The Best of Altan

The Best of Altan

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
It's hard to qualify what "best of" could mean in the case of a band as prolific as Altan. This was a record label collection (the best of the Green Linnet years) and it is just that from Frankie Kennedy's slow reel, "The Sunset," through the jigs, reels and airs that they play so well. Mairead Ni Mhaoinaigh on fiddle also supplies their trademark voice, Ciaran Tourish and Paul O'Shaughnessy are on fiddles as well, Frankie Kennedy is on flute plus various instruments by Ciaran Curran, Mark Kelly and Daithi Sproule. As a bonus there is a second CD, a live recording taken from the soundboard of a 1989 concert. --Louis Gibson

Tracks:

Tommy Peoples/The Windmill/Fintan McManus's
Moll Dubh A' Ghleanna
Jimmy Lyon's/The Teelin/The Red Crow/The Broken Bridge
The Sunset
Glory Reel/The Heathery Cruach
The Flower Of Magherally
Mazurka
A Bhean Udai Thall
King Of The Pipers
'Si Do Mhaimeo I
The Jug Of Punch
The Emyvale/Ril Gan Ainm/The Three Merry Sisters Of Fate
An Mhaighdean Mhara
Dulaman
Drowsy Maggie/Rakish Paddy/Harvest Storm
An Feochan

Tracks:

Con Cassidy's/Neil Gow's Highland/Moll And Tiarna/McSweeney's
The Yellow Tinker/Lady Montgomery
Thug Me Ruide
Ta Mo Chleamhnas A Dheanamh
The Curlew/McDermott's/Three Scones Of Boxty/Unnamed Reel
Tuirse Mo Chroi
Paddy's Trip To Scotland/Dinky's/The Shetland Fiddler
Johnny's Wedding/Rogue's Reel/The Gravel Walk

Amazon.com essential recording

It's hard to qualify what "best of" could mean in the case of a band as prolific as Altan. This was a record label collection (the best of the Green Linnet years) and it is just that from Frankie Kennedy's slow reel, "The Sunset," through the jigs, reels and airs that they play so well. Mairead Ni Mhaoinaigh on fiddle also supplies their trademark voice, Ciaran Tourish and Paul O'Shaughnessy are on fiddles as well, Frankie Kennedy is on flute plus various instruments by Ciaran Curran, Mark Kelly and Daithi Sproule. As a bonus there is a second CD, a live recording taken from the soundboard of a 1989 concert. --Louis Gibson

Customer Reviews:

4 stars as a single disc, 5 stars with live CD.......2003-02-05

As retrospectives go, this is a good one, and captures the pace that Altan brings to a regular release. The entire history is represented here, at least as it was distributed by Green Linnet. The early trio date with Frankie, Mairead and Ciaran Curran through the final formation as sextet before Frankie's passing with the additions of Ciaran Tourish, Daithi Sproule and Dermot Byrne are well represented. The weaker points come from "Horse With a Heart" which has something missing in Phil Cunningham's production, though I am hard pressed to say what it is that's missing.
Perhaps the element of personnel flux is at its most vulnerable during these early days, as Paul Shaunnesy and Mark Kelly were sometimes on and sometimes off because of their day jobs. It really wasn't until "The Red Crow" that Frankie and Mairead made the decision to leap forward with this band as their career, and it is with that release that Altan really catches fire.
The shadows of Johnny Dougherty, Con Campbell, James Byrne and Robert Cinnamond loom large in the soul of this band, and in no uncertain terms they took the Donegal-Ulster tradition of Irish music and carried it from the back bothrins of Gaoth Dobhair to front and center in the Irish Cultural Renaissance of the 80's and 90's.
But, the real gem here is the limited edition version that carried a live CD with it. Having promoted them live in Philadelphia 4 times, once at my own establishment that is wonderfully recorded on tape as well as shows at Bluett Theatre, whose video capture by Drexel University is just breathtaking, I can tell you that Altan is a Very Different Beast LIVE. No quarter is asked or given. It's all hell for leather and the sheer dynamics of this band wrung you out emotionally, left you dancing ecstatically like some Celtic Dervish or Gaelic Pentacostalist. Their passion live has surely been responsible in part for the Irish American baby boom of the last decade! Green Linnet presents a great, great snippet of their live material, which underscores the whole issue that somewhere, someone, everyone should be hammering IMN, their management company, to get a live box set out, live DVD out, especially of the years helmed by Frankie. The Cabin John appearances in the early days of the DC Irish Folk Festival, following Ashley Mac Isaac, were perfomances of legend. Not to be outdone by the peripatetic Mac Isaac, Frankie and Mairead rose to the challenge and left a crowd of dazed enthusiasts in sheer joyful abandon. Roll the tapes forward and appearances at The National Geographic Society, Wolf Trap, following The Rankins and Natalie Mac Master, are all very possibly the greatest festival performances ever given by any band. Think Duke Ellington at Newport! Their performance here at Duffy's with Mearta Wagar and Brid Ni Chostelloe is still talked about and all I can tell you is that these tapes are the most precious things in my life. I've given you direction where to get some of the masters, so get on with it! This is a band whose every burp should be documented, especially live. Irish music was never this good before and it will never reach these heights whenever they finally hang up their bows and pocket their plectrums.
If record companies and management companies still drop the ball, go catch them live, even if you have to book airfare to Ireland. They have always been and remain the best. Look up "keepin it real" in the dictionary: Altan invented it.

