Customer Reviews

Drive the Cold Winter Away

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the early 70's Horslips was an Irish entry into the field of rock which blended traditional jigs and reels with strong electric instrumentation. Stylistically close to Fairport Convention, the group blended hot licks with great Irish jigs, reels, and set dances. This album was a departure in that it focused exclusively on the traditional elements of their Celtic heritage. The selections featured the vocals of Barry Devlin, coupled with the fiddle of Charles O'Conner, blended with acoustic contributions from the remaining three band members. It is a distinct change of pace from other Horslips fare, and a good album for those into both rock and traditional celtic fare. On whole, the album plays like a fine winter night in a small village pub -- just the thing to warm the bones.

A timeless classic, "Drive the Cold Winter Away" is considered to be a Christmas album, but people who live in parts of the world other than Ireland probably won't recognize most of these songs as Christmas songs, and that's a good thing, because this album is too exceptional to be played only once a year at Christmas time (If you MUST call it a Christmas album, so be it, but it is the BEST Christmas album I have ever heard!). The captivating Celtic melodies, intricate interplay among a bewildering array of strictly traditional instruments and the stirring singing, sometimes in Gaelic, sometimes in English, will transport you back to 17th century rural, snow-covered Ireland on a starry winter's night. And these guys play with an energy, intensity, and passion which is unrivaled and is too often lacking in contemporary groups of the Irish-Celtic-Folk genre. So many other groups I've heard in this category play competently enough but too often sound like a hundred other groups performing the same kind of music and/or lack intensity and/or have an overly sterile, overly polished, overly rehearsed type of sound that sounds almost like it was programmed into a machine or the result of someone fiddling with knobs on a computer. Not so with Horslips - there is skillfull playing but at the same time a raw energy which sounds like real humans playing real instruments, and, on this album, all without the aid of the usual rock instruments (except for an electric bass line in one song). Simply put, this is one of the best-performed albums of its type and stands as a timeless classic which any fan of very traditional Irish-Celtic folk music should be embarrassed if he/she doesn't have this in his/her collection.

I'm going to assume that if you're reading this then you already know the horslips (if not try the tain or the book of invasions first)
This is very much for a fan of the early albums, especially happy to meet... and it's pointless getting it if you don't like that. If you like latter horslips and haven't tried earlier then work your way back is my advise. That roughly covers everything.
Hope I've been usefull to you, Toodle Pipskie (is that how you spell it?)

The ideal antidote to another Richard Clyderman or Mannheim Steamroller Xmas stocking stuffer. I avoid Christmas albums, but this return to Irish folk roots by a rock band is the only one I have among thousands of recordings. In fact, if you don't look at the liner notes or know Irish--or Manx--you'd not know this is a holiday-themed disc. What you'll hear is not the all-too-familiar same twelve "favorites" that tend to cling to the track selections on countless other Xmas discs. Like their best work, Horslips gives us a thematic album, but unique to their output.

Horslips in their 1970s career veered wildly across folk and rock in their discography. DTCWA follows the same year's farthest departure from the band's folk influence, 1975's "The Unfortunate Cup of Tea" LP; that LP's attempt to broaden into mainstream rock is generally held in lower regard than the band's albums that try to more evenly blend the rock into the folk rather than diluting the latter with the former.
After DTCWA, Horslips returned--perhaps with renewed committment after their folk instincts had been shown here and their pop-rock tendencies on their previous album UCT now tempered a bit--to the folk-rock electricity of their best LP, "The Book of Invasions." Then, as on their previous early 70s course, they drifted back on their last three studio albums in the late 70s towards more mainstream hard-rock away from of a folk anchorage.

Midway in their discography, DTCWA presents a folk album nearly free of electric amplification--Barry Devlin's bass appears on a couple of tracks prominently, otherwise as the witty liner notes tell us, he's credited for grumbling. As might he well, since the other four members take center stage for their instrumental and vocal renditions of carols, planxties, a song from Playford's Dancing Master, and like-minded evocations of the time around Turlough O Carolan and the ebb of the bardic tradition, three hundred-odd years ago.

This is as close, I suppose, as a non-traditional Irish ensemble has gotten to the spirit of these departed times; the songs tend to be more courtly and decorous than raucous or whirling. The band-supervised remaster gives this a live-in-the-studio feel that makes you part of the sessions. My ranking for this is full credit, although I emphasize that this LP cannot be compared fairly with the rest of this band's folk-rock fusion.

Unfortunately, even for the original vinyl's time limitations, it's a brief twelve songs that they skip through quickly. I would have enjoyed--and expected--less brevity, more servings. A minor shortcoming of an otherwise solid CD. I only rank it one star lower since in their recordings it occupies a side shelf rather than center place of pride as with their most powerful LPs. Fitting the dignity of Christmas and the control expected more often than the dissipation indulged in during the holiday season, these primarily restrained musical choices should please folk fans, and those who wondered how Horslips would sound, without the rock influence at all, now have here their answer.

