Customer Reviews

Everybreath

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This is a great album, having a new-age sound but with a definite Celtic mood. This is the multi-instrument artist who is well known for his recordings with the "Afro-Celt Sound Band" and other groups. He plays mostly high and low whistles in this album. Some tracks are slow and haunting, others lively and rythmic, and yet others are his takes on some old favorites. If you like the soothing sounds of a wind instrument in the hands of a master, this is a definite must.

McNally's recordings are the next best thing to hearing this multi-talented performer live on stage--whether solo or with his current band the Afro-Celt Soundsystem. Everybreath features a range of haunting melodies to peppy tunes. This is one musician who has gone above and beyond exceptional mastery of an instrument.

I have had this Album since its original release date about 1996. I bought it on the strength of hearing the track "Black is the Colour" on the Radio.It is a haunting Album from the classic "Fairytale of New York", "Raglan Road" to his rendition of "Belfast Child" absolutely "Spot On". Why no more??

If you're thinking "Oh, no, not another Celtic CD; they all sound the same" ... don't. This smooth, cool album is wa-ay different, and well worth a listen! Multi-instrumentalist James McNally (of Storm, The Pogues and Afro Celt Sound System) here turns his attention to breathing new life into the Irish whistle, offering up a heady brew of rock, blues and deep, dark mystery in "Everybreath." Playing just about every instrument on the roster (whistle and low whistle, keyboards, guitars, percussion, strings and programming!), and multitracking them all together along with a variety of guest artists, McNally spans the centuries, covering rock songs such as "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and Sting's "Everybreath You Take," as well as interpreting traditional folk and Celtic tunes in a decidedly modern fashion. And through it all, his jazzy whistle descants shine, soaring and sliding gleefully over the rock band underpinnings as if the Irish whistle had always been meant to do that. It's really fun to listen to him go at it, just like a wailing electronic guitar! There is a definite dark edge to most of the songs on this album, especially in the song intros. Brooding, foreboding, even dangerous, it sometimes pervades the entire piece, such as in the marvelously mysterious arrangement of "Black is the Colour" (of My True Love's Hair). But more often, like a passing storm, it melts away into the sweet simplicity of a traditional whistle's tune or the gently familiar amblings of a rock ballad. For more music featuring the Irish Whistle, try "Song of the Irish Whistle" 1 and 2 by Joanie Madden, and "The Irish Low Whistle" by Joe McKenna. And for more cool, modern Celtic fusion, try the recordings of the group Kila and the Afro Celt Sound System.

I bought this CD when it first came out. I listened to it at a bookstore and was moved. McNally on low whistle (shown on cd cover), has produced one of the most emotional albums I have ever heard. EVERYONE who hears it simply stops talking and asks, "Who IS this!?" Then they buy one and so should you.

I was lucky to find this CD. It's truly a masterpiece. James McNally is incredibly soulful and amazingly talented. This entire collection will melt in your mind like chocolate. Experience it. It will take you where you need to go.

James McNally is so gifted at so many different instruments that none other than Van Morrison nicknamed him "The Master." The ability that led one of our great contemporary singers to bestow this title is on ample display here. McNally plays beautifully on a variety of different types of tunes, from trad Irish to more pop sounds. My particular favorites underscore this: the ethereal and transcendent "Saviour," with guest vocals by longtime friend and collaborator Iarla O'Lionaird (see my review of his cd's "Invisible Fields" and "7 Steps of Mercy") and the rowdy cover of "Belfast Child." This is trult an outstanding recording.