Customer Reviews

The Celtic Book Of Days

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was a little disturbed when I read Dirty Linen's review of this CD. Perhaps it was not understood that Arkenstone lends his talents (ehem, MIGHTY talents) to many, many different forms of music from many cultures. It is my opinion that this CD was not meant to be folk music - it is essentially Celtic-a-la-Arkenstone. Same goes for his Native American CD 'Spirit Wind' and others. Plain and simple, this CD is wonderful and magical.

As a long-term fan of David's, I have stayed with him as he explored different directions of his craft. While some critics are correct in pointing out Celtic Book of Days is not "true" Celtic music, this is nonetheless a fine album in it's own right. It's not meant to be a study of traditional Celtic musicology, rather a picturesque romp that happens to have a Celtic flavor to it. If you like David's other works, I'm sure you'll like this as well. I received this album for Christmas 1999 and played it to death for the first few days. To this day it is still one of my comfortable favorites. As an aspiring writer, I credit the repeated listening to this album with helping me create a story about olden times in Britannia when life was simpler and filled with adventure, wonder and, most of all, MAGIC!
Let this album so inspire you as well.

The cover of the CD says it all. This 1998 release finds the perfect balance between the acoustic and electric worlds. Although the songs are rooted in traditional Irish, and Folk music, it leaves room for many other areas. The string and vocal arrangements are stellar! The vocal melodies and harmonies transport the listener to another place and time. This CD has a very magical affect on the listener. Never monotonous, amd solid from start to finish. Fans of David's other moody, synth heavy releases will be pleseantly suprised by this one. Although much different than his previous efforts, it will compliment your collection. Definetly one of his best works!

I got this album for myself and was enchanted with it, so enchanted in fact that I played it in my store. Well after about a week I had to start stocking it, because so many people wanted to buy it. This is a relaxing collection of Celtic and early British Isles music. The album is well composed, and has definite direction. This is a great stress lowerer in the store and at home, and I would recommend this album to anyone.

I came across this two years ago and had to have it. From first track to last it has not a weak moment at all. The opening drums and fiddle of Equous Fair hooked me from note one. I would call this a musical journey through Celtic myth and a beautiful one at that. The mix of traditional Celtic instruments with electronics results in a beautiful epic work that I could easily see as film music. This paints lush images in your mind of the coast of Eire and it's people experiencing everything from ecstasy to tragedy and back. It will break your heart with one piece, lift and mend it the next, and set it afire with joyful, tender, yearning passion. Don't miss it!

This is one of the most consistently excellent album from Arkenstone--if you remember to skip tracks 4, 5, and 10, the ones that feature his voice. My favorites are Equos Fair, bright and happy but interrupted by a beautiful flute duet; The Festival, an interesting and fast jig; Behind Walls of Stone, a dark march broken by a Latin chant; and The Quest of Culhwch, a cinematic score for medieval battle (at least, it should be). The use of bagpipes could have been better, though. Also, if you're just looking for Celtic music, this isn't the best choice. This is Arkenstone with a Celtic flavor, and belongs in an Arkenstone collection, not a Celtic one.

I bought this CD a few years ago, and it was my first venture into the sounds of David Arkenstone. I found the CD's appearance and title to be enchanting, and thus had quite high expectations. What I actually found upon listening was mostly a wide variety of Celtic inspired new age songs along with a few songs that seemed to borrow more from 15th century madrigals than from a traditionally Celtic sound. Upon my first listen I was immediately captivated by the Celtic inspired tunes - they seemed to capture the full spectrum of emotions: celebration, contentment in nature, battle-like intensity, hopefulness, triumph, introspection, and even a sense of mournfulness on the beginning of "Stormcry" and throughout the "Braveheart"-like "Cailleach's Whisper". Although I was initially turned off by the madrigal -like pieces, I have warmed up to them substantially following repeated listenings. I now feel that they are a valuable addition to the album, and that during their appeareances throughout the album one experiences an almost cathedralesque sense of rapture. "The Celtic Book of Days" is a wonderfully constructed and composed album that pays tribute to the rich Celtic heritage from which it draws its inspiration. I can honestly say that my high expectations for this album were met and exceeded. If you have any interest in Celtic music whatsoever, or even if you just feel you love good music from any genre, I highly recommend David Arkenstone's "The Celtic Book of Days," which ranks amongst his greatest CDs.

