''Crises'' is the eighth studio album by English musician and songwriter
Mike Oldfield
Mike may refer to:
Animals
* Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum
* Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off
* Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...
, released on 27 May 1983 on
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
. Oldfield started recording the album towards the end of his
1982 tour supporting his previous record, ''
Five Miles Out
''Five Miles Out'' is the seventh studio album by English recording artist Mike Oldfield, released on 19 February 1982 by Virgin Records in the UK. After touring in support of his previous album, '' QE2'' (1980), ended in mid-1981, Oldfield sta ...
''. It marked a continuation of Oldfield's experimentation with more accessible music which began in the late 1970s; side one contains the 20-minute "Crises" and side two contains a collection of shorter songs which feature vocalists
Maggie Reilly
Maggie Reilly (born 15 September 1956) is a Scottish singer best known for her collaborations with the composer and instrumentalist Mike Oldfield. Most notably, she performed lead vocals on the Oldfield songs " Family Man", "Moonlight Shadow", ...
,
Jon Anderson
John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...
, and
Roger Chapman
Roger Maxwell Chapman (born 8 April 1942 in Leicester), also known as Chappo, is an English rock vocalist. He is best known as a member of the progressive rock band Family, which he joined along with Charlie Whitney, in 1966 and also the rock ...
. Oldfield produced ''Crises'' with drummer
Simon Phillips, who also plays on the album.
''Crises'' reached No. 6 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
and became Oldfield's most successful record of the 1980s following the release of the single "
Moonlight Shadow
"Moonlight Shadow" is a song written and performed by English multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, released as a single in May 1983 by Virgin Records, and included on his eighth album, ''Crises'', of the same year. The vocals were performed by ...
", which went to number one in nine countries and sold in excess of a million units. Oldfield supported the album with the
Crises Tour across Europe in 1983 that featured most of the musicians that played on the album.
Background and recording
By the 1980s, Oldfield had shifted musical direction from the longform compositions that he had become known for throughout the previous decade, towards more commercial and straightforward rock and pop songs. By the time he had finished the
1982 world tour in support of his previous album ''
Five Miles Out
''Five Miles Out'' is the seventh studio album by English recording artist Mike Oldfield, released on 19 February 1982 by Virgin Records in the UK. After touring in support of his previous album, '' QE2'' (1980), ended in mid-1981, Oldfield sta ...
'' in December of that same year, Oldfield had already started work on a follow-up.
''Crises'' sees Oldfield explore
heavy metal elements which he had been a fan of for some time and enjoyed playing. Oldfield described side one as material that he had wanted to write and perform "for personal satisfaction", while side two is "very commercial, full of singles". He added: "It's a case of keeping everybody happy."
[ The North American version of ''Crises'' featured a different running order to capitalize on the commercial songs by switching the order of the sides, adding the non-album single " Mistake" as the lead track, and moving "Moonlight Shadow" to the end of its side. This North American version has not been reissued since its initial pressing. The "Moonlight Shadow" single from this album includes the rare track "Rite of Man".
The album was recorded from November 1982 to April 1983 at Tilehouse Studios in Denham, Buckinghamshire, using an ]Ampex
Ampex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff as a spin-off of Dalmo-Victor. The name AMPEX is a portmanteau, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence.AbramsoThe History ...
ATR 124 tape recorder, a Neve 8108 with Necam console and Westlake Monitors. Oldfield used a Gibson SG Junior
The Gibson SG Junior is a solid-bodied electric guitar manufactured by Gibson from the early 1960s to the early 1970s. Like its earlier sister, the Gibson Les Paul Junior, it had been created for sale at a lower price. It is known for its single ...
for overdriven guitar sounds and a Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...
for clean sounds. Tama drums
Tama Drums, (from Japanese: (Kanji), (Kana), read as ) is a brand of drum kits and hardware manufactured and marketed by the Japanese musical instrument company, Hoshino Gakki. Tama's research and development of products, along with producti ...
were Simon Phillips' brand of choice for drums on the album; Phillips also did some production work. Oldfield makes extensive use of Oberheim
Oberheim is an American synthesizer manufacturer founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim.
History and products
Tom Oberheim founded the company in 1969, originally as a designer and contract manufacturer of electronic effects devices for Maestro (most ...
and Fairlight keyboards. Asked how he recruited Chapman and Anderson in an interview, Oldfield answered "we just hang out in the same bar".
Songs
Side one
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 synth
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...
esised lead passage, stylistically similar to the opening theme to Oldfield's ''Tubular Bells
Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...
''.[ Oldfield rated "Crises" as one of the best tracks he had done since "Tubular Bells".][
]
Side two
"Moonlight Shadow
"Moonlight Shadow" is a song written and performed by English multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, released as a single in May 1983 by Virgin Records, and included on his eighth album, ''Crises'', of the same year. The vocals were performed by ...
" features Oldfield's touring vocalist Maggie Reilly
Maggie Reilly (born 15 September 1956) is a Scottish singer best known for her collaborations with the composer and instrumentalist Mike Oldfield. Most notably, she performed lead vocals on the Oldfield songs " Family Man", "Moonlight Shadow", ...
