Shamrock Diaries [Import]

Chris Rea | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 1, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Atlantic UK
• ASIN: B000007382
• Also Available in: Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,896 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Steel River

2. Stainsby Girl

3. Chisel Hill

4. Josephine

5. One Golden Rule

6. All Summer Long

7. Stone

8. Shamrock Diaries

9. Love Turns To Lies

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding album, November 17, 2000

By 

Philip Briddon (Launceston, Tasmania Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shamrock Diaries (Audio CD)

I first met Cris Rea's music on a cold December night in 1984. It was a concert at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England. Chris Rea was the support act, and Eric Clapton was the main. I don't think that Chris Rea's performance that night was enough to upset the odds (Clapton still remains in a class of his own), but may years on, I still think that this was the best concert I ever went to.

Chris Rea only played five songs. Only one of them appears on this album - the excellent 'Stainsby Girls'. But having heard the concert, I bought this album as soon as it was released, and was not dissapointed at all. In vinyl terms, side one is stronger than side two, but there really isn't a bad track here. I would describe this as a rather melancholy album - lyrically Chris spends a lot of time lamenting the past, but the album is musically excellent. Many years on, I still regard the opening track, 'Steel River' as one of my all time favourite pieces of music. This track has it all - great lyrics, slide guitar, and a wondreful jazzy horn section. Chris Rea's love song about a way of life now gone forever remains a classic.

Why should I spend my time reviewing a rather obscure album from an artist whose later work was more commercially successful? Simple. This album is a classic. Buy it.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't Get Much Better Than This, March 16, 1999

By 

A. Hamilton "Bollocks" (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shamrock Diaries (Audio CD)

One of the best albums of the eighties, certainly the best of Chris Rea's career, does not contain a bad track. Like his other albums, generally a mix of melodic keyboards, often fantastic slide guitar, solid drums - but he gets things right more consistently on this one. The lyrics are evocative without being sentimental, the low-key singing is often complementary to the music rather than being the most important element, but the end result is a bunch of tunes that get so many things right, they should be in college - of if not, they should be taught there. There's the occasional eighties saxophone break, true, but even that's handled as well as possible. As a fan of everyone from 'The Smiths' to 'Prince' to 'Placebo', I have to say that hardly anyone ever hit the heights of this one. Only one other of his own albums - On The Beach - got close. People often say Dire Straits are in the same category as Chris Rea, but that group certainly aren't in the same league.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Master, April 11, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Shamrock Diaries (Audio CD)

An absolute gem of an album. I was fortunate to be at the Shamrock Diaries concert at Newcastle City Hall many moons ago and was treated to these songs and many others. One of the most underrated artists ever.