Customer Reviews

The Best Of The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This collection of songs sung by the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, as well as Sarah Makem, the Clancy children, and Peg and Bobby Clancy, has the potential to be one terrific CD (and how lovely to hear Peg Clancy's clear, pure voice!). It includes many of the favorites from the Clancy and Makem repetoire. However, the poor quality of this CD makes it impossible to enjoy. The recording is so inconsistent that at a normal volume level, the boisterous songs are simply overwhelming, and the lovely softer songs are all but inaudible, which makes for a frustrating listening experience, to say the least. I'd recommend skipping this CD in favor of the many other excellent recordings by this ever-popular group.

I'm not adding anything new to the previous reviews, just giving one more warning, this CD is to be avoided. A clever idea, having recordings of not just the Brothers and Makem but other family members as well. It should have worked, as the selections are fine, but it sounds like it was recorded off the radio with the type of cassette recorder used in elementary school for filmstrip presentations. There are many wonderful recordings of this great Irish folk group, get one of those instead.

The sound quality on this CD leaves a lot ot be desired; the audio is very inconsistant. I found I had to turn the volume up on some of the cuts then down on others. The songs are great traditional Clancy Bros.; however the CD is missing the spark and livelyness that I have come to expect from the Clancy Brothers. I could also quote my previous review of "Home To Ireland: 28 Irish Favorites" since this is exactly the same CD. This one is, however, at a higher price. If you must have this one to fill out your collection, I suggest you buy the "Home To Ireland: 28 Irish Favorites" since it has all the same cuts, and I believe IS the same recording. At least that one is a bit less expensive.

I've long been a fan of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem and ordered this CD primarily for two of the songs on it. I should've read the reviews, and I should've been warned when one of the songs, Eileen Aroon was incorrectly labelled "Eileen Ardon".
I can only say that the technical qualities of this recording make it unsuitable for anything one puts in a CD player. [Stores] ... should refuse to carry such shoddy merchandize. The tracks had more snaps, crackles, and pops than a celebrated breakfast cereal, and it seemed that some moron was fiddling with the volume control, so that even in the same song it was too faint to hear or blared from the speakers.

I concur with the previous reviewer that this disc has definite sound quality problems. It sounds like the person who mastered it fell asleep at the controls. That aside, there are several gems on this disc including versions of classics like "The Jug of Punch," "Brennon on the Moore" and "The Moonshiner." On the down side, most of these songs lack the spark of their live recordings. I was unenthusiastic about several songs performed by family members other than the four original lads (the exception being the lovely "I'll Tell My Mar" by Peg and Bobby Clancy). Buyer beware: this collection is also sold under the title "Home to Ireland - The Best of the Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem."

The sound quality IS variable on this album--the brothers didn't drag their family members into the studio to make it. That being said, you'll find songs and versions on this album you'll find nowhere else. If you're a real fan of the Clancy Brothers, this is disc is well worth the price of admission.

The volume of the songs is variable such that you have to constantly change the volume to listen. This ruins the effect of songs.

The positives: it's the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem (and their families!). Enough said. The negatives: as many of the reviewers here have said, the sound levels and quality do differ from track to track. It seems like I've heard better quality recordings for several of the tracks on other Clancy albums, and the lyrics for a few (such as the "Castle of Dromore" and "Ballinderry") are almost completely inaudible. My second criticism is that the majority of the songs chosen for this album can't really be categorized as the Clancys' "best". While there are a good number of the major favorites, like "Brennan on the Moor" and "Whiskey You're the Devil", I'd say the majority of the songs here are minor ditties with the remainder being completely obscure and unmemorable songs I have no desire ever to hear again. Still, real Clancy fans will want to have even the minor ditties, so I give this album 4 stars despite everything.

The Clancy Brothers are all blessed with magical voices, and perform these songs with power. The music on this disc is traditional Irish folk that trascends time. Classics such as "Brennan on the Moor" and "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" are all here. I wholeheartedly recommend this disc.