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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Oldfield's slide into weaker music., 15 Oct 2001
By A Customer
Even on a bad day, Mike Oldfield still has the power to churn out an album that is quite pleasing to the listener, such as the critically reviled QE2. He'd found a new niche with "Five Miles Out" - the side-long track and selection of songs worked well as an album structure, so why change things? On face value alone, the 20min title track isn't bad at all - could've done with a bit less synthesizer, but it's still a good start to the album. Unfortunately, it's some of the songs that let "Crises" down. Naturally, I cannot fault "Moonlight Shadow" (let's face it, who can?) - it's a formidable and beautifully catchy track that still sustains quality on repeated plays, also containing one of Mike's finest ever guitar breaks. Unfortunately, "In High Places", sung by Jon Anderson is cringably fey and disinteresting. It would've sounded more at home on a Jon Anderson solo album. "Foreign Affair", to me, sounds rather repetitive and ill-conceived, the music just seems to be laid down rather than composed. "Taurus III" isn't bad - some nice, fiery flamenco guitar that, although done merely as a marketing tactic (Spain was a very adoring territory at the time), it's nonetheless fine. Another mistake was including the 3min 7" version of "Shadow on the Wall" - the extended version doesn't sound so abrupt and gives Mike more chance to do his thing, despite leaving Roger Chapman repeating 'like a shadow on the wall' for a further 2 minutes. In summary - Oldfield would do much worse in the future, but if you're a genuine Oldfield fan, or if you're new to his 80's style of music, you can't really go wrong with it. If you like Crises, go for "Five Miles Out" (similar in style, despite the rather tedious minimalist tracks), "Heaven's Open" (for a more satisfying vocal album) and then start working your way backwards through the discography!
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~ Mike Oldfield
~ Mike Oldfield
~ Mike Oldfield
~ Mike Oldfield
~ Mike Oldfield
