The Greatest Journey: Essential Collection

Celtic Woman | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 28, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Manhattan Records
• ASIN: B001EI5CIC
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,256 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #50 in Music > World Music > Europe > General

Editorial Reviews

Review

The voices of Celtic Woman blend together so smoothly you might think these women have been harmonizing since they were in their cribs. They sing like angels, almost ethereal on their classical material yet equally adept at creating good fun with folksier numbers. --New York Daily News

Product Description

Under the musical direction of David Downes, The Greatest Journey: Essential Collection captures the stunning voices of Celtic Woman: Lisa, Méav, Chloë, Órla, Lynn & Alex and the inspired fiddle playing of Máiréad. This essential collection of their most beloved and memorable songs also includes four new songs ("The Call","Pie Jesu", "Ave Maria", "You Raise Me Up" backed with a gospel choir) and two previously unavailable songs on CD, "Somewhere" from the Live at Slane Castle DVD and "Shenandoah" from the deluxe CD of A New Journey. The Greatest Journey: Essential Collection (DVD) is also available.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love it!, November 7, 2008

By 

Emily Smith (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Greatest Journey: Essential Collection (Audio CD)

Celtic Woman fans and music lovers alike will enjoy this release! If you are new to CW, I would recommend this CD. It is what it says it is: the essential collection. Compiled in this CD are many of the most loved songs that the group has released over the span of the past few years. For those who are not familiar with them, it is a good way to have a look at what they are all about.

In addition, there are two NEW songs that CW fans will go nuts for: "The Call" (lyrics by Brendan Graham) and "Pie Jesu," which is a duet between Chloe and Lynn. It is lovely to hear Lynn on these two songs, as she has a fantastic voice and is such a perfect addition to the group! "The Call" is an absolutely beautiful song. It's very powerful, very uplifting and has an almost haunting quality to it. In my opinion, it may end up being one of their best songs yet, and certainly one to look forward to hearing on the upcoming tour!

Also, for those of you who love CW's Christmas DVD, you'll notice that "Green The Whole Year Round" is on this CD! It has never before been put on one of their CD's (it wasn't on the Christmas CD, just the DVD), so that's very exciting! It's a lovely song, one of Lisa's best, so I was elated to see it on this album!

To me, this is the perfect "essential collection" or "greatest hits album," if you will. Most of the favorites are on it, and two new (AMAZING) songs are included.

The only negative I see is that I feel it is missing a few of their most amazing songs, most notably "Sing Out!" which is a favorite of mine. At the end of the day, however, it is difficult in deciding which songs to put on an album like this, especially because they have had so many lovely songs.

To sum up, Celtic Woman fans will love this release and will more than likely want to have it ASAP, even those of you who are more anxious for something completely new. Folks who may be curious about the group and interested in hearing their music should definitely get this as well.

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars nothing new, December 4, 2008

By 

lilibet (N.Y.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Greatest Journey: Essential Collection (Audio CD)

I love Celtic Woman, that means I already have all their dvd's and cd's. I was so disappointed that this dvd was made up of clips from each of their previous dvd's (Celtic Woman, New Journey, Christmas). If you don't own any of their other dvd's or cd's then I would recommend this for you as a "best of" album but, if like me, you already have all the others you might be as disappointed at the lack of new material as I was.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE JOURNEY CONTINUES, January 1, 2009

By 

Santo Jack Collura (Bedford, Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Greatest Journey: Essential Collection (Audio CD)

Although this CD is basically a combination of songs from the two previous albums it still is a nice addition. As with the two previous CDs this is a tapestry of five beautiful voices, Mairead's powerful performance, along with a fantastic chorus and orchestra performing a colorful blend of Celtic, adult contemporary and classical music woven together by the genus of David Downes. Songs such as The Voice, and Orinoco Flow, and of course Mairead's Shenandoah-The Contradiction are always enjoyable to hear. There are also some new songs which are not heard on the other CDs such as Green the Whole Year Round which although a Christmas song still sounds appropriate for any season, The Call, Pie Jesu, and recording of live performance of The Spanish Lady, and Mo Ghile Mear. This is the CD you can keep in your vehicle and listen to while performing daily errands or take to work and help ease the stress we all fell. The other Celtic Woman CDs can remain safely at home to be enjoyed in quiet solitude.