Mike Oldfield - Crises. 1983 England

I was on a Mike Oldfield kick in college, and this one was his newest album at the time, though Discovery may have just hit the shelves, can't remember. Back then I was looking for more and more underground prog rock, and Crises to me at that time was only half an album. Eventually I moved it out. In reacquiring the LP, I could almost argue the same thing - except the half I like best today are the 6 tracks (see ownership) that make up Side 1. In fact, in absorbing the album with 3 straight listens, I could be persuaded to add Crises to my X-Wave collection versus progressive rock. Of course Oldfield is considered prog rock royalty and he brought on many guests for this album, most from that world. I think the best track here is the ultra catchy 'Foreign Affair' followed closely by 'In High Places'. Concerning the latter, this is the type of setup that best highlights Jon Anderson's voice. And yes, the side longer does possess a strong progressive rock component. Overall, this resulted in my second +3 listen of the year (see Faithful Breath). It won't be long before I find Five Miles Out I'm sure...

Ownership: 1983 Virgin (Canada). Single sleeve. Recent thrift shop find (2022), along with the other Canadian prog pressings (that I'm sure got picked over before I got there - damn). But I think I lucked out on this one. We posed the following question yesterday on Discogs: "Is this the only original pressing (1983 Canada) of Crises to have 'Mistake' on it? We're not finding it elsewhere, beyond comps and the like." In my book, that would make this a sought after pressing. Either this is still an unknown fact (if it is even a fact), or no one cares. I would suggest the former. In any case, you can get still this pressing today for less than a ham sandwich. Also interesting to note that Crises was never released in the US on vinyl.

1984; 8/24/22 (new entry)