''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 document ...

, 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 worldw ...

. 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 st ...

''. 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 roc ...

. 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 ...

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 A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

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 Mistake(s) may refer to: * An error Law * Mistake (contract law), an erroneous belief, at contracting, that certain facts are true ** Mistake in English contract law, a specific type of mistake, pertaining to England * Mistake (criminal law), ...

" 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 Denham may refer to: People *Denham (surname) *Denham Price (1940–2013), South African cricketer Places ;In the United Kingdom: * Denham, Buckinghamshire **Denham Aerodrome **Denham Country Park **Denham Film Studios ** Denham railway stat ...

, 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 continuous ...

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 (mos ...

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), an ...

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 an ...

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 wit ...

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

Side two

" 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''. Career ...

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 * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...

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 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 Pie ...

, 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 ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' (''QE2'') is a retired British ocean liner converted into a floating hotel. Originally built for the Cunard Line, the ship, named as the second ship named ''Queen Elizabeth'', was operated by Cunard as both a transatlantic ...

'' 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. 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

UK vinyl

North American vinyl

Personnel

– 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 licen ...

, 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 marke ...

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 ...

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 *

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

– vocals on "In High Places" *

– 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, Se ...

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

–

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 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 strin ...

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 auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

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 ...

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 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. ...

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

'' 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 Groove Coverage is a German dance band which consists of Axel Konrad, DJ Novus, Melanie Munch, better known as Mell (lead singer), and Verena Rehm (former stage performer, backing singer, occasional lead singer). Producers of the band are Ole ...

took their cover of "Moonlight Shadow" to number 3 in the German charts. A 2009 cover version of "

" by Belgian dance band

Sylver The Sylver (SYstème de Lancement VERtical) is a vertical launching system (VLS) designed by DCNS and introduced in 2001. Specifications The basic unit of Sylver VLS is an eight-cell module fitted with two rows of 56 cm. missile cells surroundi ...

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, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

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 ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'' is the fifth studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released by Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records on November 22, 2010, following a period of public controversy for West. Re ...

''.

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)