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One of my favorite Oldfield albums from the 80s. (This review is for the 2013 Mercury reissue.) Great remaster, and nice selection of bonus tracks, though they left out Pride of Man (B-side of Moonlight Shadow). I suspect that may be because Oldfield didn’t like it and opted to leave it out. I wouldn’t mind that nearly so much if the packaging had been more complete. I had the first CD version, which included lyrics and liner notes, but this version has neither, just like the Discovery reissue. Maybe I’m spoiled, but there are so many reissues of classic albums with essays on the making of the album, a history of the artists, rare photos, etc., and to put out such a substandard package as this is inexcusable, IMO. Because of this I’m only giving this 4 stars. Again, no complaints about the music or the mastering; there’s plenty else to recommend here, as long as you’re not fussy about the packaging.
Nothing like getting hooked on a song when it first comes out, and sticks with you afterwards. I've been a fan of Mike Oldfield ever since I heard "Tubular Bells", and continue to be now. In the past few years, many of Oldfield's iconic albums have been remixed and remastered by Mike himself, to include box sets with the original versions along with updated remixes of the original, as well as a DVD with a discrete 5.1 surround mix of the album. I make no secret of the fact that that's why I buy these box sets. "TB" and "Ommadawn" are among my favorite albums, and when "Crises" was released, with its hit single "Moonlight Shadow" (sung by Maggie Reilly), I bought it immediately.
The opening title track is one of Mike's long-form tracks, and comparing the original CD with the stereo remix shows several differences that some people on a website I frequent panned vehemently. I actually liked the reworking, and even said so on that site. One of the things Mike did was to expand the intro of "Shadow", which I found interesting. The sound of the 5.1 remix brought the textures out even more. My feeling is that Mike wouldn't have undertaken this project if he didn't think he could improve on the original mix, to make it fit more into the vision he had for it. I think he succeeded. This set is not cheap, but it's worth every cent in my opinion. I encourage the listener to go into it with an open mind and form their own opinions.
If you're an Oldfield fan, you need to get this. Sure, you're going to be buying a little repeat in music, but the live discs are worth the money alone. I have practically worn out the disc with the live version of "Shadow on the Wall", and this was from a song that was not one of my favorites from Crises! Chapman is crazy with his improvisation while the guitar work by The Master is simply breathtaking and lucid. My only regret from this album is that the live version of Moonlight Shadow isn't longer and doesn't include the long guitar work work that some of his liver performances have done. A real shame.
Crises is one of Mike's best albums and I wish and hope that a similar 5-box set comes out on Discovery. Pleas be working on that mike!
I loved the studio album when it first came out - at least the title track was really very good. The shorter songs were quite good as well, with the excellent Maggie Reilly singing Mike's big hit "Moonlight Shadow". But what made this a must have for me was the live concert recording of the Taurus I & II suite, and then Crises - the band's effort in this recording is excellent bringing life to the long form pieces. Great for the Oldfield fan!
I love the music, and am actually just reviewing the fact that again, no 5.1 surround sound. I mean, if you're going to remix the stereo version, you've gone through all the trouble of preparing the original tape, sending into a multi track digital recorder, why not continue with the 5.1 surround?
Still, it's Oldfield, who is a true pioneer, as he continued to pursue contemporary music of the 80's or so, and yet sound like the genius of Mike Oldfield. Hence, a 4 star rating, with of course the first 3 albums all 5 stars.
Only bought the record for one song. The rest were... bleh. Just not my cup of tea.
Not Amazon's fault, but the record had broken through the seams of the cheap paper inner sleeve while in storage. I wish they'd stop packaging fragile vinyl in cheap paper sleeves that tear too easily and can scratch the vinyl, when Poly-lined sleeves have been around for for a while.
La música es excelente pero SU DESCRIPCIÓN corresponde a la edición remasterizada y con bonus tracks y la que me enviaron es la primera versión que salió en CD, es la segunda vez que me pasa que no es correcta la información, la primera fue en otro CD que era una simple grabación y no un disco de fábrica (o sea pirata) y eso habla muy mal de USTEDES Y DE SUS PROOVEDORES
I bought some of the recent re-issues of Mike Oldfield (Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge, Ommadawn).
The music deserves 5 stars but I have some reserves about this box set.
To get more stars I would have liked to see in this package - A CD of the original mix (as offered in TB, HR and Ommadawn) - A 24/96 version of the new mix - A lossless version of the 5.1 mix
I find the box set overpriced for all these parts missing. Also, even after having paid +70$ (with taxes) for this box set I will have to shelve an extra 20$ at HD tracks to get the 24/96 version.
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