Customer Reviews

Back to Breizh

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First, read the liner notes in English so you can get a feel for what this beautiful storyteller is singing about, because you are probably not one of the few people who understand the native language of Brittany/Bretagne/Breizh. If you are a music lover who is hung up on lyrics, this may not be the album for you. If you primarily go for the melodies, as I do, then you will have no problems.

The music caught me, as should you, from the first song. The more I play it, the more I notice the even flow from one song to the next - it feels like one long suite. This album is both calming and uplifting at the same time, unlike the "New Age" Celtic music so frequently dripping with mournful whistles and harps that it seems more appropriate for being played at funerals.

This is my first Alan Stivell CD and I will be sure to be buying more as soon as possible.

Love Alan Stivell. This album does not disappoint. It is one of my favourites along with Brian Boru and One Douar

Alan Stivell just keeps getting better. 'Back to Breizh' brings him back to his roots in Brittany. But it's a return informed by his recent collaborations with Khaled, Youssou N'dour and other world artists.

The result is an album that sets traditional Celtic themes against a backdrop of other ethnic sounds and influences.Sung in French and Breton (with English translations in print), the lyrics include messages both universal and local. 'Skoit 'n Treid,' for example, calls for protection of the global physical and cultural environment, while the title song is an anthem to Breton nationalism, containing a chorus that spits defiance at French government policy towards Brittany. And in 'Brian Boru' Stivell transforms a traditional Irish martial song into a hymn of peace for Northern Ireland.

All in all it's a remarkable achievement: proof that modern Celtic music is not all pseudo-mystical New Age tweeness!