Disco de China Crisis: “Working With Fire & Steel”

"Winters here in a snow white haze, fires burning brightly in the night" ooooooh the hair at the nape of my neck stands-the album is awesome and creates an ambience like no other. Original-and unlike today's music the songs here are subtle with the power to move.

One of my most listened-to records of all time. Every song is amazing; often utilizing trumpets, flutes, and oboes (to beautiful emotional effects). This record received no airplay (even in the 80's), I couldn't find it on CD until now.

he 2nd China Crisis album gets my vote as their best simply because if you love oboe in a pop rock setting, this album is rife with pleasure! Add some excellent fretless bass to the traditional China Crisis wimpy, melodic introspection and you're left wanting more when this album ends. The title cut is sprightly electropop with synth bass and "Hanna Hanna" features strong brass mated with an extremely muscular fretless bassline. I also favor the wistful, almost ambient tunes like "Here Come A Raincloud" and "Soul Awakening." One can also group their big hit "Wishful Thinking" with the last two, but it manages the neat trick of sounding passionately effete - again, with excellent oboe contributing to the arrangement. "Gates of Door to Door" counterpoints staccato rhythms with expressive Gary Barnacle flute! More, please! There are so many high points of playing and arrangement here I was let down when they worked with Walter Becker afterward. If you are familiar with that period of the band, this sounds less like Steely Dan, and Garry Daly isn't altering his phrasing to sound more like Donald Fagen, to better effect.

When China Crisis stick to downtempo ambient music, they're virtually peerless. "Here Comes a Raincloud," "Wishful Thinking," and "Soul Awakening" are as haunting as anything Brian Eno ever dreamed of. But when they try to write upbeat commercial hits, the results are inconsistent. "Tragedy and Mystery" and "When The Piper Calls" have wonderful hooks but the rest of the pop numbers on this album come across as limp and insipid, like b-sides from a gutless Wang Chung. This record is worth getting if you think of it as a 5 song EP rather than a full length (and if you program your CD player accordingly). Amazon's $25.00 asking price is ludicrously exorbitant since near-mint used copies are always floating around ebay in the $5.00-$10.00 range.

One of the best albums of the 80s! Not synth-pop, not New Wave, but hints of each with excellent melodies and musicianship. Catchy tunes every one! All those boring, sound-the-same bands, should be forced to listen to this CD until they come up with something original and enjoyable.