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The Shows => Ancient Land => Topic started by: CWazyTom on September 28, 2018, 01:47:13 AM

Title: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: CWazyTom on September 28, 2018, 01:47:13 AM
I listened to the Ancient Land album on Spotify!

Here are some of my thoughts on the digital album.


--- SPOILER WARNING ---

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Track-by-Track

1. Ancient Land

The album opens with catchy, rolling, medium-tempo jig led by Tara. Celtic Woman has opened with some 'bigger' numbers in the past. But although this isn't as spectacular as "The Sky And The Dawn And The Sun" or "Awakening" it creates anticipation and it's effective at setting the tone of the album. It has a mysterious, almost mystic air about it. The vocal arrangement almost seemed to spread and surround me like a mist (ironically well-suited to the mist that descended during the second night of the DVD recording). Even though it's technically a group song (it was during the DVD recording anyways), it sounds on the album a bit like it's a Tara solo with some choir backing. I'll elaborate a bit more on that later.


2. Homeland

One of my favourites from the Homecoming Tour. It's a fun, warm, catchy song that also makes excellent use of the group's full range of harmony. You can hear and appreciate each of the girls' parts during this song, even during the harmonies. This song is really fun to sing along to! I'm so used to listening to Susan's voice that it did sound a bit weird for a moment when I first heard Megan singing. But I got over that pretty quickly and started loving it! Megan's voice blends quite well with Mairead and Eabha.


3. Moorlough Shore (Eabha)

Pronounced a bit like Moor-lock / Moore-lock, this mournful, slow-tempo song is one in which Eabha gets to show off her trademark flourishes. The backing instrumentals have a soothing quality. The song starts with a very traditional sound, reminiscent of sean-nos or an Anuna arrangement and eventually evolves into a pop song.


4. Follow Me

This song picks the tempo back up and combines English verses with an Irish chorus. This song is of the 'head-bobber / toe-tapper' variety. The percussion and melody give this song a sort of tribal feel. Parts of this reminded me of 'Victory Celebration' from the end of the special edition of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.


5. County Down (Mairead Carlin)

This pop song has a pretty, sweeping melody and beautiful turns. Mairead Carlin's soft and utterly gorgeous voice is a perfect fit for this arrangement. The instrumental backing, especially the whistle in the instrumental bridge are among the finest expressions of Gavin Murphy's brand of genius.


6. Love & Honour (Tara)

A pretty, but sad song. The melody has oriental undertones. There's a moment during the song when there's some low, thumping percussion which creates an effect like a heartbeat. Portions of the song are reminiscent of For the Love of a Princess. There are moments where pipes come surging into the song. I think Love of a Princess might be *slightly* more effective at getting an emotional reaction from the listener. In Love of a Princess, one might almost feel swept away by Tara's broad and breathtaking bow strokes. Love & Honour is a bit of a choppier arrangement, especially the second half. I don't think that gives the listener as much opportunity to get lost in the moment. It draws focus to the note changes and evokes a sense of excitement interjected with the emotion. It's an interesting juxtaposition, but I'm not sure it's the optimal way to achieve a tear-jerker. Tara plays this so beautifully though that I'm sure that some tears will flow during her performances.


7. Mná Na hÉireann (Women Of Ireland)

This is a medium-slow tempo song, performed in Irish. The design of the harmony is complex is quite intriguing. I really like it! Both the solo and harmony parts have an almost hypnotic quality. The analogy of a siren doesn't quite fit with the lyrics, but it's the sort of imagery this song evoked for me. Hmm, Irish ladies enchanting us with their irresistible musical talents. ;) Sounds like we may know a few such Women of Ireland.


8. Sive

This medium-tempo song, performed in Irish, is another fun head-bobber. It's a tweaked arrangement of Sadhbh Ni Bhruinneallaigh, with a cheerful instrumental opening. When the liner notes are released with the CD, it will be interesting to see if Eabha is the one playing the tin whistle. The backing instrumentals don't seem to fancy at first, but it does an excellent job of supporting the singers and adding flavour. The arrangements on this album don't have big orchestration, but there's a lot of subtle genius to appreciate.


9. Shenandoah (Megan)

The song is arranged as a medium-slow vocal arrangement with light instrumental backing. The arrangement has several nice aspects and I like the way Megan performs it. It's a nice arrangement, but I think there was a little left on the table. I wasn't disappointed in it by any stretch, but I wasn't really amazed either and I should be amazed, because Megan is an amazing singer.

To elaborate, let me compare this version with the one that Eabha, Mairead, Glenn, and Ronan performed on YouTube a while back. The harmony in that cover was absolutely gorgeous, jaw-droppingly so. The arrangement on Ancient Land arrangement was pretty but it definitely didn't have the same wow factor as the harmony cover on YouTube.

Perhaps a bit more of a sweeping flow to the arrangement and a subtle echo for Megan's voice would have helped carry along the listener, allowing them to be swept away by Megan's lovely voice. I know some people will absolutely love it just the way it is too. More thoughts on this later on in the review.

All that said, while the song didn't show off Megan's awesome power, it did allow her to express the gentle beauty in her repertoire. Furthermore, having Megan belt out a verse of Shenandoah wouldn't have fit well with the rest of the album. The first time I heard it, I wasn't sure what to think. But the more I listen to it, the move I love it.

Let me make one thing clear too: Megan sounds amazing!

I'm sure will get to hear her dazzling high notes soon on tour. :)


10. Long Journey Home

I really love this song and next to Homeland, this may have been my favourite group song on the Homecoming tour. The lyrics are powerful and like Homeland, this song makes clever and effective use of harmony. Of all the group songs on the Homecoming tour and the Ancient Land DVD recording, this one might have affected me the most emotionally. The melody is sooo good. The instrumental backing was simple, but so effective. The bridge with the pipes was outstanding. Every thing about the song is immensely satisfying and I absolutely love the ending, especially live!


