Speaking with the Angel

Mary Black

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 7, 2000)
• Original Release Date: March 7, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Atlantic / Wea
• ASIN: B00004R8R8
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #145,545 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Ever since she left De Dannan to begin her solo career in 1987, Mary Black has experimented with finding the proper balance of folk and pop to best suit her magnificent voice. Speaking with the Angel, which includes songs by Dougie MacLean, John Gorka, Sting, Ron Sexsmith, and the folkie's favorite songwriter Anonymous, gets the ratio just about right. The CD includes uptempo pop ditties such as "Message of Love" and "Big Trip to Portland"; smoky, jazz-inflected songs like "Fall at Your Feet"; and of course a good sampling of folk songs like "Turning Away" and "I Live Not Where I Love." On her late-'90s albums Black abandoned her familiar folk-inspired arrangements in favor of a slick, pop sound, but here she has enlisted the help of famed Celtic music producer Donal Lunny, who worked on five songs, to help keep her music from straying too far from its roots. Speaking with the Angel is a CD full of strong performances, but perhaps the most moving is "Moments," a tribute to Sandy Denny, a singer Black still turns to for inspiration more than two decades after her untimely death. --Michael Simmons

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mary Black Continues Her Magic, November 10, 2000

By	"hongkongmom" (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

Mary Black continues to prove that a truly gifted singer can put her special mark on a wide variety of music. While I love Mary's traditional Irish pieces of the early years, I am equally thrilled with the more contemporary music she's recorded more recently. Whether singing the energetic "Message of Love" or the poignant "Moments" she is, as always, one of the best female vocalists in the world. Her clear-as-a-bell voice and flawless interpretation is one of Ireland's greatest national treasures.

Her staying power as an artist is in her choice of diverse songs, many by contemporary Irish artists, that keep her sound ever-fresh and exciting. The old Irish tunes on her early albums are great (as is "Bless the Road" on this one) but she would be doing a disservice to the tremendous songwriting talent in Ireland today if she stayed stuck in the past.

I waited to buy this CD because I was deterred by a couple of less-than-complimentary reviews on this website. One day I decided to give it a chance and I'm glad I did. This is a beautiful album which I listen to over and over. I can't wait for her next one!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mary at her best, March 12, 2000

By	M. van Setten (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

On her 9th album "Speaking With The Angel" Mary has gone back to her roots: it is more accoustic then the previous album "Shine". The album contains incredible beautifull songs, like the title track by Ron Sexsmith "Speaking With The Angels", "Moments", "Cut By Wire" and a great cover of "Fields of Golds". Besides these more slow-pased songs, the album also contains more up-tempo songs, like "Message of Love" (a great message for the new millenium) and "Big Trip To Portland". This is certainly one of her best albums, with some delicate songs performed by Mary Black as only she can do it. A must have...

29 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A different point of view, March 25, 2000

By	Phil Buckberg (Olney, MD USA) - See all my reviews

Combine Mary Black's gorgeous, powerful voice with mediocre songs and adult contemporary arrangements and you get a truly BORING CD. Sure, you can sometimes hear the magic in her voice, but it's a strain to find it on this one. I'm a huge fan of Mary's early, more traditional material, and in that genre she has no peer. But on "Speaking..." she's just another middle-of-the-road singer with a nice voice and a competent band. "Turning Away" is okay, but "Don't Say Okay" is sophomoric. On "Fall at Your Feet" and "Fields of Gold" need not have been covered at all. "Bless this Road" is a modest highlight, but her rerecording of "I Live Not Where I Love", the only traditional tune here, drags under its own slowed-down rearrangement. Obviously "Speaking" has its fans, and if you've liked her last few albums you'll probably love this. But if you're looking for the same Mary Black that sang "Song For Ireland" and "Both Sides The Tweed", go for the older recordings or maybe the Black Family CD instead.