Mike Oldfield:
Five Miles Out (8/10):
Crises (7/10):
Universal:
Out Now:
Two separate reissues of two Mike Oldfield albums from the early '80s. In reality, Five Miles Out is perhaps the best of the two albums, reaching number 7 and remaining on the charts for 27 weeks - this was, however, superseded by the other album reissue here, Crises - one place higher, two weeks longer.
FMO is Oldfield's seventh album, issued in 1982 and a superior set to earlier 'pop' albums QE2 and Platinum, though someway short of the untouchable Incantations and THAT debut, Tubular Bells. Beginning with the familiar motif that was to fuel the title-track, 'Taurus 2' continues where '1' from QE2 left off, albeit longer, more varied and far more typical of Oldfield's studio-trickery and multi-layering than usual. Although there are elements of dated synthetic percussion throughout (the Fairlight, bless it), giving us some irritating brass-stabs here and there, the rest of this sophomore take on Taurus features exemplary vocal work by Maggie Reilly, a fruitful working relationship that was to continue for a while to come, as well as trademark 'folksy' arrangements and the 'twiddly' uileann pipes making a re-appearance to good effect.
Reilly also appears on the cracking single 'Family Man', later covered in ham-fisted style by Hall & Oates (ironically, a bigger hit than Oldfield's when issued as a single), the excellent title-track and the lengthy 'Oribadoo', surely something of a source of inspiration for ambient-house master Royksopp's Melody AM album. Musically overall, FMO is endearing enough but lacking in a (somewhat surprisingly) bona-fide hit. But that's where his next album came in.
As with Five Miles Out, Crises starts with a side-long epic on 'side one', in this case the patchy title-track, before unveiling his biggest commercial pop hit on the second side - 'Moonlight Shadow'. If Fleetwood Mac had commissioned a song to be written as a parody or as a taster of their forthcoming Tango In The Night era a few years later, this was it. Essentially a hippy anthem with swathes of acoustic guitars and Reilly's sublime tonsils, Moonlight Shadow was, at the time, thoroughly deserving of its #4 placing.
The rest of Crises is a mixed bag, however. Only 'A Foreign Affair', again featuring co-writer Maggie Reilly, tickles the musical taste-buds while the instrumental 'Taurus 3' is short, sweet and not entirely in keeping with the pomposity of In High Places or the over-rated (and tortuous) 'Shadow On The Wall'. Much, much better is the aforementioned 'Crime Of Passion' included as one of the many bonuses here. Sung by Barry Palmer, COP is one of Oldfield's finest efforts to this day and even sported a decent b-side in the soporific Jungle Gardenia when issued as a single - how it wasn't a hit remains a mystery - like Moonlight Shadow, it too wouldn't sound amiss on a Fleetwood Mac album. Conversely, how the aptly-titled Mistake was even issued also remains a mystery - it's bloody awful (sorry Mike) but here it is again on this deluxe version. You also get the hard-to-find 12" versions of Shadow On The Wall (crikey) and Moonlight Shadow (whew).
Both albums include numerous rarities such as live renditions and demos that serve as completist's sweeteners, nothing more - some of the 1983 Wembley concert is, frankly, painful to listen to. At the time of writing, both of these albums had entered the Top 75, proving that their draw is greater than you may first imagine.
