Crises is the 8th album by Mike Oldfield, released in 1983. Oldfield's well known "Moonlight Shadow" appears on the album.
Album analysis
The title track of the album is a twenty minute long piece, featuring a small amount of vocals, sung by Oldfield. The beginning and end of the track are driven by a synthesised lead passage, stylistically similar to the opening theme to Oldfield's Tubular Bells.
The album also features the massive hit "Moonlight Shadow", sung by Maggie Reilly, who also sang and co-wrote "Foreign Affair". "In High Places" has lyrics by Mike Oldfield and Jon Anderson. "Shadow on the Wall" has vocals by Roger Chapman. The album includes "Taurus 3", a short fast-paced guitar piece unlike the previous two long multi-themed "Taurus" tracks featured on QE2 and Five Miles Out respectively.
The Crises Tour 1983 was in promotion of the album.
Recording details
The album was recorded between November 1982 and April 1983 using an Ampex ATR 124 tape recorder, a Neve 8108 with Necam console, and Westlake Monitors, in Denham, England. Oldfield used a Gibson SG Junior for overdriven guitar sounds and a Fender Stratocaster for clean sounds. Tama Drums were Simon Phillips' brand of choice for drums on the album; Phillips also did some production work. Oldfield makes extensive use of Oberheim and Fairlight keyboards.
Asked how he recruited Chapman and Anderson in an interview, Oldfield answered "we just hang out in the same bar". The "Moonlight Shadow" single from this album includes the rare track "Rite of Man". The North American version of the album has a different running order and includes the single "Mistake".
Artwork
The album's cover art was by Terry Ilot.[1] Oldfield makes reference to the artwork with the line, "the watcher and the tower, waiting hour, by hour" (printed in the back cover of the LP, and sung by Mike Oldfield on the title track). In the interview, mentioned before, Oldfield stated, he's the man in the corner, and the tower is his music.
Charts
The album peaked at #6 in the UK Album Chart. It spent 19 weeks on Norway's album chart, peaking at #1 for two weeks, and is Oldfield's best selling album there.
Track listing
UK version
Side one
- "Crises" (Mike Oldfield) – 20:40
Side two
- "Moonlight Shadow" (Oldfield) – 3:34 (vocals by Maggie Reilly)
- "In High Places" (Oldfield, Jon Anderson) – 3:33 (vocals by Jon Anderson)
- "Foreign Affair" (Oldfield, Maggie Reilly) – 3:53 (vocals by Maggie Reilly)
- "Taurus 3" (Oldfield) – 2:25 (instrumental)
- "Shadow on the Wall" (Oldfield) – 3:09 (vocals by Roger Chapman)
North American version
Side one
- "Mistake" (lead vocals by Maggie Reilly)
- "In High Places"
- "Foreign Affair"
- "Taurus 3"
- "Shadow on the Wall"
- "Moonlight Shadow"
Side two
- "Crises"
Personnel
- Mike Oldfield – acoustic bass guitar, banjo, bass guitars, electric guitars, Fairlight CMI, Farfisa organ, Prophet 5 synthesizer, harp, mandolin, Oberheim DMX, DSX, and OBXa , percussion, piano, Roland strings (probably the RS-202), Spanish guitar, and vocals
Additional personnel
Cover versions
A number of songs from Crises have been covered by numerous acts, with "Moonlight Shadow" being the most popular. A 2009 cover version of "Foreign Affair" by Belgian dance band Sylver spent 8 weeks in the top 10 of the Belgian single charts, peaking at #3.[2]
References
External links
