Celtic Favorites [Original recording remastered]

1. It's a Great Day for the Irish

2. Little Bit of Heaven

3. When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

4. I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen

5. Irish Washerwoman

6. Dear Little Shamrock

7. Kerry Dance

8. Medley: If Your Irish Come /Intro/The Parlour

9. Mountains of the Mourne

10. Danny Boy (Londonderry Air)

11. Eileen Alannah

12. Mother Macree

13. Rose of Tralee

14. Walking of the Green

15. Phil the Fluter's Ball

16. Kathleen Mavourneen

Tracks:

Reel Around The Sun
The Heart's Cry
The Countess Cathleen/Women Of The Sidhe
Caoineadh Cu Chulainn (Lament)
Shivna
Firedance
Slip Into Spring
Riverdance
American Wake (The Nova Scotia Set)
Lift The Wings
Macedonian Morning
Marta's Dance/The Russian Dervish
Andalucia
Home And The Heartland
The Harvest
Riverdance (Reprise)

Amazon.com

Based on Irish folk dancing styles, Riverdance was originally devised as a 20-minute intermission entertainment for the Eurovision Song Contest. There, its phenomenal reception inspired composer Bill Whelan to expand the piece into a full-length stage show, still centered around Irish music, but now telling a loose story of many different peoples who in the 20th century have found themselves émigrés. The paradoxically formal yet expressive, sensual, and exhilarating energy of traditional Irish dance and Irish folk music is only the beginning. A work full of strong melodies, excitement, romantic dreams, and nostalgic longing, the full Riverdance show is a spellbinding spectacle. Complete with orchestra, Whelan brings influences from Irish classical music, incorporates the haunting sound of vocal group Anuna, and adds the diverse folk sounds of Nova Scotia, Macedonia, Russia, and Andalucia to his rich cultural melting pot. Playing on the album are some of the finest folk musicians around, including piper Davy Spillane and Eileen Ivers on fiddle. The result is not just a tuneful souvenir of a great stage show, but a most enjoyable release in its own right. Whelan also has worked on the Rob Roy soundtrack and composed The Seville Suite and The Spirit of Mayo. --Gary S. Dalkin

Customer Reviews:

A MUST HAVE FOR ALL IRISH!.......2007-04-04

THIS IS A MUST HAVE CD FOR ALL TRUE IRISH BLOODED PEOPLE OUT THERE. THIS IS THE BEST CD YET RIVERDANCE HAS MADE.

Outstanding!!!.......2006-10-14

I have every Riverdance DVD and have watched the live show once. This CD is based on the original production (With Michael Flatley and Jean Butler) and while it might not carry the "excitement" of the original show as others have commented, it is a great way to remember the beautiful music and orchestration when you are not close to a DVD player to enjoy the video production. The unfortunate thing in listening to the "soundtrack" of a live/video production is that separated from its visual context, it can be difficult to understand or appreciate. Riverdance is a visual as well as a sound experience. If you have never watched the show, it would certainly be hard to appreciate the music in this CD. I listen to it frequently and love the music more each time. If you are a Riverdance fan, this CD is a must. It's simply superb.

Disappointment after seeing the show.......2006-03-06

I recently saw the show live & was excited to get the soundtrack. However, as many other reviewers have noted, it was a big disappointment - it doesn't match the charisma of the show. While it does have some great songs on it, you just don't get the feeling you got while actually watching the show, which was a tremendous feeling of excitement & thrill. I must add, I did pick up the 'Lord of Dance' soundtrack & was happily impressed.

Disappointed.......2005-09-29

Not the type of music I had envisioned...much slower than I was hoping for.

Can't get enough of Riverdance!.......2005-07-30

First off, I'm 16 years old. I love music, just about every kind there is. I never cared for Riverdance before until last year when I listened to a song from "Lord of the Dance" completely by accident and then went from there. Now, I completely appreciate it, and I believe it's the best stuff I've ever listened to, and I don't regret it all. It's very refreshing, and it just calms you down, and I swear, some of the songs on here sends shivers down my spine even after listening to it for a good year now. While I don't like every song on the CD like I do with "Lord of the Dance" I still think the music is special and unique in its own way. The music from "Lord of the Dance" is more...alive, but "Riverdance" is good for relieving stress, meditating, or for filling you up with so much emotion it could make you cry. Honestly, it's all great.

