Ultimate Collection, The - Clannad > Reviews > Quite simply the Ultimate Collection - Clannad

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it rate alongside the competition	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	If you are new to Irish Folk music then this is the one for you !
Disadvantages:	If you already have some of Clannad's other work you may already have most of this compilation .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

To most folks out there, Clannad is probably best known as "the band that Enya used to be in," although for me, they are more like "that great Celtic band that later got all goopy and New Agey..." Clannad are made up of various members of the Bhraonain (Brennan) and Dugain (Duggan) families, out of County Donegal in Ireland. Vocalist Maire Ni Bhraonain (now known as Mary Brennan) was at the vocal heart of the band, although the band's considerable collective instrumental skill was also nothing to sneeze at. Although they were always modernists, Clannad started off with a more traditional, folkloric orientation, and their records of the early and late 1970s are generally pretty satisfying to the trad-oriented among us -- smooth and ornate, but with a solid Celtic foundation.

Over the years, Clannad's sound has gotten progressively slicker and more synthy, and they are now an institutionalized part of the Celtic-New Age scene. And, yes, Maire's little sister Eithne, aka Enya, did get her start in the family band, although she was only briefly a member at the beginning of the 1980s, before setting off to become a super-duper New Age superstar in her own right. Most current Clannad fans probably like them for all the reasons that I no longer do: the slick, heavily layered, glossy production, and the muzak-y tilt of their later work, as well as the gooey spirituality. Maire Brennan also has a significant solo career, which increasingly has become a platform for her Christian beliefs.

The song list is on this "The Ultimate Collection" is however as follows:-

CD.1.

1. Dulaman
2. Two Sisters
3. Siuil a Run
4. Down by the Sally Gardens
5. Níl Sé Ina Lá
6. An tÚll
7. Na Buachailli Alainn
8. Green Fields of Gaothdobhair
9. Mhorag 'S Na Horo Gheallaidh
10. Passing Time
11. Newgrange
12. Thios Fa'n Chósta
13. Theme From Harry's Game
14. Now is Here
15. Together We
16. Robin (The Hooded Man)
17. Ancient Forest
18. Lady Marian
19. Journey's End
20. Closer to Your Heart

cd.2.

1. Northern Skyline
2. The Wild Cry
3. In A Lifetime (Clanned & Bono)
4. Hourglass
5. In Search Of A Heart 6. Something to Believe In
7. Second Nature
8. Sirius
9. Atlantic Realm
10. Hunter, The
11. A Dream in Rhe Night (Theme from "The Angel and the Soldier Boy")
12. In Fortune's Hand
13. Why Worry?
14. There for You
15. I Will Find You (Theme From "The Last Of The Mohicans")
16. Banba Oir
17. Seanchas
18. Bridge, A (That Carries Us Over)

Initially released : 1997

Clannad are as follows:-

Clannad are;
Maire Brennan - harp, vocals
Ciaran Brennan - bass, guitar, keyboards, vocals
Paul Brennan - flute, guitar, percussion, vocals
Noel Duggan - guitar, vocals
Pat Duggan - guitar, mandolin, vocals

Clannad bridged the gap between traditional Celtic music and pop. Usually, their results were an entrancing, enchanting form of pop that managed to fuse the disparate elements together rather seamlessly. Such fusions have earned the band an international cult of fans.

Taking their name from the Gaelic word for "family", Clannad formed in 1970 when the Brennan family — Maire (vocals, harp), Ciaran (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards), Pol (guitar, percussion, flute, vocals) — began playing at their father Leo's tavern with two of their uncles, Padraig Duggan (guitar, vocals, mandolin) and Noel Duggan (guitar, vocals).

Soon afterward, the group began playing folk festivals in Ireland. They released their self-titled first album in 1973, yet the band didn't earn any widespread success until they toured Germany in 1975. Maire's sister, Enya, joined the group in 1979, yet left in 1982, just as the group was beginning to come into some pop success in the U.K. Clannad recorded the theme song for the television program Harry's Game; the single hit number five on the charts and won the band an Ivor Novello Award. The band recorded the soundtrack to the television production Robin of Sherwood in 1984; it won a British Academy Award for best soundtrack the next year. Clannad's success continued in 1986, when U2's Bono was featured on the Top 20 hit "In a Lifetime." The band continued to release albums into the 1990s, building their pop following without losing their folk audience.

The simple truth is if you have heard Clannad you will either love them or loath them. But if you have not got anything by Clannad but have by Enya, then you will simply love the diversity and simple complexity of this compilation.

I could review each and every song on this album, but would you REALLY be willing to read through 38 tracks when you could be out there buying it and listening to it yourself.

This is the ultimate music for stress management and relaxation, it is very romantic in the right scenario too!

Hire it from a library, download it from the net, buy it in an auction, LISTEN TO IT - NO REALLY LISTEN TO IT! But don't judge it negative just because it is folk music.

If you take my advice and listen to this, some other albums to look out for are as follows:-

A Magical Gathering: The Clannad Anthology (2002)
The latest release featuring all of Clannad's best songs on two CDs. The music ranges from traditional Celtic to folk to their modern New Age Celtic sound that's made them famous. Three decades of material that includes a 43-page full-color booklet filled with pictures, notes on the band and discography.

St. Patrick - The Irish Legend [SOUNDTRACK] (2000)
The movie was great. And now you can get the movie that is composed mostly of music by Clannad. Anyone who's seen it and heard the music will tell you how enrapturing this film was.

An Diolaim: Folk Roots of One of Ireland's Groups (1998)
This is the album that got me hooked on Clannad. It's a wonderful compilation of some of their old and new material on one CD. My favorites include: "Two Sisters" and "Eleanor Plunkett."

Lore (1996)
This album mystical, dreamy, mood music will sweep you away. This Celtic New Age at it's best by one of the biggest names in the Celtic music scene.

Fuaim (1982)
Hear Enya before she became a superstar in this revolutionary album that helped set the modern direction of Celtic music.

Dulaman
Before Clannad went New Age, they were one of the foremost traditional Celtic bands around as witnessed by this fantastic.

Magic Ring
This is the album that turned Clannad into traditional legends to Celtic superstars. It features the song "Theme from Harry's Game". It's been used in countless commericals and soundtracks.