The Best of Silly Wizard

Silly Wizard

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1985
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Shanachie
• ASIN: B000000E7E
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #138,310 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great Scottish band I discovered by accident..., March 24, 2002

By	Java Wench "javawench" (Columbia, SC United States) - See all my reviews

This vintage Scottish band was featured on a compilation CD of Celtic music I purchased several years ago...the song "Queen of Argyl" is the one song that was featured and it made me HAVE to find other music by this band. If you like both traditional Scottish music and more contemporary music with Celtic elements, you have to listen to this group! The vocals are stirring, instrumentation is skillful...I wish I had been around when Silly Wizard was in its heyday. Search out their music...you won't be disappointed.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth every ounce of praise I can heap upon it., October 2, 2003

By A Customer

I remember this album when it was first released in 1985 and in the 18 years since, I have found few albums in the genre that rival it. It is a fantastic selection of Silly Wizard's work. The "Queen of Argyll" is my absolute favorite love song of all time with lyrics like "All the roses in the garden bow and ask their pardon for not one could match the beauty of the Queen of all Argyll". If that doesn't conjure the image of a red haired Scottish beauty strolling in a garden or meadow, I don't know what does. Amazon gives us a space of 1,000 words to express our opinion in a review, but ten times that many praises might begin to express how I feel about this album ... even after all these years since I first heard it.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best (or pretty darned close)!, December 10, 2001

By	Daniel J. Fawcett "[e-mail]" (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews

I'm a long-time fan of hybrid music. Hybrid music is a fancy way of saying "modern musicians ripping off the traditional songs." And my tastes ran from the Bad Livers (excellent bluegrass-punk) to the Pogues (whisky-soaked Irish folk rock, of course). But my explorations pulled me in a more traditional direction all the time.

Eventually, I found Silly Wizard, thanks to a friend who (like me) is proud of his Scottish ties. This album was the starting point for my Celtic traditional music obsession. And I feel like I owe that friend an amazing debt of gratitude.

Simply put, Silly Wizard are top notch musicians. This is what is lacking in so much of hybrid music... stellar musicianship. While the Pogues stumbled their drunken way through much of their pseudo-Celtic folk rock, Silly Wizard deftly and lovingly present the traditional tunes to a modern audience. The song Queen of Argyll is a particular joy to hear, and is played with style, vigor, and humor.

All of the tunes on this CD are gems, and I would encourage anyone who claims to enjoy Celtic, Traditional, or World music to listen to this CD. The only flaw is that there were too many instrumental pieces on this CD. I think a few more vocal tracks would have rounded out this CD nicely (not to imply that there aren't any vocal tracks... there are a few). But all in all, a well done disk from a band who deserves more recognition.