11. Tara's Tunes (Tara)

This is another of my favourites from the Homecoming tour. It bears some similarities in melody and progression to Across the World. I absolutely love the last tune (Hunters House), perhaps even more than the epic conclusion of Across the World. The melody hops energetically all over the place, while also rolling up and down beautifully like an Irish hillside. It's hard to resist smiling and clapping along to Tara's Tunes!

In case anyone's wondering, here are the names of the three individual Tunes in Tara's Tunes:
* Spatter the Dew
* Farewell to Ireland
* Hunters House


12. Ae Fond Kiss (Mairead Carlin)

Another absolutely beautiful, relaxing slow song from Mairead Carlin. I'm not sure I know anyone that sings these types of songs better than her. The melody, while nice, is as perfect to my ears as County Down (Ae Font Kiss hops around a little more, whereas County Down has astonishingly beautiful flow). I know some people will like this song even more than County Down and that's fine. It is unquestionably a very nice song.


13. Faith's Song (Megan)

A nice medium-slow tempo pop song. Megan does a fantastic job with this song! As I'll touch on a bit later, I don't think she has to blow the roof off the place to win over our hearts. This is yet another song with very nice, soothing string instrumental backing. This is the kind of song that has mainstream potential!


14. Garden of Eden (Eabha)

This is a really good pop song, made even more special by the fact that Eabha wrote it! She performed it at the concert in New York in support of Kylemore Abbey in 2015, just before she became a member of Celtic Woman. Her voice and the arrangement have grown even more beautiful since then. It has an engaging beat, it's catchy, and it's extremely fun! This song has mainstream potential as well! I haven't decided on my favourite track for this album yet, but this definitely a top contender. Well done Eabha. I like a lot of Gavin Murphy's arrangements on this album but of all his brilliant work, this might be my favourite. <3


15. Be Still

One of the shortest songs Celtic Woman has ever done (I think Hush Little Baby was the shortest). This is a really beautiful slow song with excellent harmony! I'm not sure if this was the intent, but the fact that the song is so short, made me cherish and appreciate every moment of it even more. I love it! <3


16. Going Home

The last song on the digital version of the album is another favourite from the Homecoming Tour. This was soooooooo epic live at Johnstown Castle! They did manage to capture some of that feeling on the album in the bagpipe bridge.

Like Long Journey Home, this song has moments of really satisfying harmony and like it did live at the castle, it made me feel sad that the experience was almost over ... that I would have to leave their beautiful and Ancient Land and go home to mine. While I love my country, there will never be be another experience that will touch me like my trip to Ireland and the time I saw my favourite group in the world perform at a beautiful castle. I think a piece of my heart stayed there in Ireland with them after hearing this song live and hearing it again on the album brings back a lot of amazing memories I'll cherish forever. <3 <3 <3 <3


Comparisons with Voices of Angels and Destiny:

For some reason, my mind wants to compare this album to Voices of Angels and Destiny, which were quite different albums.

For the most part Ancient Land has much lighter orchestration than Voices of Angels. It's a sound reminiscent of Destiny, with some moments of 'bigger' sound that Destiny didn't have. This album (like Destiny), has a much more Irish flavour than Voices of Angels did and has a down-to-earth, traditional feel. Ancient Land is without question more like Destiny than any of the preceding Celtic Woman albums.

Voices of Angels made a point of incorporating powerful orchestration and percussion to achieve an epic sound. When I listened to Voices of Angels for the first time, there were a lot of jaw-dropping moments and I could barely stay in my seat I was so excited. Ancient Land is a different album than Voices of Angels. But what it conceded in terms of spectacular power and sheer exhilaration, it made up for in beauty.

One critique I have of both Ancient Land and Voices and Angels is that in several instances, the backing instrumentals seemed unnecessarily overbalanced, to the point where the girls sounded like they were just singing backing vocals to the instruments. That seemed most noticeable to me in the tracks 'Ancient Land,' 'Follow Me,' and 'Long Journey Home' to name a few. It didn't seem that imbalanced live at the DVD recording. I don't know of if that was a conscious decision made during mixing (or whatever process regulates the volumes of the different sources of sound). I still have a bit of a cold, so it's possible that parts of the sound spectrum are getting muffled more than others, so I'll re-evaluate in a couple of weeks, but it definitely seemed like they dampened some of the vocal parts for the album compared to the instruments.


Megan:

Megan has a warm and soothing voice and she blends in really well with the other girls. It only took me a moment to get used to her sound in place of Susan's familiar voice. I was really hoping they would let Megan show off the full power of her voice in one of her solos to help fans fall immediately in love with her. They didn't fully unleash the power of her voice in this album, but they don't often do that with any of the girls in their solo parts. I think they used her pretty effectively and the beauty of her voice definitely came across on the album.

The more I think about it, there's plenty to love about her voice in this album even though she isn't going into 'Meav mode' with spectacular high notes in her solos. I worry sometimes when new girls join the group that people won't appreciate how amazing the new girl is unless they really let her show off her full range and power right away. A little part of me is always afraid that people will just think: "she's ok, but nothing special." Us devoted fans of course know that Megan is very special. But how sad would it be if fans missed out on appreciating her voice just because Celtic Woman didn't let Megan do enough to show herself off in her debut album with the group.

EDIT: Maybe the choice to have her sing pop songs instead of showing off her classical range and power was a wise one. Megan's voice has soothing beauty to it, but it's also filled with reassuring strength. The style of her solos on the album uses those qualities in her voice. So even if the album doesn't showcase all the astonishing things her voice is capable of, she is a pleasure to listen to.



Reaction?

I'm a bit curious to see how the average fans will react to Ancient Land. I'm certain there will be the usual "where's Lisa and Chloë," "what happened to David Downes" and "it's just not the same" nonsense. Some people won't give it a chance and will miss out on this beautiful music. That's their loss. What I'm most curious about though is what fans will think of the softer sound (including the lack of strong orchestra backing). That was one of the criticisms some people had of Destiny.

