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Crises
Release Date: May 27, 1983
Location: Denham
1. Crises 20:53
2. Moonlight Shadow 3:38
3. In High Places 3:34
4. Foreign Affair 3:52
5. Taurus 3 2:26
6. Shadow On The Wall 3:10
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Recorded November 1982 - April 1983 using Ampex ATR 124, NEVE 8108 with NECAM, and Westlake Monitors, in Denham, England.
Mastered at C.B.C.
Studios, London, England.
Engineered by Nigel Luby.
Produced by Mike Oldfield & Simon Phillips.
Crises (Music & Lyrics: Mike Oldfield)
Mike Oldfield: Vocals, Guitars, Fairlight C.M.I., Oberheim OBXa, DSX and DMX, Simmons Drums, Bass, Piano, Prophet, Farfisa, Harp, Mandolin, Quantec Room simulator, Roland Strings
Phil Spalding: Bass
Ant: Guitars
Rick Fenn: Guitar
Simon Phillips: Tama Drums
Moonlight Shadow (Music & Lyrics: Mike Oldfield)
Mike Oldfield: Guitars, Fairlight C.M.I.
Maggie Reilly: Vocals
Phil Spalding: Bass
Simon Phillips: Tama Drums
In High Places (Music: Mike Oldfield, Lyrics: Mike Oldfield & Jon Anderson)
Mike Oldfield: Guitar, Oberheim OBXa, Roland Strings, Fairlight C.M.I.
Jon Anderson: Vocals
Pierre Moerlen: Vibraphone
Simon Phillips: Tama Drums
Foreign Affair (Music: Mike Oldfield, Lyrics: Mike Oldfield & Maggie Reilly)
Mike Oldfield: Fairlight C.M.I., Roland Strings
Maggie Reilly: Vocals
Simon Phillips: Tama Drums & Shaker
Taurus 3 (Music: Mike Oldfield)
Mike Oldfield: Adamus, Ramirez & Manson Guitars, Mandolin, Acoustic Bass, Bells, Tambourine, Shaker
Simon Phillips: Tama Drums, Finger Snaps, Bells, Tambourine, Shaker, Boots
Shadow on the Wall (Music & Lyrics: Mike Oldfield)
Mike Oldfield: Guitars, Banjo, Bass, Fairlight C.M.I., Roland Strings
Roger Chapman: Vocals
Ant: Guitars
Simon Phillips: Tama Drums
Cover by Terry Ilot |
Notes
Sally, Molly and Dougal are Mike's girlfriend Sally Cooper and their two children Molly and Dougal Oldfield.
Some CD releases of Crises included an interview done with Mike at the time of the album's release. You can read it, and see the photos which accompanied it, here.
Personnel
| ▸ | Nigel Luby (engineer) | |
| | ▸ | Jon Anderson (musician) | | Singer with progressive rock group 'Yes', Jon has also led a solo career, releasing 15 albums since 1976. Jon has also worked with many groups and artists in the rock world, including King Crimson, John Paul Jones, Tangerine Dream, Rick Wakeman and Vangelis (most famously with the Jon and Vangelis project, though Jon guested on Vangelis albums before that).
| | ▸ | Roger Chapman (musician) | | Singer and songwriter with rock group 'Family' in the late 60s/Early 70s, then later with 'Streetwalkers'. Roger went solo in the late 70s, and moved to Germany shortly afterwards, where he found greater success with his style of music than he did while in the UK.
| | ▸ | Rick Fenn (musician) | | Was a member of band 10CC from 1976 onwards. Also played with stars such as Elkie Brooks, Cliff Richard, Rick Wakeman and Peter Green (of Fleetwood Mac fame). Produced a solo album called 'Profiles' which featured Nick Mason of Pink Floyd on drums. Also appears in: Five Miles Out, Islands
| | ▸ | Ant Glynne (musician) | | Has played with Asia, Roger Chapman, Leo Sayer, Albert Collins and most recently, Rick Wakeman's 'English Rock Ensemble'. Ant has also worked as a demonstrator for Marshall guitar amplifiers, including playing a Marshall concert with Slash (of Guns'n'Roses fame). Ant has also demonstrated Fender guitars and amplifiers. In addition, Ant has played in several productions in London's West End.