A timeless classic, "Drive the Cold Winter Away" is considered to be a Christmas album, but people who live in parts of the world other than Ireland probably won't recognize most of these songs as Christmas songs, and that's a good thing, because this album is too exceptional to be played only once a year at Christmas time (If you MUST call it a Christmas album, so be it, but it is the BEST Christmas album I have ever heard!). The captivating Celtic melodies, intricate interplay among a bewildering array of strictly traditional instruments and the stirring singing, sometimes in Gaelic, sometimes in English, will transport you back to 17th century rural, snow-covered Ireland on a starry winter's night. And these guys play with an energy, intensity, and passion which is unrivaled and is too often lacking in contemporary groups of the Irish-Celtic-Folk genre. So many other groups I've heard in this category play competently enough but too often sound like a hundred other groups performing the same kind of music and/or lack intensity and/or have an overly sterile, overly polished, overly rehearsed type of sound that sounds almost like it was programmed into a machine or the result of someone fiddling with knobs on a computer. Not so with Horslips - there is skillfull playing but at the same time a raw energy which sounds like real humans playing real instruments, and, on this album, all without the aid of the usual rock instruments (except for an electric bass line in one song). Simply put, this is one of the best-performed albums of its type and stands as a timeless classic which any fan of very traditional Irish-Celtic folk music should be embarrassed if he/she doesn't have this in his/her collection.

While sweating away an usual hot European summer I am listening to this album full of traditional Irish folkmusic, some of which is tens or hundreds years old. Beautifully played, with love and passion, on an array of mainly acoustic instruments (with only the exception here and there on electric bass). Although Horslips was one of the first bands to blend rock and folk in their own manner, towards the end of their carrier they tendend more towards hard driven guitarrock, as ample demonstrated on the "Live" and "Belfast Gigs"-live albums and "Aliens" and "The Man Who Built America"-studio-albums. However, they've proven on more than one occasion to be able to perform solely acoustic songs, which are often outstanding. A 'Big Hurray!' then for one of the most finest Irish bands, who deserved an altogether lot than being dismissed in the mist of time. Even after 30 years this has nothing lost of its greatness. Enjoy! and certainly not only around Christmastime but through the whole year, even in burning hot summers.

The ideal antidote to another Richard Clyderman or Mannheim Steamroller Xmas stocking stuffer. I avoid Christmas albums, but this return to Irish folk roots by a rock band is the only one I have among thousands of recordings. In fact, if you don't look at the liner notes or know Irish--or Manx--you'd not know this is a holiday-themed disc. What you'll hear is not the all-too-familiar same twelve "favorites" that tend to cling to the track selections on countless other Xmas discs. Like their best work, Horslips gives us a thematic album, but unique to their output.

Horslips in their 1970s career veered wildly across folk and rock in their discography. DTCWA follows the same year's farthest departure from the band's folk influence, 1975's "The Unfortunate Cup of Tea" LP; that LP's attempt to broaden into mainstream rock is generally held in lower regard than the band's albums that try to more evenly blend the rock into the folk rather than diluting the latter with the former.
After DTCWA, Horslips returned--perhaps with renewed committment after their folk instincts had been shown here and their pop-rock tendencies on their previous album UCT now tempered a bit--to the folk-rock electricity of their best LP, "The Book of Invasions." Then, as on their previous early 70s course, they drifted back on their last three studio albums in the late 70s towards more mainstream hard-rock away from of a folk anchorage.

Midway in their discography, DTCWA presents a folk album nearly free of electric amplification--Barry Devlin's bass appears on a couple of tracks prominently, otherwise as the witty liner notes tell us, he's credited for grumbling. As might he well, since the other four members take center stage for their instrumental and vocal renditions of carols, planxties, a song from Playford's Dancing Master, and like-minded evocations of the time around Turlough O Carolan and the ebb of the bardic tradition, three hundred-odd years ago.

This is as close, I suppose, as a non-traditional Irish ensemble has gotten to the spirit of these departed times; the songs tend to be more courtly and decorous than raucous or whirling. The band-supervised remaster gives this a live-in-the-studio feel that makes you part of the sessions. My ranking for this is full credit, although I emphasize that this LP cannot be compared fairly with the rest of this band's folk-rock fusion.

Unfortunately, even for the original vinyl's time limitations, it's a brief twelve songs that they skip through quickly. I would have enjoyed--and expected--less brevity, more servings. A minor shortcoming of an otherwise solid CD. I only rank it one star lower since in their recordings it occupies a side shelf rather than center place of pride as with their most powerful LPs. Fitting the dignity of Christmas and the control expected more often than the dissipation indulged in during the holiday season, these primarily restrained musical choices should please folk fans, and those who wondered how Horslips would sound, without the rock influence at all, now have here their answer.

This is a marvelous acoustic album. The songs are a mix of familiar and less-known, and Horslips proved they could sound great without amps. It's wonderful that a CD is available--my LP is nearly worn out.