I'm also curious how the critics and fellow musicians will react. This album shares a lot of the same qualities as Destiny. I think Destiny got a big boost in attention during Grammy Nominations because its release coincided with the Easter Rising centenary. I don't know if Ancient Land will get nominated or not. It's certainly a great album from a musical and cultural standpoint, but that's not always enough to get it the attention and recognition it deserves.



Overall:

I loved Ancient Land and every time I listen to it, I find myself adoring it even more! There weren't really any songs I didn't like, even though I did think they could have done some things (including the Shenandoah arrangement) even better. I don't think the instrumental volume overpowering the singers at certain points is too big a deal (I hope it isn't for other people either). Overall this is going to be a nice relaxing album for a lot of people. The harmony is great and it has a good balance of rousing, fun songs and slow, enchanting songs.  Hopefully other fans enjoy the album at least as much as I do. Thanks for another great album, Celtic Woman!



Addendum: Ancient Land CD


Cover and Liner Notes:

Now that the album is finally in my hands, I'll write what I thought the moment I saw this album cover artwork while in Ireland: this is my favourite Celtic Woman album cover of all time! The colours are great and the picture of the castle just brings it to a whole new level of epic, given that I was there. The artwork has a warm, somehow soothing quality to it. The pictures of our ladies on the inside of the booklet look gorgeous and they really pop!

Some of the text on the inside of the booklet was a little tricky to see in places where there was dark text against a dark background, but how often am I going to need to read those sections of the liner notes? It's not a big deal at all.

Caroline Nesbitt did the liner artwork / design in case anyone was wondering.


CD Bonus Tracks

The CD version of the album had two bonus tracks compared to the digital version:

   The Enchanted Way

   Ballroom of Romance

Ballroom of Romance was from the Homecoming Tour and The Enchanted Way was a new song.

Both songs did a fantastic job of projecting fun and energy!

These two additional songs actually add quite a bit to the album. The digital album had a soft sound overall. With these two extra songs, the album now has a lot of upbeat numbers, adding more balance to its remarkable variety:

- Homeland
- Follow Me
- Tara's Tunes
- Garden of Eden
- The Enchanted Way
- Ballroom of Romance

The two bonus songs are top notch and it is definitely worth getting the CD to hear them!


Overall Impression

I never thought I would say this but for me, this album is in a dead head heat right now with A New Journey as my favourite album ever! It's certainly top 2 if not alone at the top.

There's so many new songs to fall in love with. It has some really beautiful slow songs and lots of songs with great energy too!

If you haven't heard "The Enchanted Way" or "The Ballroom of Romance" (the two bonus tracks from the CD), I think you'll love them. They're so much fun!

For those getting the album (and those that have already received it), look at the liner notes. There was something in there that was so beautiful I almost cried. I hope what Mairead said at the show on night 1 makes it to the DVD, I really do. <3

I hope you enjoy, everyone! The girls are so proud of this album and they should be. In my opinion, it's some of Celtic Woman's most beautiful work.

<3 <3 <3 <3
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: ShiningBright on September 28, 2018, 12:20:14 PM
I like it very much, but I still have some mixed feelings about it. I actually liked it more when just listening to bits of the songs, rather than the whole album. Not that I don't like it - it's one of their best albums of the last years. Some of the songs are exceptionally beautiful, especially Women of Ireland and Ae Fond Kiss. The songs are very traditional, very little pop, which is a great plus in my opinion, and the line up fits together very, very well. Megan sounds as though she'd been with the group for years, and all performers have very equal positions, nobody taking over the "leading" role. The album is very balanced, almost too balanced, as the arrangements blend with each other beautifully, but a little bit too smoothly. There is no real highlight, no real vibrance or power or joy throughout the entire album. That's my only complaint and that's been my complaint ever since David Downes left. Gavin Murphy is very skilled and I don't want to talk badly about him, but he doesn't have, well, whatever it is that Downes has. The music of Celtic Woman has matured, it is sleeker, smoother, and more controlled than its ever been. It's not very characteristic anymore, which is mentioned often by other fans, and usually - sadly, and incorrectly! - blamed on the new women. I've always been open to changes in the group, and I day say, it's usually much easier for a fan to deal with the change of a man behind the scenes, rather than the women on stage, but while I admire Murphy's arrangements and compositions for Celtic Woman as beautiful pieces of music, they never really clicked with me the way Celtic Woman usually did and should do. This album is a big improvement from Destiny, which was very good, but also unelegant (I'm not really counting Voices of Angels and Homecoming, since those are basically best ofs with a few new songs) but it still has its, for the lack of a better word, exhaustion. It's not as intense or powerful as Celtic Woman used to be, and I would like to mention, that I don't mean this in regards to the speed or volume of the songs. Its something beyond the actual music that I can't really describe. The instruments are very well-arranged, and the choir is beautiful. I also like how Megan's voice filled a sort of gap between Éabha and Mairéad's voices, in terms of range and volume, which gave the vocals on the group songs a lot of body and depth. Doing new versions of fiddle solos as vocal songs was a very nice idea, which already worked very well with In the Bleak Midwinter. I already mentioned Women of Ireland, but I would like to say again that I really love that song, always wanted them to sing it, and very much like their version - the arrangement is lovely, and surprisingly unusual, considering my complaint about Murphy's style just a few lines above. It's definitely his best arrangement in my opinion so far. That, and Moonlough Shore, which also had very good instrumentals. My favourite solos, respectively, were Ae Fond Kiss,, Moonlough Shore, Shenandoah and Love & Honor, my favourite group songs, aside from the one I've mentioned twice, were Going Home, Long Journey Home, and Be Still. The weakest song, in my opinion, was Homeland. Aside from the Christmas albums, which are very dear to me, I'd say this is my third favourite album, after A New Journey and Celtic Woman. It's a very calming album, a very - a funny word for music - elegant. And the group sounds incredible together!


