Celtic Woman - A New Journey (Deluxe Package w/bonus tracks + Irish charm)
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Celtic WomanBrand: CELTIC WOMAN
Edition: Music CD
Format: Extra tracks
CD Release Date: 2007-01-30
Music Label: Manhattan Records
Soundtracks:
- The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun
- The Prayer
- Newgrange
- Over The Rainbow
- Granuaile's Dance
- The Blessing
- Dúlaman
- Beyond The Sea
- The Last Rose of Summer
- Caledonia
- Laschia Ch'io Pianga
- Carrickfergus
- Vivaldi's Rain
- The Voice
- carborough Fair
- o Ghile MearBonus Tracks:
- Sing Out!
- Shenandoah - The Pacific Slope (Live from Slane Castle)
- At The Céili (Live from Slane Castle)
- Spanish Lady (Live from Slane Castle)
Free Music Notes for A New Journey (Deluxe Package w/bonus tracks + Irish charm)
Free Music Review: A New Journey Indeed
Hit: 5 Stars
For those who are unfamiliar with Celtic Woman, it was a group that reached the spotlight with the help of PBS, which aired it several years ago as part of its artists exposure programs and was quickly overwhelmed by viewer feedback that created a world tour and generated enough buzz to bring them farther along. At the moment, their eponymous debut and a Christmas album share the top two spots on the Billboard World Music charts. Their debut also hit platinum last month.
With the launch of new CDs after a long span of extraordinary success, listeners are always slightly nervous about what will be released. The first tastes of A New Journey were in PBS's airing of the August concerts in Slane Castle last December, and for those who saw it and loved it as I did, the CD is not much else than most of the Slane program studio-recorded and mixed/edited/etc. As someone who watched the PBS showing probably too much, there wasn't anything surprising or new on the CD (the only songs that were not in the PBS special are The Blessing and Vivaldi's Rain, the latter of which was released on one of the CW solo albums).
That doesn't mean anything to those who missed Slane or just want to have the songs on CD. The music is a blend of genres, a sound quite unique to Celtic Woman. There are relatively few numbers that actually befit their name, such as Dulaman and Newgrange. The CW sound is more of a new-age-meets-classical-with-modern-Celtic-splash. A fair number of the tracks are original compositions by David Downes (and several others such as Brendan Graham and the fiddler Mairead Nesbitt to name a few). What makes CW so successful in the US is the use of songs that the American audience is familiar with, such as Beyond the Sea, Scarborough Fair, and Over the Rainbow and adding Celtic touches, like fiddling breaks and Uillean Pipes. And I like the sound. This album throws a lot more rearranged contemporary at you and even tries a few new things.
The group introduces a more classical element to the mix than in the first album with the addition of world-famous New Zealander Hayley Westenra. While Meav, Orla, and Lisa tend towards more Celtic-themed music, the younger members Chloe and Hayley tend towards classical numbers (Lascia Ch'io Pianga and Vivaldi's Rain). While this is not necessarily a bad thing, because Hayley has been one of my favorite singers since the release of "Pure," it does move the group even farther away from the Celtic roots it tries to hold onto. I'm neutral about that, since some of the numbers are great additions, but just a word of warning.
The album opens with a strong number, The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun, a Downes composition with lyrics told from the interesting perspective of the celestial bodies above. It moves quickly into the Prayer, a Chloe solo that many will know from Celine Dion's duet rendition. The song shows quite well how her voice has matured since Walking in the Air several years ago. She is still only 17 or 18 and has a ways to go, but I like her more than I did in the original. Newgrange is more mysterious, throwing a Celtic curveball that challenges the listener to think about the ancient history of the Celtic lands. Over the Rainbow is going to be a number that you either love or hate. It's a 4-part acapella arrangement that is quite beautiful, but some might just be sick of the song.
Granuaile's Dance introduces one of the purely instrumental pieces, an original composition by Downes and the performer Mairead. Those with the DVD are in for a treat, as her playstyle is unique and a joy to watch. The Blessing is a more religious number with Celtic touches, a Lisa solo not that serves a similar role as Send Me a Song did in the debut. Dulaman is the most Celtic, a barrage of Irish Gaelic sung by the superb Meav (my favorite of the 5). Look up the lyrics if you can and the cultural context of Dulaman ("seaweed") and you're in for something interesting. Beyond the Sea is one of my favorites and a perfect example of contemporary meets Celtic. Downes' arrangement is wonderful and something different from Sinatra. The beautiful Irish air the Last Rose of Summer gets wonderful treatment in a duet between Hayley and Meav and Caledonia is a very beautiful Scottish ballad. Carrickfergus (in which Orla plays the harp live in the show) is a great number and follows a man from life to death in a sad and beautiful song.
