''Crises'' is the eighth studio album by English musician and songwriter

Mike Oldfield Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English retired musician, songwriter and producer best known for his debut studio album ''Tubular Bells'' (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a gu ...

, released on 27 May 1983 on

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

. 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 March 1982 by Virgin Records in the UK. After touring in support of his previous album, '' QE2'' (1980), ended in mid-1981, Oldfield starte ...

''. 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 Jon Anderson (born John Roy Anderson, 25 October 1944) is a British, and latterly American, singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the former lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes (band), Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassis ...

, and

Roger Chapman Roger Maxwell Chapman (born 8 April 1942 in Leicester), also known as Chappo, is an English Rock music, rock vocalist. He is best known as a member of the progressive rock band Family (band), Family, which he joined along with Charlie Whitney ...

. 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 the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

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.

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 ''

'' 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 Data Systems Corporation is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff as a spin-off of Dalmo-Victor. The name ''AMPEX'' is an acronym, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excell ...

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 sin ...

for overdriven guitar sounds and a

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...

for clean sounds.

Tama drums Tama Drums (from Japanese: (Kanji); (Kana)) is a brand of drums and hardware manufactured and marketed by Hoshino Gakki. The research and development of its products, along with production of its professional drum lines, is done in Seto, ...

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. Beginning in 1975, Oberheim developed some of the first commercially available polyphonic synthesizers and was a prominent synthesizer and drum machine manufacture ...

and

Fairlight Fairlight may refer to: In places: * Fairlight, East Sussex, a village east of Hastings in southern England, UK * Fairlight, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia * Fairlight, Saskatchewan, Canada In other uses: * Fairlight (company), ...

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 synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

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 instrument, percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillons, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the soun ...

''. Oldfield rated "Crises" as one of the best tracks he had done since "Tubular Bells".

Side two

" Moonlight Shadow" features Oldfield's touring vocalist

, 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 Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

vocalist

, 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, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

at the time of writing, so Oldfield phoned him from England and sang 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 Pie ...

, who had toured with Oldfield and played on his albums, on vibraphone. On the occasion of Virgin Records founder Richard Branson's launch of the then-largest hot-air balloon ever made, the song was released as a single in 1987, four years after the Crises LP. " 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 ''

'' respectively. " Shadow on the Wall" features vocals by

. Oldfield wrote the song with Chapman's voice in mind.

Artwork

The album's cover art was by Terry Ilott and was originally created as an illustration for an edition of

J. G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist and short-story writer, satirist and essayist known for psychologically provocative works of fiction that explore the relations between human psychology, technology, s ...

's ''

The Drowned World ''The Drowned World'' (1962), by J. G. Ballard, is a British science fiction novel that depicts a post-apocalyptic future in which global warming, caused by increased solar radiation, has rendered uninhabitable much of the surface of planet ...

''. 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

, except "Foreign Affair" by Oldfield and

UK vinyl

North American vinyl

Personnel

–

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

s (all tracks except "Foreign Affair" & "Taurus 3"), Ovation Adamus electroacoustic guitar ("Taurus 3"), Ramirez Spanish guitar ("Taurus 3"), 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, ...

("Taurus 3"),

electric bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

("Crises", "Shadow on the Wall" "Mistake"),

acoustic bass guitar The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than, a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar ...

("Taurus 3"),

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

("Crises", "Taurus 3"),

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

("Shadow on the Wall"),

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

("Crises"),

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, music sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commerc ...

(all tracks except "Taurus 3"), Roland string synthesiser ("Crises", "In High Places", "Foreign Affair" "Shadow on the Wall"),

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 marke ...

synthesiser ("Crises", "In High Places"),

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

("Crises"),

Farfisa Farfisa () 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, Professional and VIP ranges, and later, a se ...

organ ("Crises"), Prophet 5 synthesiser ("Crises"), Oberheim DSX digital polyphonic sequencer ("Crises"),

Oberheim DMX The DMX is a programmable Digital data, digital drum machine manufactured by Oberheim Electronics, 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 se ...

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

& Simmons electronic drums ("Crises"), bells &

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

& shaker ("Taurus 3"),

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

("Crises", "Mistake"), Quantec Room Simulator digital reverb ("Crises"), all instruments ("Jungle Gardenia", "Crime of Passion") Additional musicians *

– vocals on "Moonlight Shadow", "Foreign Affair", and "Mistake" *

– vocals on "In High Places" *

– vocals on "Shadow on the Wall" * Simon Phillips – acoustic Tama drums (all tracks except "Mistake"), special effects; shaker on "Foreign Affair" and "Taurus 3"; finger-snaps, bells, tambourine, and boots on "Taurus 3" * Anthony Glynne (credited as "Ant") – 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, the Hollies singer Peter Howarth, and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason. ...

– guitar on "Crises" *

Phil Spalding Philip Trevor Spalding (19 November 1957 – 5 February 2023) was an English bass player. He was best known as a session musician and player of Fender Precision Bass guitars. He played and appeared with performing artists such as Mike Oldfiel ...

– bass guitar on "Crises" and "Moonlight Shadow" *

–

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

on "In High Places", percussion on "Mistake" * Tim Cross - keyboards 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 stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

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 ...

– percussion & keyboards on "Mistake" * Barry Palmer - vocals on "Mistake," lead vocals on "Crime of Passion" Production * Mike Oldfield – producer * Nigel Luby – engineer * Simon Phillips – co-producer, engineer (uncredited)

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 was also 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 ...

/ALAC and 320 kbit/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 The GfK Entertainment charts are the official charts for music, home video, and video games in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on be ...

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 A crime of passion (), in popular usage, refers to a violent crime, especially homicide, in which the perpetrator commits the act against someone because of sudden strong impulse such as anger or jealousy rather than as a premeditated crime. A ...

" (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 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'' 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

Charts

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 Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

samples Oldfield's song "In High Places". West incorporated the song's chorus into his song "

Dark Fantasy Dark fantasy, also called fantasy horror, is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporates disturbing and frightening themes. The term is ambiguously used to describe stories that combine horror fiction, horror ...

" from his 2010 album ''

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'' is the fifth studio album by the American rapper Kanye West. It was released by Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records on November 22, 2010. Retreating to a self-imposed exile in Hawaii after a period of ...

''.

References

External links

Mike Oldfield's official web site

Mike Oldfield Discography – ''Crises''
at Tubular.net
Terry Ilott's web site
(cover art) {{Authority control Mike Oldfield albums 1983 albums Virgin Records albums Albums produced by Simon Phillips (drummer)