Customer Reviews

Vintage Whine

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This is probably my favorite Skyclad album, due to the fact that there are no real duds on it. Most other Skyclad albums are plagued by a couple unmemorable songs, but this one can be listened to all the way through.

A few of the songs do stand out for me: Bury Me, Silver Cloud's Dark Lining, On With Their Heads, Little Miss Take, and Vintage Whine. The others are good as well, but almost verge on the side of being too consistent (and perhaps a tad monotonous). If this album just had a couple songs replaced by Polkageist from FOLKEMON and Single Phial from ANSWER MACHINE, it would be the PERFECT Skyclad album.

A must buy for Skyclad fans, and a decent place to get started for new fans. For those looking for a little more of a thrashy, less-folky Skyclad sound, check out their hard-to-find first 5 albums, or OLD ROPE (a collection from those albums). The transition albums were great as well, albeit with poor production and mixing: OUI AVANT GUARD A LA CHANCE and IRRATIONAL ANTHEMS. These 2 albums also had some wonderful songs, but a few duds as well. Happy hunting.

I don't understand why Skyclad is so hard to get in the U.S., considering that they are one of the premier metal bands of the decade. "Vintage Whine" is their ninth full-length release and features a return to a heavier sound similar to that found on "Irrational Anthems." The CD suffers slightly in the production department, the vocals sounding strangely muffled at times, especially on the song "On with Their Heads!"

Nevertheless, this is an essential album for fans of progressive, Celtic, and folk metal/rock. With a full-time fiddler plying her seductive melodies, sardonic and witty lyrics, and some of Skyclad's catchiest songwriting, this album is one of the top ten metal releases of 1999. Compelling power-metal stompers "The Silver Cloud's Dark Lining" and "Cancer of the Heart" are set off by ballad "A Well Beside the River" and jig-compatible "Little Miss Take." Extraordinary fun!