Ancient Land
A very good, ethereal, dark opening. I feel like Tara's began to fiddle in a different style, lower and darker. A very nice sound with original quality. The vocals are a bit monotonous, but that does have a nice effect. Good way to start the album.

Homeland
I suppose they wanted to include it, since it was an important part of the last tour, and because it is a very nice original. However, I do think it doesn't fit well into this album. I don't mind it in the least.

Moorlough Shore
Very good arrangement, and a very good way for Éabha to show off her unusual voice! This could also have been a song for Órlagh in the original show, dark, and blue, and deep. A very good mystical song, and a very good first solo. Most of the album has a light, warm feel to it, this one if the opposite.

Follow Me
Méav co-wrote this, and it's really unusual! It sounds very modern, but at the same time very Celtic. A nice crossover, stylistically, and a refreshing original. It could have been written for a movie or video game, by the sound of it, which is very cool. The only low point is that it doesn't have enough intensity for its speed.

County Down
A very pleasant, sweet song, very well done by Mairéad. Nothing outstanding, but surely a lovely, easy little song.

Love & Honor
A beautiful, bittersweet violin solo for Tara. As mentioned before, I think Tara's style changed with this album - or for this album - to a darker, fuller tone. It's very interesting and original. I wonder what else she's got upher sleeve.

Mná Na hÉireann (Women Of Ireland)
My favourite song from this album, and one of my favourite Celtic songs in general. An unusual, beautiful arrangements, and gorgeous vocals of our girls!

Sive
As fun as always, very nice, I like it! No, seriously, it's always great and I love the instrumental intro!

Shenandoah
I love Megan's voice, and I love this song! The arrangement is perfect, delightfully simple and natural, showcasing Megan's voice without pushing it. A very good version of a classic.

Long Journey Home
This song very much showcases the group harmony, and Megan Walsh's quality and wide range. The way she used her voice in her first line in this song reminded me a little of, I don't know, Joan Baez, maybe? That lovely sound she made when she sang "ascend the ladder" was just a little thing, but somehow my highlight of the song. It's a gorgeous song, besides, and probably my second favourite on the album.

Tara's Tunes
Tara's the first CWutie to have her own Tunes, and her name in the title! That's something, to say the least. Delightful as always.

Ae Fond Kiss
My favourite solo song. It's absolutely beautiful, and my favourite Mairéad Carlin solo - aside from Scarlet Ribbons, which have a personal meaning for me. I love the way she, well, told the song. I know this is a strange way to put this, but I often feel she has a very compassionated and tender way of singing the lyrics of her songs.

Faith's Song
An unusually contemporary song for this album, and a very good one too, even though I dare say it isn't really my taste. Megan did a very good job though.

Garden of Eden
Éabha wrote this! And she did so amazingly well, as well as performing it. As with Faith's Song, this one just doesn't fit my taste too well, at least not upon hearing it only a few times. It's very nice still.

Be Still
Very lovely, very original, very short. A little gem, that song.

Going Home
Probably the highlight of the last tour, finally on an album. Beautiful as always.
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: GlenS on September 28, 2018, 12:38:02 PM
Hmmm im on the 2nd time thru the cd and im still on the fence I love that it's mostly new music but im thinking it's a little on the slower side compared to the past and im not sure if all the songs are the right pick for the singer I know David would have used the girls voices and showed there strengths and I can't say this is true with the picks here Mairead is such a powerful singer and it's not being showed here and Megan show us her strengths and what she can do and it's not here. Im working in the house today so I have the cd in my surround sound system and it's at 30 out of 45 so it's about 750 watts right now so im listening to this louder then at a show so I can here everything This Pioneer system is great. Don't get me wrong I love the songs and how the girls did on them they are great but do I think they could have done a better job picking the songs Yes and I know most of the songs were written for them by Gavin and im glad one of the girls own music is making the show way to go Eabha. There are times also that the background sings are over powering and drowned out the girls this should never happen. I wonder if this digital release was done to get some ideas as to what people liked and disliked and maybe fix before it gets mastered and sent to cd.. But again this is my opinion so don't hang me out to dry
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: CWazyTom on September 28, 2018, 02:04:47 PM
Hmmm im on the 2nd time thru the cd and im still on the fence I love that it's mostly new music but im thinking it's a little on the slower side compared to the past and im not sure if all the songs are the right pick for the singer I know David would have used the girls voices and showed there strengths and I can't say this is true with the picks here Mairead is such a powerful singer and it's not being showed here and Megan show us her strengths and what she can do and it's not here. Im working in the house today so I have the cd in my surround sound system and it's at 30 out of 45 so it's about 750 watts right now so im listening to this louder then at a show so I can here everything This Pioneer system is great. Don't get me wrong I love the songs and how the girls did on them they are great but do I think they could have done a better job picking the songs Yes and I know most of the songs were written for them by Gavin and im glad one of the girls own music is making the show way to go Eabha. There are times also that the background sings are over powering and drowned out the girls this should never happen. I wonder if this digital release was done to get some ideas as to what people liked and disliked and maybe fix before it gets mastered and sent to cd.. But again this is my opinion so don't hang me out to dry

It sounds like we shared some of the same thoughts. The weirdest thing to me was how the singers sounded drowned out in a few places. It's the second post-David-Downes album where that's happened and I'm really not sure what to make of it, whether it was done intentionally or not.

I feel like I just want to try to ignore it because I don't want it to affect my enjoyment of the album.