, who had also sung on his previous albums. Oldfield had singer Hazel O'Connor
Hazel Thereasa O'Connor (born 16 May 1954) is a British singer-songwriter and actress. She became famous in the early 1980s with hit singles " Eighth Day", " D-Days" and " Will You?" She also starred in the 1980 film '' Breaking Glass''.
Caree ...
sing on an early version of the track, which was then titled "Moment of Passion", but it failed to produce sufficient results. He then booked Reilly for a studio session, for which he prepared by drinking wine and writing a set of lyrics using a rhyming dictionary. Reilly sang the lyrics in a rock style at first, which prompted Oldfield to suggest a softer tone and "in the manner of a lullaby". The idea worked, despite recording the song in small sections and using multiple drop-ins which took some time to finalise and piece together.
" In High Places" was written by Oldfield with lyrics by himself and Yes vocalist Jon Anderson
John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...
, who sings on the track. The pair had worked on several occasions prior to recording ''Crises'', and Oldfield had enjoyed Anderson's vocal style and how easy it was working with him. Anderson was living in Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
at the time of writing, so Oldfield phoned him from England and sung the song's tune to him, after which Anderson went away and wrote lyrics to it. The two later met and finished the song in Oldfield's studio. The track features Pierre Moerlen
Pierre Moerlen (23 October 1952, Colmar, Haut-Rhin – 3 May 2005, Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, near Strasbourg) was a French drummer and percussionist, best known for his work with Gong and Mike Oldfield and as Pierre Moerlen's Gong.
Biography
Pi ...
, who had toured with Oldfield and played on his albums, on vibraphone.
"Foreign Affair
''Foreign Affair'' is the seventh solo studio album by Tina Turner, released on September 13, 1989, through Capitol Records. It was Turner's third album release after her massively successful comeback five years earlier with ''Private Dancer'' ...
" features Reilly on vocals, who co-wrote the lyrics with Oldfield.
"Taurus 3", a short fast-paced guitar piece unlike the previous two long multi-themed "Taurus" tracks featured on '' QE2'' and ''Five Miles Out
''Five Miles Out'' is the seventh studio album by English recording artist Mike Oldfield, released on 19 February 1982 by Virgin Records in the UK. After touring in support of his previous album, '' QE2'' (1980), ended in mid-1981, Oldfield sta ...
'' respectively.
" Shadow on the Wall" features vocals by Roger Chapman
Roger Maxwell Chapman (born 8 April 1942 in Leicester), also known as Chappo, is an English rock vocalist. He is best known as a member of the progressive rock band Family, which he joined along with Charlie Whitney, in 1966 and also the rock ...
. Oldfield wrote the song with Chapman's voice in mind.[
]
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.
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Track listing
All music by Mike Oldfield, except "Foreign Affair" by Oldfield and Maggie Reilly
Maggie Reilly (born 15 September 1956) is a Scottish singer best known for her collaborations with the composer and instrumentalist Mike Oldfield. Most notably, she performed lead vocals on the Oldfield songs " Family Man", "Moonlight Shadow", ...
.
UK vinyl
North American vinyl
Personnel
* Mike Oldfield
Mike may refer to:
Animals
* Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum
* Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off
* Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...
– guitars ( Ovation Adamus electroacoustic, Ramirez Spanish guitar, Manson acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
, electric and acoustic bass guitar), keyboards (Fairlight CMI
The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight.
— with links to some Fairlight history and photos
It was based on a commercial lic ...
, Roland string synthesiser, Oberheim OB-Xa
The Oberheim OB-Xa was the second of Oberheim's OB-series polyphonic analog subtractive synthesizers, replacing the OB-X with updated features.
History
The OB-Xa was released in December 1980, replacing the OB-X after only a year on the mark ...
synthesiser, Farfisa
Farfisa (Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche) is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professiona ...
organ, piano, Prophet 5 synthesiser), harp, mandolin, banjo, bells, tambourine, shaker, Simmons electronic drums, Oberheim DMX
The DMX is a programmable digital drum machine manufactured by Oberheim. It was introduced in 1980 at a list price of and remained in the company's product line until the mid-1980s.
The Oberheim DMX was the second digital drum machine ever to b ...
drum machine, Oberheim DSX
Oberheim is an American synthesizer manufacturer founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim.
History and products
Tom Oberheim founded the company in 1969, originally as a designer and contract manufacturer of electronic effects devices for Maestro (most ...
digital polyphonic sequencer, vocals on "Crises"
Additional musicians
* Maggie Reilly
Maggie Reilly (born 15 September 1956) is a Scottish singer best known for her collaborations with the composer and instrumentalist Mike Oldfield. Most notably, she performed lead vocals on the Oldfield songs " Family Man", "Moonlight Shadow", ...
– vocals on "Moonlight Shadow", "Foreign Affair", and "Mistake"
* Jon Anderson
John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...
