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Oldfield started recording the album towards the end of his
1982 tour supporting his previous record,
Five Miles Out.
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,
Jon Anderson, and
Roger Chapman. Oldfield produced
Crises with drummer
Simon Phillips, who also plays on the album.
Crises reached No. 6 on the
UK Albums Chart and became Oldfield's most successful record of the 1980s following the release of the single "
Moonlight Shadow", 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.
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 synthesised lead passage, stylistically similar to the opening theme to Oldfield's Tubular Bells. Oldfield rated "Crises" as one of the best tracks he had done since "Tubular Bells".
Side two
"Moonlight Shadow" features Oldfield's touring vocalist Maggie Reilly, who had also sung on his previous albums. Oldfield had singer Hazel O'Connor 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, 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 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, who had toured with Oldfield and played on his albums, on vibraphone.
"Foreign Affair" 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 respectively.
Side one
1. Crises - 20:40
Side two
1. Moonlight Shadow - 3:37
2. In High Places - 3:33
3. Foreign Affair - 3:53
4. Taurus 3 - 2:25
5. Shadow On The Wall - 3:08
Personnel
- Mike Oldfield – guitars (Ovation Adamus electroacoustic, Ramirez Spanish guitar, Manson acoustic guitar, electric and acoustic bass guitar), keyboards (Fairlight CMI, Roland string synthesiser, Oberheim OB-Xa synthesiser, Farfisa organ, piano, Prophet 5 synthesiser), harp, mandolin, banjo, bells, tambourine, shaker, Simmons electronic drums, Oberheim DMX drum machine, Oberheim DSX digital polyphonic sequencer, vocals on "Crises"
Additional musicians
Notes
Release: 1983
Format: LP
Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: Virgin Records
Catalog# 205500
Vinyl: Goed (VG)
Cover: Goed (VG)
Prijs: €10,00
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