Customer Reviews

Best of Dolores Keane

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Where can one start to tell the story of the great Dolores Keane?
This Best Of Dolores Keane collection is long overdue.Dolores inherited her singing from her famous Sean Nos (old gaelic singers)Aunts, Rita and Sarah.Based in Galway in the West of Ireland.Dolores possibly came to prominence while doing lead singing with Irish Trad specialists De Dannan.Her rendition of Galway Bay is unbelievable here,also Far Away In Australia,Never Be The Sun,and Mick Hanleys My Love Is In America,all exellent.Some of the older tunes like Lili Marlene are nice too,and Let It Be by the Beatles is fantastic.All in this as I say was long overdue.I personally consider Dolores as the greatest Female Irish Vocalist of them all,yet commercially she hasn't been marketed very well.When one considers that Emmylou Harris is her greatest fan,and also Nathalie Merchant(ex 10,000 Maniacs)has said in the past that Dolores has been a big influence on her,well then what are you waiting for?Just go and purchase the hauntingly beauitiful voice of the legend Dolores Keane.Guranteed not to dissappoint.

I was not familiar with Ms. Keane until I heard her in duet with John Prine on In Spite of Ourselves CD, and was totally intrigued with her voice. Now, after listening to the "best" of Delores (which is a modest description of the tunes on this CD)....I am totally enthralled with her music. I have played the CD over & over and find it more enchanting each play. I can't believe I have, at the age of 50, just discovered the delights of celtic music. It is a most pleasing listen.

I listen to a lot of music. I listen to a fair amount of Irish music, mostly haphazardly. Probably my favorite recorded sounds are memorable female voices (no, not Streisand among them, good Gawd!), a random sample might include early Supremes, Emmylou Harris, Renee Fleming, Etta James, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Sleater Kinney, very early Grace Slick and, before her, the first female singer with Jefferson Airplane, Signe Toly Anderson. Given all that, how the hell did I come this far in life without encountering Dolores Keane? It's inexplicable, but all that matters in the end is to have finally stumbled on her phenomenal singing. You should too, post-haste. My first hearing was in John Prine's duets CD on A Town This Size. Then, almost immediately thereafter, I found When Irish Girls Grow Up, the best thing on Tom Russell's uneven CD, The Man From God Knows Where. On Best Of the voice is younger, with some of the songs probably more than a decade old. I find its full-throated huskiness even more attractive now, but this CD is a spectacular introduction to her work. Lion in a Cage is a vibrant Afro-beat tribute to Nelson Mandela. Most of the other songs are ballads of what we Irish do best -- longing for places and people or both that are far distant in time and space. My Love is in America, Galway Bay, Teddy O'Neill, and Far Away in Australia are the best examples. She includes three covers -- Let It Be, Van the Man's Have I Told You Lately, and Linda Thompson's Telling Me Lies. For my taste, only the latter matches up to the other tracks here. Similarly, The Island -- contrasting the horror of conflict with the personal peace of love -- is a concept which just doesn't quite come off as a song. Those, however, are quibbles too inconsequential to be even minor. Do yourself a favor and get your hands on this CD now. It will be weeks before it comes out of your player. As for me, I'll be sampling all her other work. Sometimes the later discoveries in life are the best of all.

I bought this album on a whim while in Ireland and have been unable to stop listening to it. Many of the songs are haunting tributes to the Irish experience and the arrangements are lovely in their simplicity and clarity. This is a wonderful find!

Dolores Keane is the voice of Ireland. In this cd she captures the essence of Celtic music...there is both a sadness and sweetness that only the Irish seem to express. I highly recommend this musical experience to anyone who loves folk music and especially Irish folk music.

This is very good Irish folk music. I have most of her CD's and I am very happy with them. "Caledonia" and "Never Be The Sun" are two of my favorites from this recording. Be sure to try her other music. It is wonderful.

Dolores' brother, Sean Keane, is also an excellent choice to listen to. "The Man That I Am" and "No Stranger" are my favorites.

I first heard Dolores Keane on a John Prine duet cd on which she appeared and knew I wanted an entire cd of her voice. This one does not disappoint. I think my favorite song on the cd is "Island" -- a juxtaposition of cheerfully-singable island type music against the lyrics concerning "the Irish problem". I will definitely be listening to more of her music.

After traveling to Ireland last year, I discovered how haunting and beautiful the Irish singers are. Dolares Keane is one of the best and this CD is her best.

This CD is a great mixture of excellent vocals. It is high inmy top 10 of alltime great CDs.