Loreena McKennitt - An Ancient Muse
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Free Music Notes for An Ancient Muse
Free Music Review: Mystical, Mellow, Mature, Magical, Mesmerizing.... McKennitt
Hit: 5 Stars
The return of Loreena McKennitt after nine long years was truly much anticipated by her friends and admirers. Those people who have come to love her music and cherish her songs over all these years expected her new album with great enthusiasm and a feeling that characterizes one who awaits a long missing friend of the heart.
And how justified and happy they were to find out that their hopes and wishes had come true with no less than this spectacular masterpiece. For that is what "An Ancient Muse" actually is. Loreena comes forward once again to astonish us, enchant us, make us participants of the magical journey of the psyche to realms untethered to mundane reasoning. She comes like the fairy of stories old, yet through a modern perspective, and invites us to a ceremony of mysticism and passion, Love, celebration and even sacrifice.
She lifts the veils of mysteries hitherto hidden, mysteries she found out in her search in the spiritual, the emotional, the historical and above all the musical world and she calls us, one more time, to share the secrets..
Listening to "An Ancient Muse" fills one with a sense of optimism - that same sense of purpose - a sense of mysticism and freshness, a feeling of being lost in the swirl of sounds and emotions and yet again of rising above them to become witness of eternal truths and unspoken realities.
To anyone familiar with Loreena's music this album will bring the joys of her previous works along with the beauty of her music's evolution through the years.
To the one who has not yet listened to Loreena's music, but is willing to give it a try, this album will surely be a revelation.
Free Music Review: The Ancient Future of Music
Hit: 5 Stars
An Ancient Muse, Loreena McKennitt's long-awaited recording, has arrived and it continues a strikingly original, visionary musical path that began with her 1991 breakthrough The Visit, and evolved with 1994's The Mask and Mirror and 1997's The Book of Secrets.
What distinguishes An Ancient Muse has more to do with its fine points than the breaking of new musical ground. When listened to as one program, it is a beautifully sequenced, cohesive and at times breathtaking musical adventure. But each of the nine selections that comprise the album stands perfectly on its own.
While the CD is marketed as "Rock/Pop", Loreena's musical genre is altogether her own. There are elements of Celtic, Middle Eastern and other "World" influences, as well as Classical, folk and pop forms in her music. But what sets her apart from other artists is the spell-casting she performs, weaving exotic rhythms, tones and colors with evocative and intelligent lyrics that echo ancient traditions and mythologies.
An Ancient Muse is Loreena McKennitt's personal investigation of a people--the Celtic people, their roots, their branches, and how they touch one another, ancestrally and contemporarily. "We are the culmination of our collective histories," say McKennitt, "and there should be more to bind us than tear us apart." This exploration is also an elevation of human experience.
I can think of no other contemporary artist who offers such an intoxicating potion of intellect, beauty and grace in a form so exotic, heartfelt and compelling.
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Free Music Review: This CD is worth the long wait!!
Hit: 5 Stars
I have been waiting almost a decade since the Book Of Secrets was released for another one of Loreena's albums to be released. This one is deffinatly worth the wait. Book of Secrets used to be my favorite album of hers, now this one is on there on the tops as one of her best albums.
For this CD, Loreena Mckennit once again has pulled inspirations from all different cultures and countries. The music takes you on a journey from Ireland, Turkey and The sands of the Sahara. It uses diverse instruments from all around the world, from the middle east, to Sweden to Ireland and even some medieval instruments like the hurdy gurdy. It is accompanied by her beautiful poetric words. The music is haunting and the words beautiful,
One of my favorite songs is Caravanserai, which tells the story of a traveling caravan in beautiful poetry middle eastern instruments. Another is Penelope's song, a hauntingly beautiful love song inspired the character Penelope from Homer's odessy. Never Ending Road is a beautiful celtic/irish inspired piece.The English Ladye And The Knight is a piece reminicast of Dante's Prayer on Book of Secrets, but in someways more haunting and more beautiful, it tells the story of a English Lady and her lover her goes on the Crusades.Sacred Shabbat is a piece inspired by Jewish music from Turkey.
This CD to me is a jewel, and is a must have for any Loreena Mckennit fan, or anyone who enjoys beautiful world music. It combines the sounds that Book of Secrets emboided, but retains some of the sounds of her earlier albums as well.
Free Music Review: Is this McKenna's masterpiece?
Hit: 5 Stars
Having never heard a Loreena McKennitt album before, I decided with some trepidation to take a chance with 'An Ancient Muse', given the quality and enthusiasm of some of the reviews posted on Amazon.com. The recording starts low key with 'Incantation' and builds deceptively slowly, but by the time track four came along ('The English Ladye And The Knight') I knew I was onto something special. The juxtaposition of the ethereal vocals with traditional song structures is really incredible and this record has 'labour of love' written all over it. Crucially, it is not over-produced and the arrangements are perfect. It is probably the best recent example I have heard of music that combines beautiful and sparse eastern ethnic instrumentation with a western sensibility; here the emphasis is fimly derived from the the complex history of the Celtic people. The instrumental track 'Kecharitomene' is stunning and a particular highlight for me. It would be fantastic as part of a film score, being reminiscent of some of the great thematic work done for the highly underrated film and score for 'Kingdom Of Heaven' by Harry Gregson-Williams. The album only gets stonger and more epic as it progresses ('Beneath A Phrygian Sky') and culminates in the suitably melancholic 'Never-Ending Road'. This album is a truly rare thing; both literary and emotional, which manages to combine folk and world music coherently and with real restraint and elegance. And what a voice! Hugely recommended.Free Music Review: Still the Loreena we love, despite the wait
Hit: 5 Stars
I've been a fan of Loreena McKennitt since my high school days (way back in the early 90's). Her music has always been one of my most, if not THE most, powerful inspirations for when I am doing artwork. Time and time again, her music has transported my heart and my soul to another world, and as a Christian (I know that she is not), has made me feel closer to the Devine, by giving me awe inspired gratitude for God's gift of music.
Simply put, Loreena makes magic through her music and voice. Truly she, if I ever had one, is my muse, this side of heaven.
When I heard that she was finally going to be releasing a new album (after nearly ten long years), I practically leapt out of my seat. I was worried though, that like many musicians who have taken such a long hiatus, that her sound would have drastically changed so much that it would be a far cry from the muse that has inspired my heart and imagination to soar to heights I never would have reached otherwise.
Thankfully, blessedly, this latest release, which so many of her fans have been yearning for, is one of her best albums yet. From the moment I began listening to it, I was raptured. So fear not, the magic is still there, alive and pulsating with an ancient beauty. If you're a fan, even only slightly, I am telling you now, buy this album! And if you've never had the pleasure of listening to Loreena McKennitt before, An Ancient Muse is a great place to start.