Lascia Ch'io Pianga and Vivaldi's Rain are the more classical numbers as I mentioned. I don't particularly like either song, mostly because of their positioning between strong Celtic numbers that break the mood a bit. Vivaldi's Rain is set to the 2nd movement of Vivaldi's Winter, a popular musical theme that many artists have put lyrics to (including Hayley in "River of Dreams"). The Voice, the Eurovision Song Contest Winner of 1996 is a song almost perfect for Lisa's voice (better than for Eimear Quinn, though she is very good). Scarborough Fair gives a Celtic touch to Simon and Garfunkel and Hayley delivers it beautifully in her highlight on the album. Mo Ghile Mear is a high-energy ending to the album (though on tour, I believe it still ends with You Raise Me Up), a great original composition with strong instrumental and vocal parts that are separate, then integrated.
Those with the deluxe edition receive four more songs. The first, Sing Out, is probably my least favorite song that CW has ever recorded. It just... doesn't work. It's a good news Christian song that you might hear in a modernized church assembly or from a Christian band, but it's not something I like to hear in a Celtic CD, even though it is an original composition with a quirky Celtic touch to it. Shenandoah/Pacific Slope is something I wish was part of the non-deluxe edition. It is another fiddler-only piece and I don't think that Mairead is given justice when every other artist receives two solos on the normal soundtrack while she only receives one. It is a nice piece that mixes traditional with original and the fact that it was recorded live makes it special for me like the Ashoken Farewell/Contradiction did on the original. At the Ceili is an original number that is very entertaining and is one of the highlights (in my opinion, it makes the deluxe album worth buying) of both the album and the show (choreographed and such). It tells of women attending the Ceili, a traditional Irish communal gathering-dance where many relations strike it up, as the women are hoping to do. Spanish Lady is a short but sweet number that uses the chamber choir well.
In all, I feel that this album is a bit of a different direction for CW, but it's to be expected unless the listener is illiterate and cannot read the title of the album. It is something that both fans and new listeners should not miss, as the new direction is very accessible for the US. The new age sound is relaxing and the music is great for winding down at night. The group numbers, the CW highlights, are, for the most part, done well and are an enjoyable blend of five unique voices. Listeners should expect much more from CW in the future, since the possibilities for new pieces are limitless and the successes just continue to build.
Expect much from this album and more in the future.
A New Journey (Deluxe Package w/bonus tracks + Irish charm) Poster
No Description AvailableNo Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: CELTIC WOMAN
Title: NEW JOURNEY
Street Release Date: 01/30/2007
Genre: CELTIC
Second only to Riverdance as an international Irish showbiz phenomenon, previous installments of this Platinum-selling extravaganza have become beloved PBS standards. The original buxom quartet of female singers, Lisa, Maev, Orla, and Chloe, have duly been joined by Hayley and are, as usual, backed by a full symphony orchestra and choir, plus enough traditional instruments (the house fiddler, Mairead, is a powerhouse) to keep things legit. The material ranges from folkloric ("Dúlaman" is best known from Clannad's legendary rendering), to a standard from another Celtic nation ("Caledonia," Dougie McLean's love letter to his native Scotland), to classical lite (Handel's poignant "Laschia Ch'io Pianga"), to movie hits ("Somewhere Over The Rainbow" in a delicately lovely, a cappella, close-harmony treatment), to homegrown New Age (Enya's "Newgrange"). Most tracks are produced to turn, presented in the aural equivalent of Technicolor or day-glo, in which colors pop while diverging ever so slightly from nature. In short, although the album offers fresh material, it covers old ground -- but this is exactly what the act's target audience expects and desires. Fans of acoustic folk would likely find the prevailing aesthetic a touch garish, but fans of Sarah Brightman and Il Divo will be diverted and thrilled. The deluxe package offers four bonus tracks, three of them live, plus a silver claddagh charm. --Christina Roden
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