Earth Moving

Earth Moving is the 12th record album by British musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1989. Unlike Oldfield's albums released prior to Earth Moving, the album contains no instrumental tracks.

Album analysis

Oldfield used several vocalists on the album, including his then girlfriend, Anita Hegerland. The album's music was performed mainly with synthesizers. It was the first time Oldfield recorded an album without an instrumental piece; each track being vocal-based pop and rock songs. Oldfield's only other album free of instrumentals to date is 2014's Man on the Rocks.

The final track, despite appearing to be a lengthier piece, consists of two short, apparently unconnected songs, combined into one track, with a noticeable pause in between. According to Oldfield, the album was made with the full understanding of his recording company, Virgin Records, which demanded he create more commercially oriented material than his previous albums. After recording Earth Moving Oldfield wanted to move away from 'computerised music' and return to real musicians and instruments; this is evident in his next album, Amarok.