I don't dislike any songs on the album and love most of them. Overall, I'm quite happy with this. It's definitely a softer album, but I don't mind that. I think it's really pretty. I can tell this is going to be one of those albums I love more and more as I keep listening to it.
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: ShiningBright on September 28, 2018, 02:34:09 PM
Out of pure laziness, I am just going to copypaste what I've written in the old forum, as a response to member White Rose:

Quote
Yes, it's [exhausted] a bad word. I guess what I mean is that... everything is as good as before, in matters of quality. The voices are beautiful, so are the instruments, the songs chosen, everything. Gavin Murphy is a very skilled musician. And yet, ever since David Downes left and he took his place, something sounds different, and I can't say "this or that is wrong" because nothing of that sort really is. It's not even that they are plain - some of David's songs are arranged in an almost minimalistic way, and some of Gavin Murphy's have a big orchestra and some really unusual sounds and ideas in between. They are amazingly good, there are some of his arrangements that I even prefer over David's. And yet, something very often feels somehow "off." As though some kind of special energy and intensity was lacking, but not in how fast or loud of full the music is. It's like David Downes always put a melody beneath the one we actually hear, some sound of hidden power that makes them what they are, while Gavin Murphy's music simply is the music it is. Ancient Land is the first album to somehow break out of this, with Long Journey Home, for example. But it's only now touching the surface. Destiny had very good songs and arrangements, but it was at the same time underwhelmingly flat and jolty. Voices of Angels (and Homecoming) was very polished and elegant, and mature, every sound matching the one before. Some of the new arrangements of older songs - like Mo Ghile Mear or Dúlaman - are good example of what I mean: they are even faster and louder, and more complex than the original arrangements, absolutely gorgeous, too, and fitting the songs very well, but at the same time they feel somehow less energized, less lively. It doesn't make sense, but that's what I feel. Another thing I feel is that David Downes basically "tailored" the songs to fit the singers (and the fiddler) while Gavin Murphy does the opposite, making the performers - who are doing their best - adjust to the arrangements he makes. Of course, that's only speculation, based on my impression, since I don't know what's going on inside their heads and really don't want to make any sort of insinuation.
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: CWazyTom on September 28, 2018, 06:53:57 PM
@ShiningBright your review is really insightful. Thank you!
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: CWazyTom on September 28, 2018, 08:37:27 PM
I listened to Ancient Land again tonight while I was a little more awake than the first time I listened. I definitely loved it even more the second time!

I need to re-work my initial notes / review for this at some point because after re-reading it today, I realized that it turned into a mess during the wee hours of the morning.

I ported ShiningBright's poll over to this forum. I tweaked it slightly to allow the choice of 4 favourite songs because I found choosing only 3 very difficult for this album.

I think more than any previous Celtic Woman album or solo album, I loved almost all the songs equally. There were many songs I loved, but not a clear #1 or even an easy choice of top 3 or 4. Looking forward to seeing what everyone thinks!
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: Tracie on September 29, 2018, 01:14:56 AM
I listened to Ancient Land all the way through five times today. I love this album so much! I think it's so incredibly beautiful! I honestly haven't noticed the instrumentals overpowering the vocals the way a few of you have. I put my vote in for my top four songs and it was really difficult to choose. I could easily select any of the album's songs to be top four. Listening to this album today kept bringing up thoughts of being in the audience at Johnstown Castle just two weeks ago. What an amazing experience!
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: VegasDavid on September 29, 2018, 04:49:21 AM
I appreciated reading all the detailed thoughts you guys shared.  And thanks to Tom for telling us the individual names of Tara's three tunes.  (Did you just know those tunes, or did you use your special line to Tara, or what?)

🏆 Mná Na hÉireann was my favorite song when I saw the live DVD recording–the only one I marked with a star in my notes).  After listening to the album, I stand by that choice.  I really like how they bring in the singers once at a time: Éabha sings a solo.  Then Mairéad sings a solo with Éabha providing some harmony behind her for certain words.  Then Megan sings a solo with the other two providing harmony.  Then they all sing together for a bit.  I love it!  (I'm glad ShiningBright agrees with me on this song!)

I remember during the DVD recording, the girls were standing in this cool diagonal line.  Megan had to stand there for a while before joining the song at 3:00.

I actually liked this song before I knew Celtic Woman was going to sing it.  Google Play Music exposed me to an instrumental version, starring a flute, by "The Celtic Orchestra" on some compilation album named Songs and Music from Cork (Classics from Rebel County) (https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/album/Bwnyxppuoo7dtcjzkq7aaxar7pq/Various+Artists/Songs+and+Music+from+Cork+(Classics+from+the+Rebel+County)).  I liked this song enough that I decided to put it at the beginning of my "Celtic Women" playlist (followed immediately by three versions of Now We Are Free 😊).  Since the name is in Gaelic, I didn't really commit it to memory, and I only realized a few days after the DVD recording that these two performances I liked had the same name and melody.

🥈 Moorlough Shore is my second favorite.  I enjoy Éabha's haunting vocals and the overall composition.  I agree it would have been a great Órla song in years past.  The crisp, loud sound of the four drummers from the pipe band during the DVD recording was really awesome, but unfortunately that sound isn't really there in the album (those notes are softer and maybe made by a synthesizer).

🎹 Ancient Land: I really love the starting notes to this song, especially the weird buzzing drum sound.  I agree that the vocals are not the point of this song, and that's OK.

💃 I feel like Follow Me and Going Home have good, consistent energy, like dance songs.

The other songs that earned a thumbs up from me at this point are: Sive, Tara's Tunes, Faith's Song, and Garden of Eden.

I guess you can tell I like a more ethereal, reflective, calm song, as long as it still has a good beat.  Homeland is too upbeat and poppy for me, but I hope it does well for them on the radio.
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: ShiningBright on September 29, 2018, 05:51:06 AM
Quote from: VegasDavid
The crisp, loud sound of the four drummers from the pipe band during the DVD recording was really awesome, but unfortunately that sound isn't really there in the album (those notes are softer and maybe made by a synthesizer).

Thought an dhoped so! The dvds are always more lively than the cds.
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: CWazyTom on September 29, 2018, 11:40:09 AM
thanks to Tom for telling us the individual names of Tara's three tunes.  (Did you just know those tunes, or did you use your special line to Tara, or what?)

