Customer Reviews

Marching Mystery

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I can feel my blood pressure dropping with the first few notes. These songs are the work of a fine craftsman, with simple melodies, and lyrics from a more honest and direct world almost forgotten under the panic of modern city life. Beautiful, accomplished (though never flashy) arrangements and playing.

Get this one first. Then if you like the arrangements, get Riof. If you prefer just voice and guitar, buy Craigie Dhu. Then buy Singing Land. (Amazon, why don't you sell Singing Land?)

Marching Mystery is yet more proof that, as far as musicians go, Dougie MacLean is a real treasure.

I have four of Dougie's albums now, and I have yet to have one of them not blow me away in admiration and amazement. This man is truly a genius.

"Marching Mystery" is an album full of original songs written by Dougie. It has always struck me that as great as Dougie's arrangements of traditional songs are, his own tunes are just as amazing. Some of his best songs are to be found here.

The title track is probably one of his best songs. It is a masterful march-like tune that sticks in your head for days. The liner notes state that it is "dedicated to the 78 ancient chess pieces that were discovered in 1831 on Uig Sands on the west coast of the isle of Lewis after a storm had washed away a portion of the sandbank. They were discovered by a local who, it is said, thought he had intruded on an assemblage of elves or gnomes."

The other songs are all beautiful as well. Some of my personal favorites are: "Deepest Part of Me" (one of Dougie's typically beautiful love songs); "Broken Wings"; "Expectation" (which is the final song on the disc--and all of Dougie's CD's have excellent final songs); and "Holding Back" which is possibly my favorite song on the disc. The song begins with these wonderful lines:

"It's in the darkness of believing, It's in the shadows where we have to stand. Beside the loving and the grieving, O I'll never understand. It's in the way it has to reach us, It's in the restless of the shifting sand-- And all the truth it has to teach us, O I'll never understand."

What more could one say...except that I recommend this disc most highly.

I followed Dougie and his band in the early 90's when he employed the services of some truly great musicians, namely, Davie Duncan (Backing vocals, harmonica and acoustic) and Chris Smith (Drums, vocals and percussion)amongst others. I travelled over from the Staes to watch their performances at Celtic Connections and picked up a couple of tours stateside. I had the pleasure of meeting the band, who I have to say were much more approachable than the man himself!

I have seen Dougie recently but I regret to say that he has never managed to capture the magic his band produced of over a decade ago.

If you are going to buy an album, I suggest Marching Mystery or Indigenous.

I have never heard a Dougie song I did not like.....I had the priviledge of meeting him in Juneau, Alaska. He is in person as he is in music....amazing. But where is Real Estate????.... one of his earlier masterpieces....

Maybe ten years ago, after accidently hearing Dougie on an NPR show, I was mesmerized. I bought Marching Mystery and others on cassette, heard him in concert here in Portland OR. singing along in a trance with the others in the audience, and his staying power was great for my ears and heart, keeping him near the top of my active playlist. But time went by, and around 2001 I finally made the switch from cassette tapes to CD's and Dougie got left behind with others on cassettes no longer played - for years.
And then I happened upon Marching Mystery CD in the library, brought it home, and have been a Born Again addict in ecstasy all over again, since. I was totally unaware how deeply these songs had burrowed into a treasured place in my heart, and remained in hibernation, there. And what luck Marching Mystery was the ONE CD in the library. It was my favorite in '99-2001 and instantly remains so, again. ALL of the songs are outstanding in warmth and depth of voice quality (Dougie's vocal timbre is like swallowing a stiff shot of Blackberry Brandy) richness of instrumental back-ups; but it's the marriage of Dougie's lyrics and warm, haunting melodies place this artist in a class by himself. Title tune Marching Mystery comes on with a dirge-like drone and lyrics to make you feel like you're wandering around Stonehenge in a frigid fog. Broken Wings is achingly lyrical. When the People Speak (with a chorus as if from a rural hall in Dunkeld) is both angry and uplifting.
But the great stuff is not confined to this album. Click in on youtube and see/hear Dougie's classics such as Turning Away (INDIGENOUS CD) and the exalant Feel So Near (RIOF)
The final track of Marching Mystery (Expectation) is not one on youtube, so you have to close your eyes and dream as Dougie lulls you away to this place of magic:
...."Was it the gentle ones..... Was it the folding light.... Was it the fire that burns....
Turning it all, into the summer night"..................................................................

Dougie has done a superb job of putting a modern touch on his clearly Celtic sound. Without losing any of his sweet rustic qualities, the production, as well as, mix of tradtional and contemporary themes come together perfectly to create a powerfully compelling music experience.

I just discovered Dougie MacLean, and more specifically this album...simply put, I love it. It's rich yet simple and it fills my heart and soul. I am on my way to purchasing more music by him and I encourage all who wonder, to just take a minute and listen and breathe...and see if it speaks to you. If not, move on. This is a special person with much to share, blessed with a wonderful gifted way of doing so.