Perfect Time

Marie Brennan, Maire Brennan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 21, 1998)
• Original Release Date: April 21, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000062I1
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #156,932 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect album, June 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Perfect Time (Audio CD)

I bought this album because of the artists' connection with "Clannad" and her other two solo albums. Maire Brennen proves that she can hold her own with her sister Enya in terms of vocal quality and musical stylings. Plus the words on this album have such a powerful message of a real expression of her Christian faith that is not trivial or preachy. (Speaking of words, unlike the Clannad albums, translations are provided in the liner notes of any song sung in Irish,and there are a few beautiful ones here.) I would recommend this album to anyone who is looking for something that seems familiar, yet totally different from anything that is currently available, or anyone just interested in modern Celtic music.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Brennan clan obviously has good genes!, April 6, 2001

By 

John Wheeler (King David's Harp, Inc., Houston, TX.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perfect Time (Audio CD)

Inevitably, siblings in the same musical family will be compared, and different audiences will prefer one or the other (or like both equally for different reasons). From the reviews listed here for this album, this is obviously the case with Enya (Eithne) and Maire, two sisters in the renowned Brennan clan. For example: is Maire's voice better than Enya's because Maire doesn't use vocal layering? Maire's voice is more earthy, but Enya's is more brilliant and ethereal; which voice then is more adaptable to layering? Is Maire the most talented musician in her family? Perhaps those who know the Brennans well would say "yea verily"; but I don't necessarily see the proof of that. I'll match Enya's work against Maire's or even Clannad's as a whole any day...all of which merely means that I like Maire, Enya and (some of) Clannad equally well, but for different reasons.

Which brings me to "Perfect Time". I don't think there's a bad track on it; and many tracks are excellent to superb. My favorite is the haunting and lyrical "Song of David (Psalm 67)", with its combination of harp, synthesizer, and vocals by Maire and a children's choir. Regrettably, it is the one Irish Gaelic song that doesn't have an English translation. I can't make the lyrics match up with Psalm 67 as the Septuagint/Catholic enumeration has it; but neither can I make them match up with Psalm 67 as the Hebrew/Protestant enumeration has it. I suspect the latter, though, was the source of the Gaelic version...in any case, the song consistently brings tears to my eyes. "Perfect Time" has a wonderful honesty and realism about it, concerning Maire's personal walk with God; the story of St. Patrick, a mythic quality to match anything in Enya's or Clannad's work (one can imagine the rowing of oars to the melody) -- and so on.

A Christian contemporary music critic wrote of Maire expressing a "renewed personal faith" in this album. I assume this means he or she knows something I don't...in any case, the faith is solidly Irish Catholic. This makes her (slightly veiled) plea for peace between Irish Catholics and Protestants in "Heal This Land" all the more touching. (She uses a deliberately gentle, almost motherly touch where some might think "a plague on both your houses" would be more appropriate.) I could go on; but I leave the discovery of the rest of this album's gentle charms to you, the reader.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soothing, Poignant, and Powerful, December 10, 1999

By 

Cole Wilmot (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perfect Time (Audio CD)

Máire Brennan, a talented woman who has labored earnestly to become recognized as a solo artist, has composed, arranged, and co-produced one of the most remarkable albums pertaining to the Celtic musical tradition, and that album is "Perfect Time". Máire, who grew up in Gweedore, Ireland, hails from a musically-inclined family, and is elder sister to the internationally-praised artist Eithne (Enya). Begun by Máire's father Leo in the early 80's, the family band Clannad was formed, featuring Máire as lead vocalist and harpist, Enya as keyboardist, her brother Cíaran as vocalist and guitarist, and their Uncles Pól and Padraig on various other instruments. Enya decided to detach herself from Clannad in the mid-eighties to pursue a solo career. However even Enya's successful career and critical acclaim do not match the superbly earthy work Máire has created over the years and the purely spiritual qualities that she as a person, a human being, possesses. "Perfect Time" is an outstanding collaboration of her hauntingly beautiful vibrato and the tranquilizing timbres of a broad spectrum of instruments, including the ethereal Celtic harp + keyboard (both played by Máire), Uileann Pipes, Bodhran, fiddle, and is even seasoned with the delightful harmonies of a choir. Even more poignant than the musical composition itself is the deeply-penetrating Christian message which embraces the music. The only negative aspect of this work is that this message, intended by Christ to be simple truth, is sometimes conveyed a bit too esoterically, and the message is occasionally veiled partially by the overwhelming, richly-textured music. Nevertheless, I would highly recommend this album to any who are seeking music in the Celtic genre. I found that my investment in the album was a prudent one.