I don't know about any special line, but yes, I did get that list from Tara.  :)
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: celtic4life on September 29, 2018, 02:13:40 PM
Mná Na hÉireann (Women Of Ireland) kept sounding familiar to me. I've heard Mairead sing it before but couldn't figure out when and where. I pulled out my notes from past tours and found she sung part of it as a solo during the Destiny tour. It was slower and Mairead N played the violin on it as well.
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: CWazyTom on October 01, 2018, 08:16:49 PM
The first time I listened, I wasn't sure they had let Megan show off her spectacular voice enough. I was worried the general audience wouldn't appreciate how good she is. But every time I listen, I find something new and wonderful to appreciate in the way she sings. And I'm not the only one. <3
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: CWazyTom on October 26, 2018, 08:27:33 PM
I added the two bonus tracks from the CD version of Ancient Land to the poll.

You should be able to modify your vote if you so choose!
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: CWazyTom on October 26, 2018, 08:49:53 PM
Cover and Liner Notes:

Now that the album is finally in my hands, I'll write what I thought the moment I saw this album cover artwork while in Ireland: this is my favourite Celtic Woman album cover of all time! The colours are great and the picture of the castle just brings it to a whole new level of epic, given that I was there. The artwork has a warm, somehow soothing quality to it. The pictures of our ladies on the inside of the booklet look gorgeous and they really pop!

Some of the text on the inside of the booklet was a little tricky to see in places where there was dark text against a dark background, but how often am I going to need to read those sections of the liner notes? It's not a big deal at all.

Caroline Nesbitt did the liner artwork / design in case anyone was wondering.


CD Bonus Tracks

The CD version of the album had two bonus tracks compared to the digital version:

   The Enchanted Way

   Ballroom of Romance

Ballroom of Romance was from the Homecoming Tour and The Enchanted Way was a new song.

Both songs did a fantastic job of projecting fun and energy!

These two additional songs actually add quite a bit to the album. The digital album had a soft sound overall. With these two extra songs, the album now has a lot of upbeat numbers, adding more balance to its remarkable variety:

- Homeland
- Follow Me
- Tara's Tunes
- Garden of Eden
- The Enchanted Way
- Ballroom of Romance

The two bonus songs are top notch and it is definitely worth getting the CD to hear them!


Overall Impression

I never thought I would say this but for me, this album is in a dead head heat right now with A New Journey as my favourite album ever! It's certainly top 2 if not alone at the top.

There's so many new songs to fall in love with. It has some really beautiful slow songs and lots of songs with great energy too!

If you haven't heard "The Enchanted Way" or "The Ballroom of Romance" (the two bonus tracks from the CD), I think you'll love them. They're so much fun!

For those getting the album (and those that have already received it), look at the liner notes. There was something in there that was so beautiful I almost cried. I hope what Mairead said at the show on night 1 makes it to the DVD, I really do. <3

I hope you enjoy, everyone! The girls are so proud of this album and they should be. In my opinion, it's some of Celtic Woman's most beautiful work. <3 <3 <3 <3
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: CWazyTom on October 31, 2018, 06:54:48 PM
Hopefully they get my Amazon review published soon. It's been a couple of days.

I want people to see it soon and I hope I wrote it well enough to help Celtic Woman sell some albums.
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: CWazyTom on October 31, 2018, 11:37:53 PM
Maybe the choice to have Megan sing pop songs at medium registers instead of showing off her classical range and power was a wise one. Megan's voice has soothing beauty to it, but it's also filled with reassuring strength. The style of her solos on the album use those qualities in her voice. So even if the album doesn't showcase all the astonishing things her voice is capable of, she is a pleasure to listen to.

By the way, my Amazon review is finally up!

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/customer-reviews/R27MLZ84V7FA5X/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B07GW3XF7Y

In addition to quick delivery, getting a copy from Amazon was important because it facilitated getting a verified purchaser review up. It's not US Amazon and in hightsight, that would have been a better (though more expensive) choice for getting the review seen by people clicking on the album within Amazon. But Google should get people to it so it should still help.
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: Tracie on November 01, 2018, 08:31:01 AM
Excellent review Tom!
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: CWazyTom on November 01, 2018, 09:43:24 AM
Excellent review Tom!

Thanks!
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: mattycakes on November 01, 2018, 04:14:01 PM
I voted for the 4 that are my faves and that I keep singing along to.

Speaking of which, any chance we can get the lyrics to Follow Me? It's my favorite song and I wanna know what they're singing!
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: CWazyTom on November 02, 2018, 02:32:42 PM
I just read someone's comment on one of Celtic Woman's Facebook posts that the harmony on Ancient Land was no good.

Uh...what exactly were they listening to???  :P

I know people have different tastes and I don't want to judge, but how is the harmony on Mná Na hÉireann, Homeland, Long Journey Home, etc. not good???  ::)

I'm unsure where they're coming from.

I don't know what they were expecting to hear, but the harmony seemed pretty awesome to me.
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: Johnjumps1903 on November 02, 2018, 05:14:11 PM
I just read someone's comment on one of Celtic Woman's Facebook posts that the harmony on Ancient Land was no good.

Uh...what exactly were they listening to???  :P

I know people have different tastes and I don't want to judge, but how is the harmony on Mná Na hÉireann, Homeland, Long Journey Home, etc. not good???  ::)

I'm unsure where they're coming from.

I don't know what they were expecting to hear, but the harmony seemed pretty awesome to me.
Oh yeah i saw that as well. She’s clearly someone who cant accept that the new members have left...🤨
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: CWazyTom on November 02, 2018, 05:27:13 PM
I just read someone's comment on one of Celtic Woman's Facebook posts that the harmony on Ancient Land was no good.

