... So I decided to do Amazing Things as the first album on my list.
The band are:
Donnie Munro: Vocals
Rory MacDonald: Bass, Vocals and Accordion
Malcolm Jones: Guitars, Mandolin, Accordian, Midi Bagpipes, Acoustic Bass
Peter Wishart: Keyboards
Iain Bayne: Drums/Percussion
Calum MacDonald: ... Read review
...band and probably my favourite song on this album. It starts with a drumbeat before the keyboard comes in and then the vocals, being joined by the guitars quite shortly afterwards. The song has a good beat and the vocals sound great with a mixture of traditional Scottish music and a hint of rock. The lyrics are pretty simple and with most Runrig songs you will feel like you want to sing along.
Track 2: Wonderful
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So for my first op as an orange member I decided to do it on Runrig, another band like the Dubliners that were played non stop in our house by my parents. From the North of Scotland, Runrig have been around for years and made more albums than I can remember. So I decided to do Amazing Things as the first album on my list.
This is one of my favourite songs by the band and probably my favourite song on this album. It starts with a drumbeat before the keyboard comes in and then the vocals, being joined by the guitars quite shortly afterwards. The song has a good beat and the vocals sound great with a mixture of traditional Scottish music and a hint of rock. The lyrics are pretty simple and with most Runrig songs you will feel like you want to sing along.
Track 2: Wonderful ******************
The next track starts with the guitar and drum intro again into a slightly more upbeat song than the last one. The vocals come in a bit further into the song, with a sound you can only imagine Donnie Munro pulling off. The lyrics are quite mellow and Munro's voice really does accentuate it. It’s another sing a long track that sounds very relaxing and enjoyable to listen to.
Track 3: The Greatest Flame ***************************
Another good track, slowing the pace down a touch with the drums and guitars coming in from the start for a longer intro like the last song. The vocals again sound good and well suited to the type of song it actually is. The lyrics are again on the sing a long side and are very emotional. The drums keep a good beat all the way through the song with the guitars adding a good variation into it.
Track 4: Move A Mountain *************************
This one starts quietly building up gradually with the guitars, and the vocals coming in fairly quickly unlike the last couple of tracks. The vocals build up the song for the first verse before the drums really come in and add a bit of extra effort into the song. It’s a good foot tapping number that again anyone can enjoy easily.
Track 5: Pog Aon Oidhche Earraich **********************************
One thing Runrig do is tracks in the native Gaelic, which means the title to the song, is as well. This songs title means; A Kiss One Spring Evening. It starts quietly building up with the keyboard on its own before a spoken vocal track comes in, spoken totally in Gaelic. The song is quite slow building up only for the chorus, where backing vocals take over and actually sing. Of course the fact it is spoken/sung in Gaelic in my opinion doesn't take anything away from the song.
Track 6: Dream Fields *********************
The next track returns it to something everyone can understand. It starts with a slow drumbeat with the guitars playing a harmonic verse before the vocals come in and again it sounds like a very mellow relaxing track from the introduction. It keeps building into the song with the drums keeping the pace and the guitars again adding a little bit of variation to the track.
Track 7: Song Of The Earth **************************
The next song is a lot more upbeat with a pounding drum and guitar starting straight away with the vocals. The song has a good solid chorus and again is a superb sing a long track. The vocals again sound good from Donnie. Runrig really make music that it's easy for anyone to enjoy and during the years Donnie was in the band before he quit for a politics career they were regulars on the Hogmanay show on BBC Scotland.
Track 8: Forever Eyes Of Blue *****************************
Starting a little slower with the keyboard and guitar it has a longer intro before the vocals come in this time from Rory MacDonald. It's another great sounding track that is easy listening and the vocals sound good again. The Bass this time keeps the beat and the use of the drums is minimal. A bit harder to sing a long but equally as enjoyable as everything else on the album.
Track 9: Sraidean Na Roinn-Eorpa ********************************
This is the next Gaelic song and the title means "Streets Of Europe". This song starts quieter again building up with the introduction for probably the longest into so far before the drums come in with the Bagpipes and guitars. The vocals don't feature for a while on this track but when they do come in it sounds like a good traditional Gaelic song. The songs are all pretty long, which gives you a chance to really get into each track.
Track 10: Canada ****************
Another slow guitar and drum introduction, this one also features a bit of the Keyboards at the start. Another long introduction, which lets you drift away a little and really enjoy the music. No vocals really come in for well over a minute but when they do the lyrics are a mixture of English and Gaelic, which really adds a new dimension to the track.
Track 11: Ard **************
The last Gaelic named track on the album this is simply called "High". Although there are a lot of tracks involving Gaelic on the album this really adds something of a cultural element to the songs. Starting with a very upbeat introduction involving the guitars and a solid drumbeat the vocals again take a little while to come in. The song keeps a good beat and it doesn't seem to matter that you cannot understand the lyrics.
Track 12: On The Edge *********************
The last track on the album is an instrumental to take us out. It starts quiet building up quickly with the guitars and a haunting sound that lingers around. It's a very mellow start with the guitar the primary instrument. It's a very enjoyable piece of music as far as instrumentals go and you can just imagine it being used on a documentary programme about history or travel.
So there we go that is the first of my Runrig ops, I hope you have maybe learned something new or maybe you are already a fan of the band in which case I don’t need to tell you how good they are. The album is available from amazon.co.uk for £8.99.
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