The Celtic Heartbeat Collection, Vol. 2

Amazon.com
There's so much gray area in the music generally termed Celtic that it's hard to know what to make of it. While some dives straight into the new age bins, much is as authentic as a shot of Bushmill's. This release is closer to Irish breakfast tea. It's new agey in spots, but with enough of the real thing to offer satisfaction. There are no pretensions of being traditional, and there's a definite attempt to woo the rock market, as on the song that finds the masterful Christy Moore joined by Bono and the Edge from U2. Nor are the women ignored. Kate Bush contributes her first new offering in a long time, singing in quite passable Gaelic. The crowning glory, ironically, belongs to someone who at one time seemed determined to put her heritage behind her--Sinead O'Connor. Here she gives a glorious sean nos--old style--rendition of "He Moves Through the Fair," one of the great songs from the tradition, with beautiful ornamentation, more than enough to tip the scales heavily in this collection's favor. --Chris Nickson

Tracks:

Riverdance - Bill Whelan
The Flower Of Maherally - Anuna
Compassion - The Spirit Of Eden
Eanair - Lunasa
The Sky Road - Frances Black
Patsy Denning Set - Luke Daniels
Home - Sean Keane
The Child Deirdre - Mychael Danna/Jeff Danna
North & South Of The River - Christy Moore
Legend Of Cuan - The Spitit Of Eden
Mna Na Heireann - Kate Bush
Sean Deora - Kila
He Moved Through The Fair (Live) - Sinead O'Connor

Amazon.com

There's so much gray area in the music generally termed Celtic that it's hard to know what to make of it. While some dives straight into the new age bins, much is as authentic as a shot of Bushmill's. This release is closer to Irish breakfast tea. It's new agey in spots, but with enough of the real thing to offer satisfaction. There are no pretensions of being traditional, and there's a definite attempt to woo the rock market, as on the song that finds the masterful Christy Moore joined by Bono and the Edge from U2. Nor are the women ignored. Kate Bush contributes her first new offering in a long time, singing in quite passable Gaelic. The crowning glory, ironically, belongs to someone who at one time seemed determined to put her heritage behind her--Sinead O'Connor. Here she gives a glorious sean nos--old style--rendition of "He Moves Through the Fair," one of the great songs from the tradition, with beautiful ornamentation, more than enough to tip the scales heavily in this collection's favor. --Chris Nickson

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful music!.......2004-05-30

I happened to pick this album up for a pittance at a discount store. It has provided hours of enjoyment with a variety of songs ranging from sprited, (Riverdance), to the poignant Sky Road, which actually brought tears to my grown daughter...wonderful lyrics! A nice introduction into the world of Celtic music.

Not what i thought.......2002-11-16

Okay, so i truly thought this album would have some traditional celtic music without the new age fancy smancy. Boy was i wrong. The songs worthy of mention are "Eanair", which is a beautiful song and one of the best on the album, "The Sky Road" which is touching and sad, "The Child Dierdre" which too is beautiful, "Mna Na hEireann" is so so wonderful and just flat out pretty even if i don't know what the song means, "Sean Deora" is my favorite song on the whole album and the vocals are outstanding (kudos to Kila), and "He moved through the Fair" is beautiful all unto itself. The well known "Riverdance" is good too, leaves the dancing to yer imagination. I just have to say that some of the songs unmentioned sound way to close to western country music for my liking, and the strange new age songs help throw the stars down to 3. But the songs i mentioned are awesome. I probably would buy this album knowing what it was just for those songs. Best o Tidings to all.

Brilliant Songs from Great Irish Artists.......2001-01-13

If you love Irish music then this is one for your collection! All 13 songs are either adaptations from old folk music (such as Kate Bush singing {in Irish} "Mna Na Heireann" and Sinead O'Conner singing {almost} acappella "He Moved Through the Fair") or originals performed by Irish greats like Christy Moore, Sean Keane and Frances Black. This has a few toe tappers but it is mainly a mellow album full of tin whistles and uillian pipes. It has become one of those rare albums I can listen to in its entirety. I'm sure you will enjoy it as much as I!

Various artists re-interpret Irish folk music.......1999-02-13

As the name implies, this is a collection of songs based largely on Irish folk music. After a fast start with the well known "Riverdance", the album settles into a more relaxing tone the rest of the way. There are a few gems here that make the album worthwhile - along with a few less than inspired songs. It is interesting to note a few popular artists here take a step in a differant direction. Not quite New Age music, but also not quite your traditional Irish breakfast music.

Rock Music:

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