He's a superstar in Europe, especially Germany and Spain.
Here in L.A., his Tubular Bells II tour was unable to fill the Greek Theatre and was moved to the (much smaller) John Anson Ford theater. He no longer tours in the U.S. because there is no profit in it.
I thought him lost after "Songs of Distant Earth" but his recent release, "Tres Lunas" still shows some Oldfieldian promise.
Nevertheless, I think him the finest composer since Gershwin.
A brief list of my faves, in no particular order:
Tubular Bells I
Tubular Bells II
Hergest Ridge
Ommadawn
Five Miles Out
Incantations
Platinum also released as Airborn
The Songs of Distant Earth
The ones that leave me cold include:
Earth Moving
Guitars
Voyager
Orchestral anything
I can listen to Crises but it is just not 'it'. Although the Oldfieldian web group is called "Amarok" I don't particularly enjoy the album by the same name. I characterize it as "occasional moments of sheer brilliance interspersed with gobs of filler."
When Mike is on he is ON and he hooks into the alpha rhythm like old papa Bach.
--Boris