QE2 is named after an ocean liner, and it sails through a surprising range of waters. Released in 1980, it continues the shorter, brighter direction Mike Oldfield had taken on Platinum — a set of compact, keyboard-rich tracks rather than one grand suite — and fills the guest chairs with famous names, including Phil Collins on drums and, for the first time, the singer Maggie Reilly. It even makes room for two covers, one of them by ABBA. Eclectic and a little uneven, it is one of his most intriguing early-1980s records.

The short version

QE2 (1980) is Mike Oldfield’s sixth album, named after the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 and wrapped in a sleeve styled after the ship, porthole and all. Musically it picks up where Platinum left off: nine mostly short tracks, heavy on synthesizers and drum machines, ranging from the ten-minute opener Taurus 1 to a pair of instrumental covers — ABBA’s Arrival and The Shadows’ Wonderful Land. It marks two notable firsts: Phil Collins of Genesis guests on drums, and the singer Maggie Reilly appears with Oldfield for the first time, beginning a partnership that would soon bring him his biggest hits. He co-produced it with David Hentschel, then working with Genesis.

A ship, and some famous friends

By 1980 Oldfield was trying to meet his record label halfway. Virgin wanted music that would sell, and that would help him break into markets like the United States, so QE2 leans commercial — and its two covers were chosen with exactly that in mind. Oldfield turned ABBA’s instrumental Arrival and The Shadows’ Wonderful Land into showcases for his own guitar and arranging; the sleeve even nods to ABBA, picturing Oldfield with his own helicopter in a wink at the cover of their Arrival album. He also opened the sessions to guests: Phil Collins, then riding high with Genesis and his own solo work, drummed on two tracks, and the Scottish singer Maggie Reilly lent her voice to several — the start of a collaboration that would run through much of the 1980s. Behind the desk sat David Hentschel, fresh from producing Genesis.

The sound

QE2 is a busy, upbeat, keyboard-forward record, and a restless one. Taurus 1, the long opening track, is the most substantial thing here: it drifts in on mandolin and vocoder before Phil Collins’ drums push it into a bright, Celtic-flavoured groove, and it prefigures the Taurus pieces Oldfield would return to on his next two albums. Elsewhere the mood changes with almost every track — synth-pop textures, folk melodies, brass flourishes, wordless vocoder voices — and the two covers stand out as small triumphs of arrangement. There is no single grand statement this time; instead QE2 offers a shifting, colourful sequence of shorter ideas, some stronger than others.

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The songs

The album opens with Taurus 1, ten minutes of shifting textures and its clear highlight. Sheba, a short vocoder-and-vocal piece with Maggie Reilly, was an unlikely choice of single; Conflict is a compact gem that slips a snatch of Bach’s Badinerie into a driving synth-and-guitar workout. Then come the two covers: Arrival, ABBA’s instrumental reimagined with massed voices in place of a melody, and Wonderful Land, The Shadows’ classic given the full, gleaming Oldfield guitar treatment. Mirage and the two-part title track QE2 keep the momentum, Celt returns to Reilly and a folk-tinged melody, and the album closes with Molly, a tiny, tender guitar miniature named after Oldfield’s young daughter.

Reception and legacy

At the time, QE2 puzzled some listeners. Its grab-bag of short tracks lacked the sweep of his 1970s work, and the two covers struck a few critics as a sign that inspiration was running thin. Reviews were mixed, and it has never been counted among his major albums. Yet its reputation has warmed over the years: many fans now prize it for its variety and its highlights, from Taurus 1 to the beautifully handled covers. There was a nice postscript, too — some years later The Shadows returned the compliment by recording their own version of Oldfield’s Moonlight Shadow. QE2 also set the stage for what came next: the tour that followed in 1981 fed directly into Five Miles Out, and the partnership with Maggie Reilly begun here would culminate, three years on, in the worldwide hit Moonlight Shadow.

The verdict

QE2 is a patchy but very likeable album, the sound of Mike Oldfield restlessly trying things out: a bit of synth-pop here, a folk melody there, a couple of covers he clearly enjoyed making his own. It has no single towering piece, and it is not the record to introduce you to him — Tubular Bells and Ommadawn come first. But Taurus 1 is excellent, the covers are a delight, and there is a lightness and curiosity here that rewards a listen. As the point where Maggie Reilly first sang on an Oldfield record, it is also, quietly, where the road to his biggest hits begins.

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