Name: The Chieftains, Vol. 8
Brand: Sony Bmg Special Markets
SKU: 1249338
Price: 22.97 USD
Availability: InStock

The Chieftains, Vol. 8

Rating

Album: The Chieftains, Vol. 8
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Session, The
2)	Doctor John Hart
3)	Sean Sa Cheo
4)	Medley: An Tsean Bhean Bhocht/The Fairies' Hornpipe: An Tsean Bhean Bhocht / The Fairies' Hornpipe
5)	Sea Image
6)	If I Had Maggie in the Wood
7)	Speic Seoigheach, An
8)	Dogs Among the Bushes, The
9)	Miss Hamilton
10)	Job of Journeywork, The
11)	Medley: The Wind That Shakes the Barley/The Reel With the Beryle: The Wind That Shakes The Barle y / The Reel With The Beryle

Album: The Chieftains, Vol. 8
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Session, The
2)	Doctor John Hart
3)	Sean Sa Cheo
4)	Medley: An Tsean Bhean Bhocht/The Fairies' Hornpipe: An Tsean Bhean Bhocht / The Fairies' Hornpipe
5)	Sea Image
6)	If I Had Maggie in the Wood
7)	Speic Seoigheach, An
8)	Dogs Among the Bushes, The
9)	Miss Hamilton
10)	Job of Journeywork, The
11)	Medley: The Wind That Shakes the Barley/The Reel With the Beryle: The Wind That Shakes The Barle y / The Reel With The Beryle

Performer Notes

The Chieftains include: Martin Fay, Sean Kean (fiddle); Derek Bell (harp, tiompan); Michael Tubridy (flute, whistle, concertina); Paddy Moloney (whistle, Uilleann pipes); Sean Potts (whistle); Kevin Conneff (bodhran).
Producer: Paddy Moloney.
Reissue producer: Lawrence Cohn.
Recorded at Olympic Studios, London, England. Includes liner notes by David McGee.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
This is part of Legacy's "Sounds Of Ireland" series.
The Chieftains' second album for Columbia Records was a distinct departure from the pattern of their previous releases in its structure. The opening number, "The Session," is exuberant enough, but for a change the percussion section is relatively restrained throughout, and it's the whistles (and especially the pipes and the fiddle later) that drive the piece, for a Bolero-like opening that builds across more than four minutes. And then it's off to the gentle, lyrical "Doctor John Hart," featuring harpist Derek Bell, before the group jumps into the boisterous "Se?n Sa Cheo." And so it goes, through the rollicking "If I Had Maggie in the Wood," the lush fiddle showcase "The Dogs Among the Bushes," and the gently sentimental "Miss Hamilton," where plucked stringed instruments of all sorts get to generate their prettiest sounds. The mix of tempos, moods, and timbres alternate markedly throughout this, one of the more rich and diversely textured albums in the group's output, closing out with the seemingly boundless good spirits of "The Wind That Shakes the Barley/The Reel with the Beryl," all pipes and percussion at their brightest. The highlights, in addition to those already named, include the hauntingly lyrical tone poem "Sea Image" -- which one would like to see redone orchestrated with the group -- and the brooding "An Speic Seoigheach." Those are the profoundly serious moments on this record, but there's hardly a moment that's not profoundly beautiful, and not a second that's not worth hearing, over and over. ~ Bruce Eder

Professional Reviews

Q (May 2002, p.127) - 4 out of 5 stars - "...[This] group bring[s] traditional Irish folk to a mainstram audience....Dipping in and out...can be bliss..."

Uncut (8/02, p.100) - 3 out of 5 - "...Outstanding..."