Guitars (Hol) [CD], Mike Oldfield, CD

Ever the sonic experimentalist, Mike Oldfield uses guitars exclusively (strummed, plucked, struck, sampled, and more) to create every sound on "Guitars". The more delicate, acoustic pieces, such as "Summit Days," "Muse," and "Enigmatism" possess the meditative, elegant quality listeners have come to expect from Mike Oldfield. By contrast, the crunchier rock guitar ensembles seem to lack his usual sense of order and purpose. "Four Winds," an unfinished cluster of distorted racket, particularly misses it's mark. Innovative and at times beautiful, "Guitars" remains another intriguing experiment from one of modern music's most ambitious icons.