Gravel Walk

Tempest | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 26, 1997)
• Original Release Date: August 26, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Magna Carta
• ASIN: B000003ZBH
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #377,293 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tempest Bridges Music of the Past with the Present & Future, August 16, 2000

By 

"tomrag" (Boise, Idaho) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gravel Walk (Audio CD)

This collection of foot-stomping reels and jigs is performed with blaring guitars, piercing electric violin, and lots of energy. Tempest takes traditional music and reworks it in various styles, all transformed with a modernized, harder edge. It's an interesting sound and puts a different twist on stodgy old folk songs. Definitely not run-of-the-mill!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars BELIEVE THE HYPE! No One Performs Celtic Rock Any Better!, July 27, 2000

By 

Jerry Biondi (Buffalo, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gravel Walk (Audio CD)

The person or persons who have been giving Tempest one-star reviews must be smoking Lefty Luckies. Tempest is FANTASTIC! Tempest's sound is not entirely original. Does it matter? Not at all. All music borrows from other music. Tempest has taken the rocked-up-traditional-folk-song style developed by Horslips in the 70s and multiplied the hard-rocking component by about 100. While "Gravel Walk" is not Tempest's best work, it is a very good one, probably their second best. Although each song is impeccably performed, as a whole the songs are not as varied or interesting as on Tempest's best work, "Turn of the Wheel." Nonetheless, there are numerous highlights. The eclectic mix of wide-ranging styles is never more evident than on this album. "Trip Across the Mountain" is as majestic and spiritual a progressive rock instrumental as you'll ever hear. "Bonnie Lass of Anglesey" really works up a groove, to borrow an overused phrase. "One for the Fiddler" has a swaying, Zydeco-New-Orleans flavor, while "Green Grow the Rashes" takes a traditional Irish tune and reworks it in a reggae style. Both work surprisingly well. "Flowers of the Red Hill" is a pleasant romp through the Irish countryside. "Sinclair", with its plodding style, is a song I didn't care for at first but grows on you with repeated listenings; it is probably the most melancholy song Tempest has ever done. This CD also has the best production quality of any CD I have ever heard. Robert Berry, the producer, puts on a clinic in production techniques. The highs are crisp without being overly harsh or trebly and the lows are rich, full, and realistic. The mix is perfect - each instrument's contribution to the total sound can be heard distinctly without the instruments ever sounding muddled together. If you like hard rock and Celtic music, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of "The Gravel Walk" or "Turn of the Wheel". You'll be playing them over and over again.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost Live, July 7, 2000

By 

doug taepe (Western NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gravel Walk (Audio CD)

"The Gravel Walk" comes the closest to the live sound of this band. (before the great "10th Anniversary Compilation") Mixing folk and rock the way Jethro Tull and Fairport Convention used to in their day. Balancing a bit of psychedelic guitar, with Mandola and violin, Tempest update traditional folk songs.

See this band live if you get the chance, the energy displayed on stage would blow away most folk and metal bands out there today....