Heaven's Open (song)

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"Heaven's Open"
Single by Mike Oldfield
from the album Heaven's Open
ReleasedJanuary 1991 (1991-01)
Recorded1990
Genre
Length4:31
LabelVirgin Records
Songwriter(s)Michael Oldfield
Producer(s)Thom Newman
Mike Oldfield singles chronology
"Etude"
(1990)
"Heaven's Open"
(1991)
"Gimme Back"
(1991)

"Heaven's Open" is a single by musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1991 (see 1991 in music). It was the lead single from the album of the same name. The various formats were backed by a mix of the A-side which featured a melodic guitar line not included in the album version, along with two excerpts from Amarok, Oldfield's previous album.[1]

Oldfield was credited as "Michael" on this release, while producer and long-term collaborator Tom Newman was listed as "Thom Newman". This is also from the last of Oldfield's albums with Virgin Records.

Demo version[edit]

The song that became "Heaven's Open", was originally an early version of "Man in the Rain", planned for Oldfield's Islands album, with vocals by Barry Palmer. To get a 'loose' feel to the song, Oldfield encouraged the musicians to have a few drinks; this version however was deemed as too loose and not used.[2]

Oldfield performed the vocals himself on the final version.[3]

Music video[edit]

The music video is available on the Elements – The Best of Mike Oldfield and is part cartoon and part live action. Oldfield sings, plays guitar and looks into a crystal ball. Oldfield plays a PRS Artist Custom in the video. The animated content is sourced from a film called Album by Croatian film company called Zagreb Film.

Track listing[edit]

  1. "Heaven's Open" – 4:31
  2. "Amarok" (excerpt I) – 3:09
  3. "Heaven's Open" (12" mix) – 4:33
  4. "Amarok" (excerpt V) – 2:29

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Singles". Amadian. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  2. ^ "Rare Tracks". Ommadawn. Archived from the original on 2006-02-11. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
  3. ^ Mike Oldfield (2 August 2012), Two Sides Sleeve Notes, Mercury Records, retrieved 3 January 2015