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| | ▸ | Simon Phillips (producer, musician) | | A drummer who started off playing in his father's dixieland band at the age of 12, before going on to work with rock legends like Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend and Gary Moore, as well as being the current drummer for Toto. He met Mike in New York at Tony Roma's Ribs, while on tour with Al DiMeola. Also appears in: Discovery, Islands, Heaven's Open
| | ▸ | Maggie Reilly (musician) | | Scottish singer, who rose to fame with Glasgow pop group "Joe Cool" in the early 1970s. The band then merged with another, "Up" and became funk-rock band "Cado Belle". She met Mike in 1980 via Cado Belle keyboard player Stuart MacKillop, who had been working for Abba after leaving Cado Belle. She joined Mike on his 1980 tour, then went on to record songs with him on five albums (including Crises).
In the years afterwards, Maggie went on to record with rock musicians such as Jack Bruce, George Harrison, Dave Gilmour and Nick Mason. Also appears in: QE2, Five Miles Out, Discovery, Earth Moving
| | ▸ | Phil Spalding (musician) | | A session bass player. Played in the Bernie Tormé band 1977 - 79 (also some drums). Later played in band GTR (1984 - 86), which included Max Bacon on vocals. Played with Toyah Wilcox (wife of Robert Fripp) in the early 80s, and later joined Mike on Michel Polnareff's album Kama Sutra. Also appears in: Islands, Earth Moving
| | ▸ | Terry Ilott (cover artwork) | |
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Instruments
| Miscellaneous stringed instruments |
| Gibson RB-250 Mastertone Banjo |
Mike appeared with this banjo at the Tubular Bells II premiere concert in Edinburgh. Its appearance is consistent with a post-1960s RB-250, so our current best guess is that it's the same banjo which Mike used on every album from Ommadawn onwards.
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Also used in Ommadawn, Amarok, Tubular Bells II
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| Drum machines and electronic percussion |
| Oberheim DMX |
Digital drum machine.
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Also used in Discovery, The Killing Fields
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| Simmons Drums |
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| Electric guitars |
| 1959 Fender Stratocaster, sunburst |
This was the first of the Strats that Mike bought. The scratchplate of this guitar was modified, probably in the 1990s, to make space for a Roland GK-2 synth pickup.
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Also used in Discovery, Tubular Bells II
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| 1962 Gibson Les Paul/SG Junior |
s/n 77138. This is one of the early models of SG which still had the Les Paul logo on the headstock. Mike bought this to replace the SG that was stolen from The Beacon. It became one of his most used guitars, being used extensively on albums and concerts throughout the 70s and 80s. He sold it through Chandler Guitars in February 2006. It was bought by a Swiss fan.
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Also used in Ommadawn, QE2
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| Roland G-808 |
Guitar controller for Roland guitar synthesis system.
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Also used in Discovery
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| Steel-string acoustic guitars |
| Manson acoustic |
Worth £439, swapped for a Martin D-35. From c.1980.
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Also used in Five Miles Out
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| 1984 Ovation 1687-2 Adamas – Reverse Red Burst |
Electroacoustic guitar with carbon fibre top.
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Also used in Discovery, Tubular Bells 2003
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| Bass guitars |
| 1983 Roland G-88 Bass Guitar Controller, Serial # A814722 |
Bass guitar designed for controlling the GR-33B bass synthesiser. It can also be used as a conventional bass, which Mike seems to have done.
Sold on Guitar Auctions with a Roland GR-33B bass guitar synthesizer pedal unit, Serial # 050634 (missing multi-pin cable).
Purchased by the vendor in October 1994 haveing been offered the bass by Jeremy Parker, Mike's then personal assistant. The vendor was offered the guitar as he was a known fan of Mike Oldfield.
