Album Title: Crises
Artist: Mike Oldfield
Nationality: British
Year: 1983
Subgenre: Instrumental Prog?
Player(s): Mike Oldfield (You don't surely expect me to list all the instruments he plays, do you? It's a lot!), Simon Phillips (Drums, effects, blah blah), Ant /Rick Fenn(Guitars), Phil Spalding (Bass), Pierre Moerlen (Vibraphone), Maggie Reilly/Jon Anderson/Roger Chapman (Vocals on various tracks)
Familiarity: I know Oldfield well, but have only two of his albums. Guess which two?
Favourite track(s): “Moonlight shadow”
Why? I knew it already and there's nothing much else on this that grabs me. “In high places” comes close but even the presence of Jon Anderson can't raise it, um, higher than it is. Also I can't help thinking of it as more of a Yes song than a Mike Oldfield one.
Least favourite track(s): “Shadow on the wall” or “Foreign affair”
Why? I hate Roger Chapman's vibrato voice on the former and the latter is dull, boring and uninspired, with the chorus repeated for something like half of the song.
Any preconceptions prior to listening, whether good or bad? I actually thought there'd be more long instrumentals, given Oldfield's pedigree. On the basis of the title track I'm glad I was wrong, but the album was still a big letdown.
Factoids you'd like to share?
End impression: I guess I'm not going to become a fan of the man anytime soon!
Comments: What is it with bloody multi-instrumentalists? Is it not enough that you can play guitar, keyboards and/or drums? Do you really have to go learning every bloody instrument known to Man, and then be so bloody good on all of them? Makes a guy feel quite ... inadequate. Seriously though, Mike Oldfield is surely known to us all, if not from the album “Tubular Bells” then from the cut from that which opens the movie “The Exorcist”. There can be few who have never heard of the man, or at least heard his music. And yet I'm not that much of a fan. Oh I have “Tubular Bells” and its (um) followup “Tubular Bells II”, but really I've listened to them about once and then put them away. They're not albums that stand up to repeated listenings. Here Oldfield has released what must be his most commercial album, with two hit singles, and indeed it looks aimed at commercial success, the way it's constructed.
Only one long instrumental (and that kind of sucks) and only one other instrumental at all. He pulls in the talent of Maggie Reilly on two of the tracks, one of which is the big hit “Moonlight shadow”, while the legendary Jon Anderson lights up the album with his guest appearance on “In high places”. In contrast, Roger Chapman on the closer just annoys me. This, for me, was an album I struggled to get through the first track, knew the second, and then sort of cruised along until the last one, shrugged and said okay next. It didn't impress me, but then as I say I'm no huge fan of Oldfield, and I find anyway instrumental albums have to have that special something to make them different. I didn't find this one did.
Rating You have to allow that the man is an icon and a genius, but this did not grab me so all I can award it is
3.0