Crises is the eighth studio album by English musician and songwriter Mike Oldfield, released on 27 May 1983 on Virgin Records. 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.
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 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 ATR 124 tape recorder, a Neve 8108 with Necam console and Westlake Monitors. 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 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".
"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 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, 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 Five Miles Out respectively.
"Shadow on the Wall" features vocals by Roger Chapman. Oldfield wrote the song with Chapman's voice in mind.
The album's cover art was by Terry Ilott and was originally created as an illustration for an edition of J. G. Ballard's The Drowned World. 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".
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.
Tracklist:
- Crises Mike Oldfield 20:57
- Moonlight Shadow Mike Oldfield 3:38
- In High Places L:Jon Anderson, Mike Oldfield, M: Mike Oldfield 3:33
- Foreign Affair L: Maggie Reilly, M: Mike Oldfield 3:53
- Taurus 3 Mike Oldfield 2:25
- Shadow On The Wall Mike Oldfield 3:10
- Moonlight Shadow (Unplugged Mix) Mike Oldfield 3:35
- Shadow On The Wall (Unplugged Mix) Mike Oldfield 3:21
- Mistake Mike Oldfield 2:56
- Crime Of Passion (Extended Version) Mike Oldfield 4:10
- Jungle Gardenia Mike Oldfield 2:46
- Moonlight Shadow (12 Inch Single Version) Mike Oldfield 5:15
- Shadow On The Wall (12 Inch Single Version) Mike Oldfield 5:09
Recording information:
Mike Oldfield – producer
Nigel Luby – engineer
Simon Phillips – co-producer, engineer (uncredited)
Crises 30th anniversary.
Packaged in a jewel case with clear tray and 4-page booklet.
