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Rating:
The multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, with "Crises", produces his tenth work, which also represents the pinnacle of his long career. For the creation of "Crises", Mr. Oldfield collaborates with great artists and colleagues who perfectly integrate their voices into the mellifluous melodies composed by Oldfield.
The album opens with the lengthy (a full 20 minutes and 48 seconds!) title track "Crises", in which Oldfield uses various instruments including a mandolin, an accordion, and a "Quantec Room Simulator", the best sound sampler available at the time. Immediately after the song ends, there's a break between it and the famous pop hit "Moonlight Shadow", which literally catches us off guard compared to the album's opening premise. Maggie Reilly's sharp voice accompanies the fantastic duel of acoustic and electric guitars masterfully played by Mr. Oldfield himself. With "In High Places", Oldfield creates a new age atmosphere in which the legendary voice of Jon Anderson (historic vocalist of Yes) reigns. With his high-pitched, effeminate tones, he creates an imaginary bridge to "Foreign Affair" (a song that, incidentally, does not appear in the original CD tracklist), where Maggie Reily repeatedly sings the same verse while the music progresses with its slow but progressive intertwining. With "Taurus 3", we reach the third and final chapter of Oldfield's experimentation that began with "Taurus" in his "QE2" and continued with "Taurus 2" in "Five Miles Out". In "Taurus 3", a flamenco guitar loop is repeated, reminiscent in sound and technique of the legendary album "Friday Night In San Francisco" by Al di Meola, Paco de Lucia, and John McLaughlin.
Finally, to close, the most rock piece of the CD, titled "Shadow on the Wall", is masterfully sung by Robert Chapman, former leader of Family, who with his powerful and at the same time dark voice intones: "Treat me like an evil, just a shadow on the wall".
In a final judgment, this CD proves to be a small work of experimentation that touches on multiple genres, from pop to rock, from new age to flamenco, without ever boring us but leaving us speechless at the skill of this artist and composer who, as we recall, at the young age of only 19, composed and produced, with a symphonic orchestra, the soundtrack for the film "The Exorcist". The title of the soundtrack and his debut was "Tubular Bells", and it was named after the tubular and metallic instrument that we can hear more than once within the CD itself, whose sound is very similar to that of a bell.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Crises (20:40)
Crises, crises - You can't get away
Crises, crises - You can't get away!
Crises, crises - I need you on my side
Cause there's a crisis - And you can't get away!
Crises, crises - You can't get away
Crises, crises - You can't get away!
Crises, crises - I need you on my side
Cause there's a crisis - And you can't get away!
Crises, crises - You can't get away
Crises, crises - You can't get away!
Crises, crises - I need you on my side
Cause there's a crisis - And you can't get away!
Take a walk until the next dawn.
In the winter, rain and storms.
The watcher and the tower,
Waiting hour by hour.
There's a breech in the security,
A disturbance in tranquility.
The watcher and the tower,
Waiting hour by hour.
The watcher and the tower,
Waiting hour by hour.
The watcher and the tower,
Waiting hour by hour.
The watcher and the tower,
Waiting hour by hour.
02 Moonlight Shadow (03:38)
The last time ever she saw him
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
He passed on worried and warning
Carried away by a moonlight shadow.
Lost in a riddle that saturday night
Far away on the other side.
He was caught in the middle of a desperate fight
And she couldn't find how to push through
The trees that whisper in the evening
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
Sing a song of sorrow and grieving
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
All she saw was a silhouette of a gun
Far away on the other side.
He was shot six times by a man on the run
And she couldn't find how to push through
I stay, I pray
I see you in heaven far away
I stay, I pray
I see you in heaven one day
Four am in the morning
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
I watched your vision forming
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
A star was glowing in the silvery night
Far away on the other side
Will you come to talk to me this night
But she couldn't find how to push through
I stay, I pray
I see you in heaven far away
I stay, I pray
I see you in heaven one day
Far away on the other side.
Caught in the middle of a hundred and five
The night was heavy and the air was alive
But she couldn't find how to push through
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
Far away on the other side.
04 Foreign Affair (03:53)
Foreign affair.
Take a trip in the air
To a tropical beach,
An island to reach.
A new territory
For an intimate story,
A lagoon by la mere.
It's a foreign affair.
Drifting and free
On a mystical sea.
A wishful emotion,
A drop in the ocean.
A hush in the air
You can feel anywhere
In the cool twilight
On a tropical night.
Floating on air,
Foreign affair.
A magical potion,
A cool locomotion.
A dream,
A prayer.
(It's a foreign affair!)
Floating on air,
Foreign affair.
A magical potion,
A cool locomotion.
A dream,
A prayer.
(It's a foreign affair!)
Foreign affair.
Take a trip in the air
To a tropical beach,
An island to reach.
A new territory
For an intimate story,
A lagoon by la mere.
It's a foreign affair.
Foreign affair.
Take a trip in the air
To a tropical beach,
An island to reach.
A new territory
For an intimate story,
A lagoon by la mere.
It's a foreign affair.
Foreign affair.
Take a trip in the air
To a tropical beach,
An island to reach.
A new territory
For an intimate story,
A lagoon by la mere.
It's a foreign affair.
Foreign affair.
Take a trip in the air
To a tropical beach,
An island to reach.
A new territory
For an intimate story,
A lagoon by la mere.
It's a foreign affair.
Foreign affair.
Take a trip in the air
To a tropical beach,
An island to reach.
A new territory
For an intimate story,
A lagoon by la mere.
It's a foreign affair.
Foreign affair.
Take a trip in the air
To a tropical beach,
An island to reach.
A new territory
For an intimate story,
A lagoon by la mere.
It's a foreign affair.
Foreign affair...
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Other reviews
By jazzprog
The 20 minutes pass by without even noticing, thanks to melodies now heavily inspired by folk, now almost new age, up to avant-garde flavored jazz.
Ultimately, we can safely say we are facing a definitely essential album for the continuance of progressive music, albeit in this case heavily influenced by other styles.
By Valeriorivoli
You know what a little song does to you... And so down came the Neapolitan tears of nostalgia tied to this great record by wizard Oldfield.
Even though I didn’t like prog, I immediately liked this record, it made me dream.
