Customer Reviews

Half Tail

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

 

 

Who could not appreciate the energy of "Gillies" and the intricacy and majesty of "Bonnie Ship the Diamond?" There are some wonderful songs on this recording, a fact not unnoticed by the makers of "Good Will Hunting," who put "Heart and Soul" on the movie's soundtrack.

I'd rate "Unleashed", "The Chase", "Year of the Dog", and "The Half Tail" all as classic Wolfstone recordings. After these, and with some changes in the lineup (notably the departure of Ivan Drever, their finest songwriter), Wolfstone's output hasn't been up to the same level. Still, how many bands can claim four amazing recordings? If we never hear the likes of these four gems again, we can still play these over and over, dancing and dancing with smiles on our faces!

Ok, first I am disappointed by other people's review complaining of Ivan D's voice. Granted he is no Charlotte Church, Geoff Tate, etc, yet he has a pleasent voice. Yet, his greater strength is his song writing. In my opinion this is one of thee absolute best Celtic Rock Cds that are out there. This has everything a good Celtic Rock Album should have...fast rocking jigs and reels with electric guitar, bass, adn drums in the background, and mellow heartfelt tunes with a solid celtic accent. I do not understand where anyone can be disappointed with anything on this cd...well maybe the mellow "John Tesh" sounding piano interlude. but I do enjoy that song too. One other thing to note is that this album is not full of covers. There are a few cover tunes, but unlike many celtic albums there are alot of orginals songs on this album. I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE anyone who likes Celtic Rock to get this album!!!

I agree with the other reviewers' statement that the first half of this CD is the best. "Bonnie Ship the Diamond" is rocking. "Gillies" is hard to forget. "Tall Ships" talks about a past the seafaring Irish long to have back. Wolfstone is electric on the first half and lets you down for the second. Still worth it for the songs noted.

This is definitely a different album. Wolfstone combines many musical styles to form a unique sound. But it's worth buying if only for "Gillies" alone -- a beautiful, powerful, addictive song.

They also used to hunt whales, and they used to dance with heart and soul. The longing for an idealized past in this album is unmistakable. Still, this isn't just another wistful nostalgia album. Not to be missed by fans of either avant garde or traditional music.

I consider this to be the 2nd best CD in the Wolfstone catalogue, with the best being 'Unleashed'. While 'The Chase' and especially 'Year of the Dog' sounded like little more than tired re-hashes of 'Unleashed' but with poorer production, less variety, overuse of cheesy synthesizers, and the sound of a tired group just going through the motions as they ran out of ideas, Halftail has none of these pitfalls. It sounds like a rejuvenated band with fresh ideas and energetic performances. The first six songs (Zeto, Tall Ships, Gillies, Heart and Soul, Granny Hogg's Enormous Wallet, and Bonnie Ship the Diamond) are as varied, interesting, and good as anything Wolfstone has ever done, and with the possible exception of Heart and Soul, don't sound ANYTHING like any song on their previous 3 albums. (Unfortunately, the last 3 songs (Glenglass, Clueless, and No Tie Ups) degenerate into repetitious, sappy, nondescript ballad territory, but the previously mentioned songs are so good this matters little). If you are a casual Wolfstone fan, forget about Pick of the Litter (Greatest Hits); it simply contains far too many of the cheesy-synthesizer-dominated songs and too many nondescript ballads; just purchase 'Unleashed' and 'Half Tail' and you will have virtually all of Wolfstone's best songs.

Wolfstone is a band I really want to like. Hard rock with Scottish traditional instruments and occasional folk melodies sounds like an intriguing combination, and their live sets in the mid-1990s were rumoured to be among the most exciting on the roots music circuit. But unfortunately, the band proved wildly inconsistent on recordings. On THE HALF TAIL, released in 1996, we find a mix of wonderful tunes and some of the silliest tracks committed to disc.

"Zeto" is a rousing straightforward instrumental with a prominent bagpipe line. It makes a fantastic opening to the album. Unfortunately, with "Tall Ships" the great Scottish energy is broken by what sounds like an American country song, with blue-collar lyrics about factories closing. "Gilles" is another instrumental, but more multifaceted, and here synthesizers are as much in the spotlight as the bagpipe. "Heart and Soul" has some rather goofy vocals--already one starts to wish the band stuck to purely instrumental tracks. "Granny Hogg's Enormous Wallet" returns to the instrumental form, with a less electric feel than the previous ones. Happily, the curse on vocal tracks is broken by "Bonnie Ship the Diamond", a ferocious arrangement of an old tune about North Sea whalers who risk death to secure happier lives for themselves and their families in Scotland. "Glenglass" sounds like the kind of musak I remember hearing back in the 1990s while on hold on the phone. "Clueless" is another instrumental, this time very weak and unimpressive compared to the previous ones. "No Tie Ups" is another protest song on the loss of traditional jobs and makes an unremarkable end to the album.

"Gilles" and "Bonnie Ship the Diamond" may suffice to make this album worthwhile for fans of folk crossovers in the British Isles, but I would be very reluctant to recommend THE HALF TAIL, or any Wolfstone effort, to the average listener.

I have been listening to Wolfstone for about seven years now. I have three other CD's but this seems to be the one I reach for the most. I hope I don't have to wait long for the next one.

I first saw Wolfstone in 1995 at Milwaukee Irish fest and never forgot them! A couple years later I bought this CD through a mail order catalogue just based on remembering the name. I now have all CD's, except Pick of the Litter because I have all the rest! They started touring again in the US in 2000's....2004 I think. I traveled from Chicago to Dublin, Ohio mainly for them! I maintain their yahoo group for them....didn't have their permission originally but they know about it now and posed for the group picture last year! I love them!

My pick on this CD is "Bonnie Ship the Diamond." You can currently hear this cool track on the real audio broadcast program "Celtic Rock and Reel" at the Music Sojourn web site.