CRISES

I really do love Mike Oldfield's work. His albums are always so enriching to the ears with beautiful uses of instruments and composing them to their absolute potential. Utilizing various genres like classical, art rock, and during the early years of the 80s, more pop like scores too. After two amazing albums, QE2, and Five Miles Out, his next work, Crises, shows more of his innovation with both his use of prog rock and his use of more pop like tunes.

The first song, the title track of the album, Crises, is a brand spanking new suite from Oldfield himself. To me, this is like the perfect combination of the 70s Mike and the 80s Mike. It is both complex in it's craft, has a pop feel, and shows improvements of Mike's craftsmanship from 1970 to 1983. I also love the combo duet that the guitars and synths occasionally have, they are truly beautiful in how they work together. Not only that but the drumming is absolutely superb. I really absolutely dig this song. The next song is Moonlight Shadow. Side 2 is a lot more pop like than side 1, and this song shows this, however I think Mike's pop music is as superb as his more progressive works. The acoustic guitar on this song goes kinda hard sometimes, and it sorta contrasts the sweet and pretty vocals sung by Maggie Reilly. Also that guitar solo is honestly really cool. I really dig this song. Next song is In High Places. Sung by Jon Anderson of Yes, this song is very pretty in it's both simplicity and complexity. Jon's vocals are honestly one of the best things in the song, it's like listening to a fusion of Yes and Mike Oldfield. It is absolutely great. Also I should note, if Kanye West samples your song for an album that many fans say is his best, than that shows that talent recognizes talent. The next song is Foreign Affair. Back to more pop like songs, we have this pretty cool song with some great minimalist use of only (I think) three instruments, a bass, drums, and a bouncy and bubbly electric piano. It's very chill in a way. Also funny thing, when I first heard the first few seconds of the song, I was afraid that Mike would start rapping, glad that didn't happen but it's kinda funny if he did. After that, we got the 3rd part in the Taurus line up of songs that started in QE2. It is pretty Spanish like with it's instrumentation, like you just entered a mystical dance hall in a Mexican city. It is very cool, but I kinda wish it went a little longer. After that we got Shadow on the Wall. It sorta has this hard rock vibe, but mixed with Mike Oldfield's signature sound. When I hear this tune I imagine Led Zeppelin and Mike Oldfield going in the same room in the studio and just jamming out. It's honestly very cool, and that Electric guitar is just so, so, so so superb.

So yeah, this album is excellent. It shows Mike's beautiful music making and his use of many different genres from both the pop and prog scenes with a little bit of hard rock. I feel like this album is rather underappreciated because while it is a lot more pop like, it still has amazing music within it, and I think that makes it one of his best albums.