Uh...what exactly were they listening to???  :P

I know people have different tastes and I don't want to judge, but how is the harmony on Mná Na hÉireann, Homeland, Long Journey Home, etc. not good???  ::)

I'm unsure where they're coming from.

I don't know what they were expecting to hear, but the harmony seemed pretty awesome to me.
Oh yeah i saw that as well. She’s clearly someone who cant accept that the new members have left...🤨

I feel sad that some people don't even give it a chance, or give it a chance and just don't like it for some reason.

But it really riles me up when people start saying stuff that I strongly disagree with (and don't understand).

While seeing people criticize the performers is the most hurtful thing to me, criticism the harmony (a quality pivotal to the group's success over the years), is probably even more damaging overall. It could discourage people from even getting the album or giving it a listen online. It just take one person spreading that kind of stuff to dissuade hundreds or thousands of casual or on-the-fence fans from getting it.

People have a right to their opinions, but some of those comments really offend me.
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: Tracie on November 02, 2018, 07:14:15 PM
I saw that comment too and do not understand it at all. What in the world were they listening to? The harmony is outstanding! I try to remind myself that people can have their own opinions, but reading those hurtful comments upsets and offends me too.
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: CWazyTom on November 03, 2018, 08:59:02 PM
I must say, though, that in spite of a few dissenting opinions, most of the reactions to this album I've seen have been quite positive. ;D
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: VegasDavid on November 18, 2018, 12:19:55 AM
It's nice to see that Mná Na hÉireann is winning the poll with 8 votes right now.  Éabha, Megan, Mairéad, and Tara also said it is their unanimous favorite song in this recent video:

https://youtu.be/aToIzcllxHc?t=2m57s
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: Kevin R.I. on November 21, 2018, 02:10:12 PM
I`m with Tracie...I LOVE the whole album...EVERY song.......Have it in the car and listen to it daily.....LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!.....one of their bests....and I`ve been listening to them for 9 years. My neighbor`s daughter, Sasha(a.k.a. the Keltic Kazackh), likes it , too. Absolutely can`t wait to see them perform it next April  in person.
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: Tracie on November 21, 2018, 10:36:20 PM
Love love love this album! My desire to listen to it over and over and over on repeat has not faded and it's been out nearly 2 months.  Every song is amazing! Yeah, I'll be watching the concert over and over and over as soon as it's in my DVR next week!
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: Evening Star on November 24, 2018, 07:26:34 PM
It's really hard picking just 4 favorite songs from Ancient Land! All of the songs on the album are so amazing!
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: GlenS on November 27, 2018, 05:04:19 PM
I got to watch the show for the first time last night and really thought it was great im thinking I like it better then most of the other shows. I think Megan is going to give Mairead a run for the strongest voice she has a great stage presents. I think the sales of the CD's and DVDs will sore now that the show is being shown
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: Kevin R.I. on November 28, 2018, 02:28:48 PM
I totally agree....the new show is great ....as is the latest CD. If any of the CW "regulars" see it and listen to it , they`ll be "hooked'. The latest album /CD is one of their bests ....and I have them all and have seen them in live shows since 2009 so I `ve been following them for a long enough time to add my "2 cents worth"..go see one of their shows, it`s money well spent and you will NEVER be disappointed.
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: rfcw on December 04, 2018, 06:08:21 PM
I Am sinking in & LOVING This Album so Much
To me I'd call it Majestic!

I re Voted for Favorite 4! 💗

Enchanted Way has all girls I Assume (reading this).

The Linear Note CwazyTom pointed out is something to look forward!.

I Love All CW Albums! Bottom Of My Heart ❤
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: CWazyTom on September 06, 2019, 01:24:25 AM
Celtic Woman: Ancient Land (Deluxe) - Album Writeup

Spoilers Below!!!
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The new tracks are fantastic!

The Deluxe version is a digital-only album consisting of 27 tracks and has a running time of about 1 hour 39 minutes.

All the new tracks come at the end of the album.

It includes all 18 songs from the CD (including 2 which were not available on the digital album before):
1. The Enchanted Way
2. Ballroom of Romance

As those of us who have the CD or DVD/Blu-ray know, they are both excellent songs and very fun to listen to. Ballroom of Romance is one of my all-time favorite Celtic Woman ceili songs!

There are 9 new songs that weren't on the CD.

1. Newgrange (tour)
2. Orinoco Flow (tour)
3. Fields of Gold (tour)
4. Bean Pháidín (tour)
5. Over the Rainbow (DVD)
6. Siúil A Rúin (DVD)
7. Amazing Grace (DVD)
8. Danny Boy (DVD)
9. The Parting Glass (DVD)

For those counting, that's 11 additional tracks compared to the regular digital version of the album!


Newgrange

Mairead Carlin sounds amazing! This is the version from the Ancient Land tour with a few tweaks. The Ancient Land arrangement is epic and by far my favorite version of the song. Orla's version from A New Journey was haunting and extremely good. But Mairead's voice is so spectacular that it takes the song to a completely different level!

That said, the version on the Deluxe album wasn't perfect. There were two peculiar mixing choices:

1. There was a low frequency vibration injected into parts of the song. It reminded me a bit of the soundtrack from Inception. I think they were going for some sort of ominous undertone, but I thought it sounded a little weird and even a little distracting.

2. Mairead's voice level was, in my opinion, too low relative to the instrumental backing. Her voice was the highlight of the song during the tour as it should have been. She blew my mind all 4 times I heard her sing this live. EDIT: In the deluxe album version, her voice was close to a reasonable level when she was singing words, but when she went into epic humming mode, it seemed her level was dramatically reduced. In the version on the Deluxe album, even when she was belting out the climax of the song, it almost seemed like her voice played a supporting role. Was that supposed to represent the distant and faded memory of an ancient culture or something? Regardless of the reason, if it was done by choice, I think it was by far the worst decision they made on the album (except for maybe that deep vibration sound I mentioned). EDIT: I think it still could have worked if the magnitude of imbalance wasn't so dramatic. I love the actual song arrangement, but the mixing in this song didn't work for me at all. All the other new songs turned out fantastic. I don't know what happened with this one.

