"Heaven's Open" is a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

by musician

Mike Oldfield Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English retired musician, songwriter and producer best known for his debut studio album ''Tubular Bells'' (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a gu ...

, released in 1991 (see

1991 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1991. Specific locations * 1991 in British music * 1991 in Norwegian music * 1991 in South Korean music Specific genres * 1991 in country music * 1991 in heavy metal m ...

). 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. 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 Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

Demo version

The song that became "Heaven's Open", was originally an early version of "

Man in the Rain "Man in the Rain" is a pop rock song written and performed by English multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield. It was included on the album ''Tubular Bells III'' and released as a single on 5 October 1998 by Warner Music. The vocals were performed by ...

", planned for Oldfield's ''

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'' 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. Oldfield performed the vocals himself on the final version.

Music video

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

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Artist Custom in the video. The animated content is sourced from a film called ''Album'' by Croatian film company called

Zagreb Film Zagreb Film is a Croatian film company principally known for its animation studio. From Zagreb, it was founded in 1953. They have produced hundreds of animated films, as well as documentaries, television commercials, educational films and several ...

Track listing

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

References

{{authority control 1991 singles Mike Oldfield songs Song recordings produced by Tom Newman (musician) Songs written by Mike Oldfield Virgin Records singles 1990 songs