Ommadawn is a record album written and mostly performed by Mike Oldfield. It is his third album, released in 1975 (see 1975 in music). The cover photograph was by David Bailey. It peaked at #4 on the UK albums chart. As with Hergest Ridge and Tubular Bells, Ommadawn is another two-movement work. Here Oldfield sought out the ancient Celtic influence on English music and composed for traditional instruments such as Northumbrian bagpipes on the original LP version.

Hergest Ridge is a record album, written and mostly performed by Mike Oldfield released in 1974. It was his second album and like its predecessor, Tubular Bells, was number 1 in the UK album charts, but unlike its predecessor, it went straight in at the top spot. After being in the spotlight for Tubular Bells, something that Oldfield found uncomfortable, he retreated to the English countryside to work on his next opus. Hergest Ridge, named after a hill on the border of Herefordshire and Wales near where he was living at the time, was the result. Hergest Ridge was the number one album the week of 14 September 1974 and remained so for three weeks until being knocked out of the spot by its predecessor Tubular Bells. Oldfield is thus one of only three artists (along with The Beatles and Bob Dylan) to have defeated themselves in this manner.