The instrument can be seen in the videos for 'Shadow On The Wall', 'Pictures In The Dark' and 'Islands'.
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Mike appears with it in the Shadow on the Wall video, so it's quite likely he used it on the album.
Also used in Discovery, Islands
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| Organs |
| Farfisa Professional Organ |
Return To Ommadawn used a Farfisa sotware emulation.
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Also used in Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge, Ommadawn, Incantations, Amarok, Tubular Bells II, Tubular Bells 2003, Return To Ommadawn
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| Synthesisers |
| Solina string ensemble |
String synthesiser produced by the Dutch organ company Eminent and later rebadged by ARP. It owed much of its sound to its ensemble effect, created by running the sound through three LFO-modulated delay lines. |
Also used in Ommadawn, Incantations, Platinum, QE2, Five Miles Out, Return To Ommadawn
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| Fairlight CMI Series II |
Mike had two of these - the second was for live work. |
Also used in Discovery, The Killing Fields
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| Oberheim OB-Xa |
Sold together with DSX sequencer and 'Tubular Bells' flightcase to "Malcolm" for £540 in Spring 2000 at vemia.co.uk. OB-Xa later resold on ebay, March 2007. |
Also used in Discovery, The Killing Fields
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| Roland G-808 |
Guitar controller for Roland guitar synthesis system.
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Also used in Discovery
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| 1983 Roland G-88 Bass Guitar Controller, Serial # A814722 |
Bass guitar designed for controlling the GR-33B bass synthesiser. It can also be used as a conventional bass, which Mike seems to have done.
Sold on Guitar Auctions with a Roland GR-33B bass guitar synthesizer pedal unit, Serial # 050634 (missing multi-pin cable).
Purchased by the vendor in October 1994 haveing been offered the bass by Jeremy Parker, Mike's then personal assistant. The vendor was offered the guitar as he was a known fan of Mike Oldfield.
The instrument can be seen in the videos for 'Shadow On The Wall', 'Pictures In The Dark' and 'Islands'.
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Mike appears with it in the Shadow on the Wall video, so it's quite likely he used it on the album.
Also used in Discovery, Islands
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| Roland GR-100 |
Guitar synthesis module controlled by Gibson SG with the Roland STK-1 GK kit. |
Also used in Discovery
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| Roland VP-330 |
Analogue vocoder keyboard, often also used for its string sound. |
Used for its string sound - listed as 'Roland Strings'
Also used in Discovery, Amarok
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| Sequential Circuits Prophet V |
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Also used in Platinum, QE2, Five Miles Out, Discovery
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| Samplers |
| Fairlight CMI Series II |
Mike had two of these - the second was for live work. |
Also used in Discovery, The Killing Fields
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| Microphones |
| Neumann TLM170 |
Multi-pattern large diaphragm microphone with transformerless output stage. |
According to Simon Phillips in a 2016 video interview with Warren Huart of Produce Like A Pro, Mike was using the newly released TLM170 for acoustic guitars on Crises. |
| Loudspeakers |
| Westlake HR-1 |
Studio monitor speaker. |
Also used in Five Miles Out, Islands
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| Studio effects and outboard |
| Quantec Room Simulator |
Digital reverb unit, released in 1982.
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Also used in Amarok
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| Urei 1178 dual channel peak limiter |
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Mentioned by Simon Phillips in the Produce Like A Pro interview.
Also used in Tubular Bells II, Tubular Bells 2003
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| Tape recorders |
| Ampex ATR-124 |
2" 24 track multitrack tape recorder.
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Also used in Five Miles Out
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| Mixing desks |
| Neve 8108 with NECAM automation |
Analogue mixing desk with computer automation system. |
Also used in Five Miles Out
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| Sequencers |
| Oberheim DSX |
Sequencer. Used as an interface between Mike's analogue synths and the Fairlight CMI. |
Also used in Discovery
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