Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent overview of the contemporary Celtic music scene., December 19, 1998
By A Customer
I purchased this video because I already owned and enjoyed music by all of the artists involved. But, with two exceptions, had never seen them perform live or heard them talk about their music. This video filled-in those blanks spectacularly. It blends beautiful scenes from the three primary Celtic strongholds (Ireland, Scotland and Canada's Cape Breton Island) with artist interviews and concert footage. The musical lineup includes The Chieftains, Loreena McKennitt, Clannad, Mary Black, Altan, Ashley MacIsaac, Natalie MacMaster, The Rankin Family, Capercaillie, Dougie MacLean, Seamus Egan, Mary Jane Lamond and Old Blind Dogs. This is the first video production from the excellent world music label, Putumayo and I hope they continue. The overall production values are solid, the editing is crisp and the storyline holds together well. Each of several narrative segments are introduced by one of the musical Rankin sisters, all with enthusiasm and sincerity. Musically, we've all seen The Chieftains and Loreena McKennitt appear in the media recently. But "Celtic Tides" provides us the opportunity to view such individuals as Ashley MacIsaac (an intense fiddler who has been labeled the king of "Grunge Celtic" by his fans and critics), Natalie MacMaster (who's shown step dancing while simultaneously performing a fiery fiddle solo) and Karen Matheson (the lead singer of Scottish group Capercaillie, who has universally been described as having the most beautiful voice in contemporary music). I would recommend this video to hard-core Celtic music fans and those "newbies" who were introduced recently by such mainstream vehicles as "Riverdance", "Titanic" and Michael Flately. I only have two minor quibbles. First, I would have loved to see it last longer (it clocks in at 50 minutes). And I would have really enjoyed seeing more of my favorite Celtic artists (Leahy, Solas and Connie Dover, for instance). But,those two points aside, I really got my money's worth from this video.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A very good collection of a variety of Celtic artists., August 20, 1999
By A Customer
This video is a showcase for a variety of Celtic artists. The best part of the DVD is the music and the interviews... unfortunately, it is the worst part as well. While the music, interviews, and aritsts are all credible, the video never gives us even one complete tune. So if you're looking for a good cross section of modern Celtic aritsts from Great Britian and Canada, and you don't mind the snippets of music, this may suffice. If you are looking for the music, you may be disappointed.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a celtic smorgasbord--loved it!, April 18, 2000
I've bought this DVD and have enjoyed it over and over. I'm a fan of the music of Capercaillie, Altan, Loreena McKennitt, Mary Jane Lamond, the Rankins and others, but this DVD provides a chance to see and hear them talk about their music. If you want a concert video, DON'T buy this DVD--the music is fragmented between the interviews and there are no complete numbers. But if you already know the music of these artists and want to know more about them, this is the DVD for you. Watching it is particularly poignant now that the Rankins have disbanded. They will be missed.
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Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.
~ Various Artists - International - Europe - Celtic/British Isles
by Martin Melhuish
~ Various Artists
~ Various Artists - International - Europe - Celtic/British Isles
~ Various Artists