I am a celtic music fan (in all its variations), not a new age one. And I've never been a fan of Arkenstone (my tendencies are more from the celtic-rock side). But this album is amazing. The number of instruments employed is impressive. You put the cd, and let your soul be taken by the music, sometimes very light, others strong indeed. It would be very nice if someone take this composition to make a celtic musical, continuing the tradition of Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. This music matches perfectly well with this kind of tapping spectacles.

I started listening to this recording around the same time that I was reading "Angela's Ashes", which was serendipitous. I thought "Book of Days" would make a great soundtrack for the movie version of Frank McCourt's terrific memoir. I imagined it opening w/ "Equos Fair", and "The Festival" would feature in Frank's dance lessons. This has got to be one of David Arkenstone's best, and they're all good. The music is remarkably evocative; one hardly needs to close their eyes to be transported. But it's very melodic as well, as opposed to a one-dimensional space cadet ambience. Arkenstone's a tremendous talent, and I'm surprised his promoters haven't cast a wider net. If his albums were more aggressively marketed, they would sell a gazillion copies.

Arkenstone has been using Celtic elements since at least 'Citizen of Time' (the pennywhistle in "Top of the World") and jigs since 'In the Wake of the Wind.' At long last he's quit fooling around and abandoned himself completely to the Irish influence. In detail (I've started running this up for my own use; I only discovered him this winter and have been buying CDs so fast I can't always remember which one the cut I want to hear is on): 1. Equos Fair: heavy drum intro to a cantering jig carried on pipes, pennywhistle, fiddle, guitar, piano; break to keys and flutes, momentarily quiet until joined by drums; then main ensemble returns; later opened out cinematically by calling horns. (4:27) 2. Heart of Spring: soft waltz of flute over cittern, picked up by romantic strings, later pennywhistle. (4:47) 3. Stormcry: ominous bass, harpsichord keys, fey uilleann pipes; at 1:30 the drums begin to strike and lead into a fast stepping pace that fits under the long notes; turns into a dark jig with spots of brightness. (4:40) 4. Road to the Faire: quietly festive, skims through many scenes in the Celtic mode and ensemble; multi-tracked Arkenstone vocals in Gaelic. (5:28) 5. Light of the Water (Alban Elued): quiet keys, soft voices; add viola and other strings, slowly growing; a minute from the end, drums and short-bowed strings shift the power structure. (4:36) 6. In the Ancient Time: acappella; flute-like choir tunes out easily and becomes another set of instruments; vocal in English. (3:35) 7. The Festival: comes out of the darkness to a reel on fiddle and cittern with the others joining in on each round. (5:06) 8. Yearning Hearts: pennywhistle and strings in romance. (4:22) 9. Behind Walls of Stone: airy dark beginning with mandolin bringing in the song; flute and guitar until Steeleye Span wail (bodhran?); quiets back; crashes with wind chimes into Gregorian vocal in Latin; nice hard edge. (5:20) 10. The Boats: cheerful little song, vocal in English. (5:04) 11. Cailleach's Whisper: lives on the uilleann pipes, sounding more melancholy than menacing. (3:34) 12. Children of the Sun: based on fluting vocal in English, brushed snare brings in soft instrumental depth that comes and goes. (3:11) 13. The Turning of the Year: piccolo birdsong over strings; at 2:54 the rider drums come up in a jig and the strings carry the melody with a pennywhistle; break for the piccolo in jig, then back to the main group. (4:52) 14. The Dragon's Breath: bass drone under the warning uilleann pipes; harp chases off the bass at 1:10; pennywhistle at 1:55 chases off pipes; start hearing strings behind; uilleann return with full strings. (3:29) 15. The Quest of Culhruch: big screen spectacular, galloping and adventuring. (4:54)