got to Altan through Dolly Parton.......2002-09-10

I discovered Altan on a Dolly Parton CD called Little Sparrow which I highly recommend also. Altan backs up Dolly on 2 songs that I really like. So, I am always up for a gamble. I bought Best of Altan. It has been on my frequent flier list since it arrived a few months ago. I am a fan of bluegrass and acoutic music in general and I think you will pleasantly surprised by this CD (I should say CD's because it is 2 disc set) if it is your first attempt at Celtic music. I have a couple of previously purchased Chieftans CD's but I must say I don't have the connect like I do with Altan. If you are a closet bluegrass fan but don't like "twangy voices" as I hear from some friends, I think you will like Altan. It is obvious that roots are there instrumentally and the musicianship is outstanding. Not one track is anything but flawless to my ear. I will buy more Altan I just have not made up my mind which CD to get yet. Not that there are similarities but I also like Mozart, Del McCourey, Steve Earle, Dolly Parton, Patty Loveless, Emmy Lou Harris, Earl Klugh, Los Lobos, Ry Cooder, Keb Mo, Nickel Creek, and countless others. These are just the ones on my current playlist. Anyway buy this disc. It makes great background music or is terrific for playing loud and listening to every detail!

If you like Altan.......2001-08-23

you'd probably like Barachois, an Acadien group of 4 hailing from Prince Edward Island, Canada. Their fast-paced fiddling is incredible and fun.

Incredible and Incredibly Excellent Traditional Celtic.......2001-05-24

Skilled, practiced, perfectly executed fast reels and jigs. The best version of Dulaman I've ever heard. The bonus CD crackles with the freshness only live performances can give, and I have been known to play track 1 (Con Cassidy's/Neil Gow's Highland/Moll and Tiarna/McSweeney's) as many as seven times in a row. Lovers of Riverdance will love this CD.

An Incredible Purchase.......2000-09-27

I bought this recording having done very little research on the group, but I knew enough about them to know that what I was getting myself into was special. This quintet has the unbelievable ability to alternate between any style of music: love songs sung in gaelic, mazurkas, ballads, vocals, instrumentals-- they do it all. Another pleasant surprise which is not printed on the case is that the recording comes with a bonus live CD that contains another 7 or 8 songs. As an enthusiast of the sound of "live" music, I was thrilled with the bonus CD. I can listen to this CD no matter what mood I am in, and the end result is always the same: pure happiness.

Average customer rating:

The Best of Altan: The Songs
Altan
Manufacturer: Narada
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

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
Similar Items:

Local Ground
The Best of Altan
Island Angel
Harvest Storm
Blackwater

ASIN: B0000C3I8J
Release Date: 2003-09-23

Tracks:

Girl From The North Country
Beidh Aonach Amarach
Green Grow The Rushes
Suil Ghorm
Gleanntain Ghlas Ghaoth Dobhair
Molly Na gCuach Ni Chuilleanain
I Wish My Love Was A Red Red Rose
Cuach Mo Lon Dubh Bui
The Pretty Young Girl
Ar Bhruach Na Carraige Baine
Eoghainin O Ragadain
Ten Thousand Miles
Stor, A Stor, A Ghra
A Moment In Time

Amazon.com

Collecting several of Altan's vocal tracks on a single CD is a fine idea. Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh's dewy folk soprano is always a joy to hear, whether she is singing in Irish or English, as is her magnificent fiddling. The other band members are on their game, too. "Girl From The North Country," "Green Grow The Rushes," "I Wish My Love Was A Red Red Rose," and "Gleanntáin Ghlas Ghaoth Dobhair" (aka "Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore") have seldom sounded so fine. The songs are well-chosen and careful attention was paid to the chemistry between selections. The sole caveat is that die-hard fans probably already own Another Sky, Runaway Sunday, The Blue Idol, and Blackwater, the albums from which the material was cherry-picked. However, as a gift for a friend who has never heard of Altan or is a newcomer to Irish neo-traditional music, this compilation would be hard to beat. --Christina Roden

Album Description

2003 compilation for one of the top traditional bands in Ireland features 14 tracks. Virgin.