "stuff" and sometimes, has elevated levels of surface noise compared to the old vinyl material.

Original release vinyl - there are no issues with surface noise nor clicks/pops, even during the very quiet passages, nothing of any surprise - in fact the greatest surprise is the wide dynamic range of this music. One minute it is very quiet and then BOOM! up come the guitars and dang ... those damn bells!

2009 Stereo mixes vinyl - I have the impression that surface noise, on the Side 1 opening tracks is slightly of a higher level and around 3 minutes from the run-in on Side 1 I can hear a VERY low level click, click, click which indicates a scratch which I cannot for the life of me see! I have put this vinyl through the Monk a couple of times and yes, the surface noise was reduced but still exists - I found this quite frustrating! Normally the Monk with a drop or two of surfactant (reduces the liquid cleaning surface tension to clean deep down into the grooves, baby) will fix things but even the Monk was struggling. I was tempted to hold off offering this until I could try some of that liquid you pour over the vinyl and then pull off but I have never used that before and it is horrendously expensive! Don't get me wrong here, this is a really good play but I am trying to offer it in the best possible condition to a new owner.

I am offering this at a much reduced price than that being asked in the marketplace because of this annoying surface noise issue - I have had enough listening to Mike and his bells.

TUBULAR BELLS - Original 1973 STEREO ALBUM MIX

TRACKS: Tubular Bells - Part One, Tubular Bells - Part Two

TUBULAR BELLS - 2009 STEREO MIXES BY MIKE OLDFIELD

TRACKS: Tubular Bells - Part One, Tubular Bells - Part Two