Amazon.com Fueled by healthy public appetite for traditional melodies and quasi-ethnic roots, the crossover genre continues to flourish with this debut release from Ireland's Celtic Woman ensemble. The brainchild of Sharon Browne, Dave Kavanaugh (founders of Ireland's successful Celtic Collections label) and young Riverdance touring company musical director David Downes, CW's five young women musicians and vocalists offer up an ever pleasant, Eire-savvy fusion of folk, pop and classical influences. Avoiding the intrusive, club-beat/sex kitten window dressing of Bond, the ensemble tackles material that ranges from the expected (spare, lovely covers of "Danny Boy" and "Ave Maria") to more adventurous fare like "Nella Fantasia" (Ennio Morricone's vocal adaptation of his rapturous theme from The Mission) and Enya's "Orinoco Flow." Elsewhere, "The Butterfly" offers up fiddle-fueled take on their Riverdance parallels (which also get a workout on the live bonus tracks), if renditions of Downes' originals like "One World" and "Send Me a Song" and "Someday" from Disney's animated Hunchback of Notre Dame hew slavishly to the middle of the road -- which largely seems the album's easy-listening intention. --Jerry McCulley
Customer Reviews:
Angelic soundsNovember 13, 2008 H. L. Sides(Grays Chapel, NC) This album, in short, is a great conglomeration of different Irish music and instruments native to the land. The voices of these ladies can only be compared to angels and the sweet, soft vibrato of their harmonic sounds blend so well together!
HeavenlyOctober 17, 2008 Jackie Evett(Australia) This CD costantly holds your attention it has a mix of rhythms and is lifted by heaenly voices. Those tunes which are not already familiar, soon become so. When you can loose your inhibitions this Cd is great to sing-along and dance to. Joyfull enough to cheer up the saddest day and a classic.
Gorgeous voices!September 10, 2008 Angela(Snohomish, WA) Don't know how I happened to stumble across this find but I'm very glad I did. I love celtic music and this is a great CD to ad to your collection I think. Different takes on the folk songs are very interesting. Some I personally feel ruin the songs, others its just nice to hear. If you want to listen to beautiful voices and songs this CD is for you!
Beautiful musicSeptember 5, 2008 Robert Wise(Dallas, TX USA) My wife and 4-year old daughter love this music, too. We've been to see the group in concert - well worth the money.
celtic musicAugust 16, 2008 Toby L. Gamble(USA) I am sceptic of what people call celtic music today but this cd of celtic woman brings out the true celt in us all.If you enjoy the sounds of the celtic artist Enya then you will enjoy this cd.
