Crusader

Chris De Burgh

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1979
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: A&M
• ASIN: B000002GGA
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #245,366 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Import only pressing of his 1991 album. Universal. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece, December 29, 2003

By	F. Aue "azfrankie" (Berlin, Germany) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

No doubt, Crusader is the ultimate masterpiece of the early De Burgh! Produced by orchestrator, arranger and piano player Andrew Powell (long-time sideman to Alan Parsons) and the entire Alan Parsons personnel (Ian Bairnson, David Paton, Stuart Elliott) playing on this recording, completed by Mike Moran (keyboards, piano, synthesizer) Crusader finally convinced where the three previous albums failed. The compositions are again in the balladeer style, but the production and arrangements ultimately reach perfection. "Carry On" is probably the most commercial song on the album. I'm not sure if it was released as a single. "Something Else Again" is probably the loveliest love song a man could ever play for a woman! "Crusader" is an almost 9 minute piece which reminds me of "Spanish Train" in a way, but it is still unique in its own style. A remastered version of this CD might be appropriate.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crusader, October 4, 2003

By	Mr John Bennett (Dublin 11, Republic of Ireland Ireland) - See all my reviews

This is Chris de Burgh at his very best. Combining powerful melodies with vivid storytelling and outstanding ballads, this album captures Chris de Burgh's vocal and songwriting talents at their very best. Not to be missed if you are a true Chris de Burgh fan!

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When a Troubadour Was Still a Troubadour ..., April 2, 2005

By	Themis-Athena (from somewhere between California and Germany) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Once, there was a troubadour whose songs told stories about Country Churchyards and houses with Satin Green Shutters, about Lonesome Cowboys, Spacemen and Strippers, and about the devil cheating the Lord in a game of chess for the souls of humanity played on a Spanish Train. In those years, that troubadour's songs were simple, straightforward and enchanting, both musically and lyrically, and he published albums fittingly entitled "Far Beyond These Castle Walls," "Spanish Train and Other Stories" and "At the End of a Perfect Day."

Then, he was discovered. And while (initially) his lyrics at least maintained their poignancy (see "The Getaway"), his music suddenly joined the flood waves of overproduced pop. But just before that point, in 1979, he released what many to this day consider his masterpiece; the album most pointedly embodying the tradition in which, if interviews he gave at the time were to be believed, he saw himself. Supported by the better part Alan Parson's "Project" (minus Parsons himself and Eric Woolfson) - guitarist Ian Bairnson, bassist David Paton, drummer Stuart Elliott and keyboardists Mike Moran and Andrew Powell, the latter of whom also served as the album's producer and conductor - he put together a collection of 12 songs in turn seducing, stirring and soothing the listener's soul. There are soft songs of love and loss like "I Had the Love in My Eyes," "Something Else Again," "It's Such a Long Way Home" and "Quiet Moments." There is the heartrending fairy tale of the "Girl With April in Her Eyes." There is De Burgh's bow to the era's "save the earth" movement, the rallying cry of "Just in Time". There is the sequel to the ghastly game of chess in "Spanish Train" (to which the song's lyrics expressly make reference), the dramatic story of "The Devil's Eye" gazing back at you from your TV screen. And there is a troubadour's look at "Old-Fashioned People" wishing to be carried back to the times and places that they knew.

But the album's piece de resistance is its title track, an (especially considering the time of its release) epic, nine-minute long tale retelling the story of Richard the Lionheart's crusade; beginning quietly but rising to dramatic heights as the enemies face each other over Jerusalem, and yet, ending on a quiet, pensive note. True, the song's lyrics reflect enormous bias and are, at the very least, historically debatable; and the mere fact that the story is told from a crusader's point of view doesn't do anything to change this, for those who participated in the crusades knew better than to underestimate Saladin or put him down like this - the version we're getting here is the propaganda spread throughout Christian Europe in support of the campaign to "free" Jerusalem. But ultimately, I don't think this part of the song represents the point that Chris De Burgh wants to make. Rather, the song's most important lines are those of the last, reflective verses, which are well worth considering, particularly these days:

"What do I do now?" said the Wise man to the Fool,
"I have spent my whole life searching, to find the Golden Rule,
Though centuries have disappeared, the memory still remains,
Of those enemies together, could it be that way again?"
Then the Fool said "Oh you Wise men, you really make me laugh,
With your talk of vast persuasion and searching through the past,
There is only greed and evil in the men who fight today,
The song of the Crusader has long since gone away ..."

The album's last song, "You and Me," is a short, gentle farewell: "The time has come for me to take my bows and leave the stage," De Burgh sings, and promises to return and again take his audience "through the ancient halls and stories of the past, and the many ways of loving." Well, return he certainly did, but would that he had remembered the rest of his promise as well! Alas, that was not to be the case. But even for those of us who think he later sold out, there are still his first four albums - and particularly this one - to turn to for enchantment, comfort, and exceptional storytelling ...

Also recommended:
Far Beyond These Castle Walls
Spanish Train & Other Stories [IMPORT]
At the End of a Perfect Day