Customer Reviews

Old Hag You Have Killed Me

5 star:		(4)
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The Bothies were the ultimate irish trad band, they almost invented modern trad music and the sounds they made are as startlingly original today as they were in the 1970s. Each member was a virtuoso player steeped in tradition with their own individual voice and style. But how they blended to make the most magnificent irish music - Keenan's pipes, peoples (later Burke's) fiddle, Molloy's flute, Lunny on bouzouki and bodhran and the O'Domhnaill's - Micheal on guitar and vocals, Triona on keyboards and vocals. Lilting airs and songs interspersed with delirious driving reels and jigs played at a speed and verve never before witnessed. Every track is a gem and there are wonderful arrangements in the sets and songs, inventive, melodic, awesome technique. Several generations of trad players and younger groups acknowledge their indebtedness to the BB and the inspiration they have drawn from the old masters. Some can play as fast or can do clever things but none have matched the heart in the music of the Bothy Band. Essential music for any collection.

After the impact of the Bothy Band's first album (1975), this one seemed rather a letdown. Some of the band's "edge" came from the creative but rather erratic fiddler Tommy Peoples, who was succeeded on this album by Kevin Burke. Still, the performances are outstanding all around, the traditional tunes are presented in a fresh new guise, and if this had been the band's first album it would have knocked everyone's socks off. Definitely not to be overlooked.

This is a classic record by a group with a great cache. Maid of Coolmoor is a beautiful song, one I've loved for over 25 years. I recommend this album.

Jimmy

This is irish music at its best....musical layers added expertly together making a rich and complicated whole. The is a wonderful mixture of moods in this album...flippant...sad....haunting...The gaelic songs will put chills in your spine...I don't think I have heard another album of Irish music that I have enjoyed or appreciated more.