Over the Rainbow

This was the other track in which the vocal levels were slightly underpowered relative to the backing instrumentals. EDIT: This one was far more subtle, but it's almost like at the end of the song, when they were in "epic humming" mode, their voices started getting suppressed, almost as if there was some sort of amplitude gate that kicked in and reduced the volume on their voices once they reached a certain threshold. That said, it was pretty minor in this track and I still loved the way it sounded.

Fields of Gold

Some of the Classic Celtic Woman fans might hate me for saying this, but this is my all-time favorite version of the song. Lisa Kelly and Anabel Sweeney both did a fantastic job. But I thought the arrangement from Songs from the Heart didn't let Lisa do enough with the song. Anabel got to perform the song on Homecoming with a lot of emotion. But with the Ancient Land arrangement, I thought Megan got the most out of just about every note. <3

Orinoco Flow

The version from the Ancient Land tour. I may sound like I'm repeating myself, but this is once again my all-time favorite arrangement of the song. It features an excellent use of percussion, orchestration, and the voices of our lovely leading ladies.

Siúil A Rúin

EDIT: This was the arrangement from the DVD and tour and it was really fun to listen to! I loved the pleasant and enchanting combination of Eabha's voice, Tara's harp, and Eabha's tin whistle.

Amazing Grace, Danny Boy, and The Parting Glass are essentially the same arrangements we've heard on tour over the past few years. Very, very good arrangements! All three recordings are excellent!



Bean Pháidín

This arrangement is soooo much fun to listen to! There are a lot of sub-tunes that surface during the song and they're all amazing! Not just my favorite ever version of the song, it's one of my all-time favorite Celtic Woman songs! While I thought the Destiny version was really good, this one is totally different and it's better than I could have ever imagined.

Overall

All the new tracks are great, although I think different mixing decisions on Newgrange and Over the Rainbow could have made them even better. In spite of some of the tracks not being perfect, the new tracks were so good overall that they've broken the first place deadlock in my head between Ancient Land and A New Journey.

The Ancient Land deluxe album is now alone at the top as my favorite album ever!!!



P.S. I'm adding the new tracks to the poll!
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: Tracie on September 06, 2019, 07:38:26 AM
Great write-up Tom! It was so worth staying up past midnight to listen to the new songs right after they released. I don't know how to even put into words how much I love all of them. They are beyond incredible! Ancient Land is absolutely my favorite album, dvd and tour, and I am soooooo happy to have seen it live so many times, including the dvd filming and at Red Rocks!

As for this updated poll, I'm going to have to ponder for awhile. How in the world do I pick only five songs out of 27 phenomenal choices!?
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: VegasDavid on September 06, 2019, 10:24:55 AM
I agree that Mairéad Carlin should be a lot louder in Newgrange!  It's kind of the like how I said the pipe band's drummers should be a lot louder in Moorlough Shore.

I like how clear everything is on these new tracks; I can hear all the parts and I was able to make out new words in Bean Pháidín that I could not hear in the live version.

The new Fields of Gold is great!  I can see what Tom is saying about Megan making the most out of every note.  But I think I love Lisa Kelly's from Songs from the Heart more.  I love how the vocals and arrangement get really epic at 2:22 ("Many years have passed") and then again at 3:00 in the SFTH version.  The buildup before 2:22, with the choir singing and Lisa doing non-lyrical notes is really nice too.  Another notable difference is the poppy drum beat, which is louder and more regular in the Ancient Land version.  I would have made it softer, but I suppose the way they did it is good if you want to dance!

Tom, you didn't mention Siúil A Rúin.
Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: rfcw on September 06, 2019, 01:18:18 PM
I have not heard listened or listened to Newgrange or the others yet, only Orinoco Flow and now Bean Phaden! Just to keep something fresh for day to day.

Perhaps Newgrange was to not overtake Orla.
My favorite version of Mairead C was the Emerald/10th version. Although my favorite was Alex's and so rare she could record us share a studio along with her epic CW version of The Voice to us without being a current member, wonder if that was CW behind that or not I dunno.

Lisa Kelly version of Fields of Gold is perfect to me a love than the original artist. It may not been extended like she did on tour but it's her own. I love the extended version of True Colors Alex did on IOH Tour whereas the SFTH version was perfect it felt short much shorter than Lisa's Field's of Gold.

I wasn't for anyone singing Fields of Gold unless it was a newer version. I'm excluding The Voice with Susan, Alex and Newgrange with Mairead C, Alex and Caledonia- Susan because their voices and singing made their own so the same instrumentation they brought a new life and you never for once stuck thought on Lisa K or Orla when they sang it! So even though Megan is third, it suits the right choice like Newgrange suits Mairead C, Eabha- Isle of Hope, and Alex- The Voice and Lynn-Scarborough Fair.

I like to know what your thoughts are now for the 2017 Orinoco Flow as much as CW is finally studio ing their tour songs what took them so long!! All the Orinoco Flow versions might as well be released meaning the 2017 version also it had jazz, guitar, magic and aurora.

Title: Re: Ancient Land Album: Reviews and Thoughts
Post by: rfcw on September 06, 2019, 01:29:49 PM
Update I listened!

There is vibrating zoin in Newgrange that's giving me a headache. The background instrumentation is definitely wanting to show Newgrange is Newgrange not Her no matter she Mairead wants to tell the story. ;D yikes
Way overdue agreed Cwazytom CW songs are to relax, sleep, dream, or joy, dance and enjoy. That background effect is
unpleasant and I just picked it up in one second!
Fields of Gold Megan is too different style than Lisa Kelly's to even compare for me. There both excellent.. Same factor when opting to try compare who is best at The Voice Lisa K, Alex, Susan, or even Meav!