If you're not convinced yet, then here's a breakdown by song!
REEL AROUND THE SONG: As one person has already said: PERFECT! This is probably the best on the CD. It's starts a little slow with the flute(but then, you learn to love it, the more you listen to it) and then as it progresses, it gets better and better, and then, even better. So it's perfect in every way. But then, considering the song is almost nine minutes long, it better be good.
THE HEART'S CRY: This is a vocal. Nice song, beautiful lyrics, a voice I could tolerate, and I'm just starting to appreciate vocals.
COUNTESS CATHLEEN/WOMEN OF THE SIDHE: Another personal favorite that's almost perfect. The first is very light and pretty, but I love the second half! Very lively and I actually dance to it.
CAOINEADH CU CHULAINN/LAMENT: This is one of the songs that fills you up with emotion and shivers down your spine. It's a very sad (well, the song's called "Lament"), emotional song, and I still listen to it with fresh ears, and probably always will.
SHIVNA: This is another vocal. The only problem with it, is that it's in another language (I'm guessing Gaelic) so I don't know what the heck they're saying, but that doesn't stop me from loving it. Ironically, it's my favorite vocal on here.
FIREDANCE: A mix of Celtic and Spanish music and the results are pretty good. The end of the song is really the only good part of the song though. The beginning's too slow for me.
SLIP INTO SPRING: Very light and incredibly sweet and one of my favorites.
RIVERDANCE: Another favorite (you're probably getting tired of me saying that),it's true. The lyrics are good, the music's beyond great. You really outdid yourself, Whelan.
AMERICAN WAKE: This song falls in the middle. Starts off a wee bit repetitive, but gets better as it progresses.
LIFT THE WINGS: A vocal. Well, the music in the beginning was great. But I just can't get into the song. I think it's the voice that drives me away. Good lyrics though.
MACEDONIAN MORNING: Blah. That's the only word I can use to describe this song. This song can't move me at all. It doesn't go anywhere, it's tiring and dull and flat, and it wouldn't harm the CD if they took this song out.
MARTA'S DANCE/THE RUSSIAN DERVISH: Another (you guessed it!) favorite. It's a mix of Celtic and Russian music, and yes it is a little too repetitive and long, but it's still good and the last two minutes of the song is my favorite part.
ANDALUCIA: I enjoy this song from time to time, it's good, just not as memorable as the other songs.
HOME AND THE HEARTLAND: This song's altogether cute. The lyrics and the music are cute, and the voice that sings it is so tender and beautiful. My second favorite vocal.
HARVEST: Lovely song, falls in the middle and there's some parts that I especially love.
RIVERDANCE (REPRISE): Uh,good, but I'll stick with original.

I don't regret buying this CD at all and I'm sure you'll love this as much as I do. There will be at least one song on here you'll like if not all. If you love emotion and beauty, and you're passionate about music, then you'll love this.

Average customer rating:

Some good, some bad.
Still Excellent
in the Irvine tradition

Way Out Yonder
Andy Irvine
Manufacturer: Appleseed Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Irish Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General | International | Styles | Music

General | Celtic | International | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Traditional Folk | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music

General | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Rude Awakening
Parallel Lines
Live from the Powerhouse
Kentucky Christmas: Old and New

ASIN: B000059RTS
Release Date: 2001-03-27

Tracks:

Gladiators
Moreton Bay
They'll Never Believe It's True/Froggy's Jig
The Girl I Left Behind
Way Out Yonder
The Highwayman
When the Boys Are On Parade
On a Distant Shore
Born In Carrickfergus

