Silly Wizard - Live Wizardry
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Free Music Notes for Live Wizardry
Free Music Review: The best work of a genre
Hit: 5 Stars
I grew up with Silly Wizard. My earliest memory of any kind of a concert was as a young boy, probably in '85 or so, dancing in the aisles of a small hall while Silly Wizard played. I remember the band cheering me on, and shutting down the old woman who was insisting to my mom that she keep me in my seat. "This music was meant to be danced to, I wish more people would remember that" they scolded.
That being said, this album is perhaps the greatest single collection of their music assembled for one quick dose. The CD covers their entire range of music, from the slow and haunting "Banks of the Lee" which always gives me chills as the utter sadness of the last verse mingles with the piano, to the incredibly upbeat and nearly out of control reels (there are several of them on the CD, and all are excellent), the music is simply a joy to behold.
Friends have listened to the album, and have complained that the songs don't "sound right". As it turns out, they had spent years listening to more modern bands and their interpretation of many of the same songs. They can keep their versions. I can't listen to Silly Wizard without remembering what it was like to be a young boy dancing to what I thought was wonderful music.
It's hard to find this CD nowadays. I believe I ended up paying nearly 40 dollars for a mint condition copy. Thankfully, a new CD is in the works, Live Again, and it is the concert that this CD was made from, in it's entirety, remastered to sound even better. If it is out by the time you read this (as of November 2007 it isn't), then you owe it to yourself to find a copy of it, otherwise, Live Wizardry is worth every penny you spend to find it.
Free Music Review: Beyond fabulous--a great intro to Silly Wizard
Hit: 5 Stars
Full disclosure: I had an Irish roommate in college who played Celtic and Gaelic music non-stop. I thought for years I didn't like anything remotely like this music because I was so sick of it by the end of my year living with this roommate. After a break of many years, however, I discovered Silly Wizard and realized I'd been wasting time avoiding the music that'd once driven me crazy! This is a GREAT, great album with every song a winner. Particularly wonderful is their original composition "The Ramblin' Rover," which alone is worth the price of the entire CD. Listen to the lyrics carefully--it's a hoot! This is a wonderful CD to put on at a party--it really gets the mood lifted and happy. Good stuff!Free Music Review: A true classic!
Hit: 5 Stars
"Live Wizardry" is the best collection of Silly Wizard's music that I know of. All my favorite songs are here, displaying the band's most appealing traits: the intensity of crowd favorites like "Queen of Argyll" and "Donald McGillavry", the humor of "Parish of Dunkeld" and "Ramblin' Rover", the plaintive poignancy of "Blackbird" and "Valley of Strathmore", and the rollicking fun of their instrumental dances. As with many traditional Celtic groups, the work of Silly Wizard is great singer-songwriter material--the tales are well told, the melodies evocative, the harmonies engaging, and the sound is down-to-earth and real. Phil Cunningham's fiery accordion playing is amazing, Andy M. Stewart's folksy, honest voice has a winning charm, and fiddler Johnny Cunningham and guitarists Martin Hadden and Gordon Jones round out band's sound with expert flair. Although this CD was recorded live, the audience was either well-behaved or generally screened out by directional mikes, as their applause and cheers are not intrusive throughout the songs, only cropping up at the beginnings and ends. If you buy only one Silly Wizard album I'd say this is the one to get, though all the rest are certainly enjoyable and worth hearing as well. If you enjoy the music of Silly Wizard, especially their touching ballads, you might also like the work of Relativity (also featuring Phil and Johnny Cunningham) and the laid-back reveries of Nightnoise. Try "Gathering Pace" and "The Parting Tide" respectively.Free Music Review: Imagine the Roof Top Concert of Let It Be
Hit: 5 Stars
This was the swan song, a final farewell for the group that had taken the Celtic Revival sparked by Christy Moore and blew it into an uncompromising Firestorm that swept all before it. The incendiary virtuosity of Johnny and Phil Cunningham, the protean songwriting and mellifluous voice of Andy M. Stewart, the rock solid rhythm fretwork of Martin Haden and Gordon Jones were unparalleled at the time and set the bar so high that only Altan has ever surpassed them. And the case can well be made that there would be no Altan without Silly Wizard. This December, founding member Johnny Cunningham passed away, and thus an incredible part of Scots culture has left us.You must remember that this band was formed by Cunningham in 1972 when he was 14 and Phil was 12. every significant Scottish musicians in the 80"s and 90's was impacted by Silly Wizard. Most of the really important ones were either briefly associated or absolutely inspred by SW's accomplishments.
As you can tell from the customer reviews, all of the CDs were sterling efforts. This one though has all the bittersweet elements of a fond farewell. Like The Beatles, there had been a feeling that they had covered the waterfront and it was time to move on. A tour was launched and perhaps the best playing of their career was delivered. The humour on stage was more accurately captured on the Green Linnet video, but this is a remarkable document of a band who quit at the peak and left all of us forever wanting more.
If you have nay Scots blood in you at all, you will find yourself full of pride in these remarkable men. If you have an avocation for this music, it simply does not get any better at all. 5 stars is somehow far short of just how incredible this disc is.
Free Music Review: A hidden jewel
Hit: 5 Stars
Hands down the best gaelic, celtic, folk, whatever you want to call it band out there. Very down to earth real music. Lots of sad tunes to cry into your beer with, and a several jigs to tap your foot too.