"The Bell" | ||||
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Single by Mike Oldfield | ||||
from the album Tubular Bells II | ||||
A-side | "The Bell" | |||
B-side | "Sentinel" | |||
Released | 5 April 1993 | |||
Format | Vinyl, CD single | |||
Genre | New-age, progressive rock | |||
Length | 4:06 | |||
Label | Warner Music UK | |||
Songwriter(s) | Mike Oldfield | |||
Producer(s) | Mike Oldfield Trevor Horn |
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Mike Oldfield singles chronology | ||||
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"The Bell" is a song by musician Mike Oldfield, first released on the 1992 album Tubular Bells II. It was released as a single in April 1993 by Warner Music. The single features a restructured, shorter version of the album version of the song.
"The Bell" is the finale of section one of Tubular Bells II and features a Master of Ceremonies, who introduces the instruments. The single has many versions of "The Bell", with different MCs. They include Billy Connolly, Carlos Finaly (in Spanish), Viv Stanshall, Otto (in English and German) and John Gordon Sinclair (live). The performer on the album was Alan Rickman, although credited as A strolling player. This was due to the final voice not having been picked, when the artwork was produced. Some releases also include an instrumental version and remixes.
The instruments introduced are, in order: grand piano, reed & pipe organ, glockenspiel, bass guitar, vocal cords, "two slightly sampled electric guitars", "the Venetian effect", "digital sound processor" and tubular bells. "The Venetian Effect" refers to a characteristic mandolin technique, a type of tremolo known as bisbigliando, in which the effect of sustained notes is achieved by repetition.
One of the MCs from the single releases, Viv Stanshall, had been the Master of Ceremonies for the equivalent "Finale" piece of the original 1973 Tubular Bells, on which "The Bell" was based.