Amazon.com

Although Andy Irvine has been an integral part of three of Irish music's most innovative bands--Sweeney's Men in the 1960s, Planxty in the 1970s, and Patrick Street in the 1990s--he has released very little music under his own name, and consequently is not as well know as he deserves to be. The music of Irvine's bands tended to be fairly evenly split between songs and dance tunes, but on Way out Yonder, only the third solo release in his long career, seven of the nine tracks are songs. Irvine is a very expressive singer who can take a ballad like Loreena McKennitt's version of "The Highwayman" and make its nine-minute length seem too short. The other songs include originals like "Gladiators," a ballad about union organizer Tom Barker, and old ballads such as "Moreton Bay," an Australian convict song. In the late 1960s, Irvine spent two years busking in the Balkans, and the title track is a medley of some of the dance tunes he learned while he was there. Way Out Yonder is a wonderful collection of songs from one of Irish music's secret heroes. --Michael Simmons

Customer Reviews:

Some good, some bad........2005-07-01

Four or five of the tunes on this cd are good--such as "The Boys are on Parade," "You Wouldn't Believe it's True," "Gladiators," and maybe "Born in Carrickfergus." But other than these, the others are rather lacking. Some of the others I always skip. "The Highwayman" stinks. The others aren't memorable in the least. However, although it isn't exactly the best cd I've gotten before, a couple of these songs are of good quality. If you want to have a cd to play in the background, this would be good, but if you want real good quality cds, perhaps try Old Blind Dogs, Silly Wizard, and some of the Battlefield Band's cds.

Still Excellent.......2001-08-29

The previous reviewer was a bit harsh on this record. The surprise about this record is how good it is considering the apparent demise of Irvine's band Patrick Street and what had seemed like a decline in Irvine's powers of late. I was thrilled to see a new studio solo album by Irvine and fully gratified when I heard it. Here are all of his strengths honed over a lifetime of musical exploration. Yes, Irvine continues to sing the truth about the lives of the underclass in his "old left" ballads, among the best of the songs here, I might add. That an artist champions values other than success and glamour and "winning," is still refreshing no matter how many times he sounds that string. Irvine doesn't need to break new ground to put out an excellent recording; he's done that aplenty and all of it still shines here. Despite its lack of surpise this album is still excellent. Oh yes, and I find the version of the "Highwayman" deeply moving despite myself, perhaps not for the somewhat overdramatic narrative but for the power and emotion of Irvine's voice, which still brings me to the brink even after all of these years. I guess I'm an incorrigable fan thrilled to have yet another Irvine recording after I'd long given up hope.

in the Irvine tradition.......2001-04-23

Veteran Irish folk singer Andy Irvine delivers a typically accomplished recording with no surprises. As usual there are the politically oriented, occasionally preachy originals (e.g., "Gladiators") and covers (Marcus Turner's "When the Boys Are on Parade"), reflecting Irvine's sentimental Old Left sympathies. More interesting are some reworked traditional pieces. His version of "The Girl I Left Behind," with a portion of the lyrics either written or rediscovered by Irvine (his notes are not entirely clear on the point), transforms this lyric folk song/sometime march into a ballad. Another high point is the Australian convict song "Moreton Bay." Irvine's most successful original, the comic "They'll Never Believe It's True/Froggy's Jig," about a musician's encounter with fairies, takes its inspiration from any number of Irish tales ("memorates," in folklorist language) told as true. On the other hand, perhaps the world could do without yet another recording of Alfred Noyes's poem "The Highwayman" -- surely the least inspired song choice here, and more than nine minutes long at that.

Average customer rating:

Dance of the Ring
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Bci / Eclipse Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | New Age | Styles | Music

Meditation | New Age | Styles | Music

General | Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Celtic | International | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Lord Of The Dance
Single And Free
The Countess Cathleen
Slip Into Spring
The Devil In Dublin
Warriors
Riverdance
Celtic Dream
Cry Of The Celts
Macedonian Morning
Wild Woods Of Killarney
Echoes Of Cavan

Average customer rating:

Organic Tangerines

Manufacturer: Hungry Monk Recordings
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000CAF152
Release Date: 2004-04-20

International Music:

International Music

International Music