Tubular Bells II is the 15th album by Mike Oldfield, released in 1992. The album—the first for his new record label, Warner Bros., following an acrimonious departure from Virgin after twenty years—was conceived as a sequel to Oldfield's 1973 Tubular Bells.
Review
Tubular Bells II is the update and/or sequel to Mike Oldfield's landmark
1973 new age recording Tubular Bells, which will resonate forever as the
haunting theme to The Exorcist. Here, Oldfield repeats his multi-instrumental
performance, playing guitar, banjo, organ, percussion, mandolin, and the titular
tubular bells, although in a nod to modernism, the latter instruments often
appear as samples through Oldfield's Kurzweil synth rig. It's the
piece's captivating main theme that again takes center stage here. The
eight-minute opening track “Sentinel” plays it off of whining guitars and
breathy female vocals. The latter element is a nice touch. The genre that the
original Bells helped establish has come quite a ways in 20 years, and this
fact isn't lost on Oldfield… J Loftus – Allmusic.com