Crises (Mike Oldfield 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.

Oldfield toured the album between May and July 1983 throughout Europe.

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".

Re-reissues

In 2000 along with Oldfield's other Virgin Records albums it was reissued in HDCD format, and was reissued again by Mercury Records in the 2010s. In 2013 Oldfield revealed that he used Avid Pro Tools on an Apple Mac to remix the album in 5.1 surround sound.

Artwork

The album's cover art was by Terry Ilott. 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 that "I'm the man in the corner, and the tower is my music".

Charts

It spent 19 weeks on Norway's album chart, peaking at No. 1 for two weeks, and is Oldfield's best selling album there. The album also topped the charts in Germany and Sweden.

Side one

1. "Crises" (Mike Oldfield) – 20:40

Side two

1. "Moonlight Shadow" (Oldfield) – 3:34 (vocals by Maggie Reilly)
2. "In High Places" (Oldfield, Jon Anderson) – 3:33 (vocals by Jon Anderson)
3. "Foreign Affair" (Oldfield, Maggie Reilly) – 3:53 (vocals by Maggie Reilly)
4. "Taurus 3" (Oldfield) – 2:25 (instrumental)
5. "Shadow on the Wall" (Oldfield) – 3:09 (vocals by Roger Chapman)

Side one

1. "Mistake" (lead vocals by Maggie Reilly)
2. "In High Places"
3. "Foreign Affair"
4. "Taurus 3"
5. "Shadow on the Wall"
6. "Moonlight Shadow"

Side two

1. "Crises"

Personnel

Additional personnel

Mercury Records 2013 re-issue

Crises was re-issued by Mercury Records on 2 September 2013, along with Five Miles Out. It is available as a single CD, a 2CD Deluxe Edition (album disc and live highlights CD), a vinyl LP and a 5 disc (3 CD and 2 DVD) boxed set. The boxed set also includes a 32-page hardback book. There will also be a 500 copy limited edition vinyl available on transparent green vinyl. The re-issue is also available as digital download in 16 and 24 bit 44.1 kHz FLAC/ALAC and 320kbit/s MP3 in two versions. The super-deluxe edition contains the tracks of discs one through three, the LP contains the tracks of the single CD.

This reissue reached #30 in Germany's Media Control Charts in September 2013.

Single disc edition

1. "Crises" (2013 Remaster) 20:57
2. "Moonlight Shadow" (2013 Remaster) 3:38
3. "In High Places" (2013 Remaster) 3:33
4. "Foreign Affair" (2013 Remaster) 3:53
5. "Taurus 3" (2013 Remaster) 2:25
6. "Shadow on the Wall" (2013 Remaster) 3:10
7. "Moonlight Shadow "(2013 Unplugged Mix) 3:35
8. "Shadow on the Wall" (2013 Unplugged Mix) 3:21
9. "Mistake" (2013 Remaster) 2:56
10. "Crime of Passion" (Extended Version / 2013 Remaster) 4:10
11. "Jungle Gardenia" (2013 Remaster) 2:46
12. "Moonlight Shadow" (12" Single / 2013 Remaster) 5:15
13. "Shadow on the Wall" (12" Single / 2013 Remaster) 5:09

Cover versions

A number of songs from Crises have been covered by numerous acts, with "Moonlight Shadow" being the most popular. Dance act Groove Coverage took their cover of "Moonlight Shadow" to number 3 in the German charts. 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.

American rapper Kanye West samples Oldfield's song "In High Places". West incorporated the song's chorus into his song "Dark Fantasy" from his 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.