Iona - Open Sky
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Free Music Notes for Open Sky
Free Music Review: sublime...
Hit: 5 Stars
Sweeeeet... wonderful. Inexpensive transportation to the heart of Iona... another place, another time... beautiful pure voice, reverb as deep as the cover art... Rich. Lush. Cinematic. Wonderful. Simply wonderful. And 23 seconds short of overflowing the CD. I'm hooked.Free Music Review: Iona Open Sky
Hit: 5 Stars
Great album. I love to hear the beautiful voice of Joanne Hogg praising the name of our Lord and Saviour. Thank you.Free Music Review: Excellent Album Slightly Lower in Quality Than Their Others
Hit: 4 Stars
Iona is a band that demands attention and concentration. Sure, their striking mixture of Celtic melodies, progressive rock, and (in older releases) jazz sometimes produces serene pieces that serve as soothing, calming background music (as in Open Sky's denouement, "Friendship's Door"). But if you only let Iona play in the background you'll miss the richness and careful craft evidenced in each of their albums. Each of Iona's studio albums (Iona, The Book of Kells, Beyond These Shores, Journey Into the Morn, and now Open Sky) deals with a different theme relating to Celtic Christian history. This time around, the band draws its inspiration from Columba's mystical experience with God on the isle of Hinba:"This is where you prayed and Heaven's light shone down/This is where you sang the angel song ... Here you came to make your fast/Prayed for mercy, 'til at last/You heard the word you waited for" (from "Hinba"). A liner note on the inside of the CD jacket provides the listener with additional information on this event. Listening to and reflecting on Iona's albums can be an educational experience!
But Iona is never satisfied to write just one song about such an event. Whatever they choose as the theme of their album becomes the inspiration for several tracks or even the entire album, with a mixture of songs both directly related to the subject matter and ones that indirectly draw contemporary applications from it. "Hinba," not surprisingly to long-time Iona listeners, is followed by the 3-part "Songs of Ascent," a musical exploration of Columba's prayers and, by extension, any prayers that draw us closer to God. And just as fervent prayers strengthened Columba's faith in the 6th century, we live in a world where people ("Friendship's Door"), moonlight ("Light Reflected"), and all of creation ("Wave After Wave," "A Million Stars") point us to God and renew our faith. Through this faith, we long for the Heaven (the title track, "Castlerigg") from which Columba received healing.
The songs themselves point out another one of Iona's great strengths: Joanne Hogg's mystical, poetic lyrics. "An emptiness for You to fill/My soul a cavern for Your sea" she writes at the climax of "Songs of Ascent Part One," and these lines neatly sum up her outlook on life as evidenced in almost all of Iona's lyrical pieces. She knows all too well her (and our) need to respond to and be filled by God. On this album, that frequently means recognizing His goodness: "I feel the depth of your love and devotion/My heart like the bird that dives into this ocean blue" ("Wave After Wave").
On Open Sky, as always, such thoughts are communicated through Ms. Hogg's beautiful, ethereal, and often breathtaking vocals. She is backed by impeccable musicianship from Troy Donockley, Frank Van Essen, Phil Barker, and, particularly, band leader Dave Bainbridge. Any Iona album introduces you to a wide variety of sounds and moods, and you never know what to expect from one moment to the next. Iona mixes songs with instrumental pieces, and Open Sky contains quite a few of the latter.
This is an excellent, outstanding album that suffers only in comparison with the band's previous albums. The theme of this album is not arranged as intricately as in previous ones, and Ms. Hogg evidently fought writer's block through a good portion of the creation process. Also, after a long sabbatical that saw some personnel changes, it seems on this album that Iona is just getting warmed up again. Still, a lesser Iona album is head and shoulders above just about any other out there. Don't hesitate to run out and buy this one!
Free Music Review: Iona - Moves In The Right Direction
Hit: 4 Stars
"Open Sky" is certainly one of Iona's best albums and may even be the top of the heap. For fans of the band's earlier works, that featured more of a new age-ish atmosphere and sensibility, this one may not do as much for you, as this album de-emphases that aspect of the band and focuses more on the Celtic rock element. To my ears this is a good thing. The album opens with one of the band's strongest tracks ever the rocking progressive 9 minute instrumental opus "Woven Cord". It is a killer instrumental that mixes everything that this band does best......and it rocks. It is interesting reading other reviews of this album. For me this is the point where Iona moved into a direction that I prefer. More rock, less new age, louder guitars, less jazz. The Christian aspect of the band's lyrics is also toned down on this one. It is still there of course, but not quite as straightforward. I like it better, but if you listen to the band mainly for the Christian content you might be disappointed. For me Iona has always been first and foremost a progressive rock band, and the prog aspect of their music is featured here as much as on any of their releases. To my ears "Sky" and their most recent effort "The Circling Hour" are the band's best as they continue to move in a positive direction.Free Music Review: IONA ALMOST REACH PERFECTION
Hit: 4 Stars
....more guitars ? I SAY THATS GOOD more progressive ? YES PLEASEnew drummer? I`M A DRUM TEACHER AND I CAN TELL YOU THIS GUYS GOOD
more subtle references to Christ ? THE RELIGIOUS TONES ARE THERE
ITS JUST MORE IN REACH TO THE MASSES (don`t leave you feeling bashed with a bible to much). I congradulate and thank IONA
for making the best music they have produced to date , this CD goes down as an inovative true classic deserving of better reviews than I can write or anyone else by the looks of things.
IONA HAVE ALMOST REACHED PERFECTION