– vocals on "In High Places"
* Roger Chapman
Roger Maxwell Chapman (born 8 April 1942 in Leicester), also known as Chappo, is an English rock vocalist. He is best known as a member of the progressive rock band Family, which he joined along with Charlie Whitney, in 1966 and also the rock ...
– vocals on "Shadow on the Wall"
* Simon Phillips – acoustic Tama drums, co-production, special effects; shaker on "Foreign Affair" and "Taurus 3"; finger-snaps, bells, tambourine, and boots on "Taurus 3"
* Ant (Ant Glynne) – guitars on "Crises" and "Shadow on the Wall"
* Rick Fenn
Richard Fenn (born 23 May 1953) is an English rock guitarist. He has been a member of the band 10cc since 1976 and has also collaborated with Mike Oldfield, Rick Wakeman, Hollies singer Peter Howarth, and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason.
Hist ...
– guitar on "Crises"
* Phil Spalding
Philip Spalding (born 19 November 1957, London, England) is an English bass player. He is best known as a session musician and player of Fender Precision Bass guitars. He has played and appeared with performing artists such as Mick Jagger, Sea ...
– bass guitar on "Crises" and "Moonlight Shadow"
* Pierre Moerlen
Pierre Moerlen (23 October 1952, Colmar, Haut-Rhin – 3 May 2005, Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, near Strasbourg) was a French drummer and percussionist, best known for his work with Gong and Mike Oldfield and as Pierre Moerlen's Gong.
Biography
Pi ...
– vibraphone
The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...
on "In High Places"
* Ginny Clee - synthesizers
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
on "Mistake"
* Tim Renwick
Timothy John Pearson Renwick (born 7 August 1949) is an English guitarist. He is best known for his association with Al Stewart in his early career and for his long-standing role as lead guitarist for the Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. His single ...
- guitars
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
on "Mistake"
* Morris Pert
Morris David Brough Pert (8 September 1947 – 27 April 2010) was a Scottish composer, drummer/percussionist, and pianist who composed in the fields of both contemporary classical and jazz-rock music. His compositions include three symphonies, p ...
- drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
on "Mistake"
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
FLAC (; Free Lossless Audio Codec) is an audio coding format for lossless compression of digital audio, developed by the Xiph.Org Foundation, and is also the name of the free software project producing the FLAC tools, the reference software p ...
/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
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
in September 2013.
Track listing
Single disc edition
# "Crises" (2013 Remaster) 20:57
# "Moonlight Shadow" (2013 Remaster) 3:38
# "In High Places" (2013 Remaster) 3:33
# "Foreign Affair" (2013 Remaster) 3:53
# "Taurus 3" (2013 Remaster) 2:25
# "Shadow on the Wall" (2013 Remaster) 3:10
# "Moonlight Shadow "(2013 Unplugged Mix) 3:35
# "Shadow on the Wall" (2013 Unplugged Mix) 3:21
# "Mistake" (2013 Remaster) 2:56
# "Crime of Passion" (Extended Version / 2013 Remaster) 4:10
# "Jungle Gardenia" (2013 Remaster) 2:46
# "Moonlight Shadow" (12" Single / 2013 Remaster) 5:15
# "Shadow on the Wall" (12" Single / 2013 Remaster) 5:09
Deluxe Edition
; Disc 1
: '' As per single disc edition''
; Disc 2
Live Highlights from Wembley Arena 22 July 1983 Crises Tour
# "Taurus I" 9:14
# "Taurus II" 23:08
# "Crises" 23:15
# "Moonlight Shadow" 5:28
# "Shadow on the Wall" 6:26
# "Family Man" 4:14
30th Anniversary Box Set
; Disc 1
: '' As per single disc edition''
; Disc 2
Live at Wembley Arena 22 July 1983 Crises Tour
# "Woodhenge" / "Incantations Part Three" 8:09
# "Sheba" 3:23
# "Ommadawn Part One" 8:52
# "Mount Teidi" 4:10
# "Five Miles Out" 5:03
# "Tubular Bells Part One" 18:44
; Disc 3
: '' As per Deluxe edition Disc 2''
; Disc 4 - DVD
# "Crises" (Live at Wembley Arena) 22:35
# "Tubular Bells Part One" (Live at Wembley Arena) 19:10
# "Moonlight Shadow" 3:42
# "Shadow on the Wall" 3:08
# "Moonlight Shadow" (BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'' 23 June 1983) 3:15
# "Crime of Passion" 3:42
; Disc 5 – DVD
2013 Remaster / 5.1 Surround Sound
# "Crises" 20:38
# "Moonlight Shadow" 4:00
# "In High Places" 3:53
# "Foreign Affair" 4:13
# "Taurus 3" 2:50
# "Shadow on the Wall" 5:13
A number of songs from ''Crises'' have been covered by numerous acts, with "Moonlight Shadow" being the most popular. Dance act
took their cover of "Moonlight Shadow" to number 3 in the German charts. A 2009 cover version of "
, peaking at #3.
samples Oldfield's song "In High Places". West incorporated the song's chorus into his song "
''.