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Product Description
Product Description
The Chieftains may be the most refined and virtuosic of all the Irish folk bands, but Altan is the most exciting. On Island Angel, the Dublin sextet blazes through the instrumental medleys of reels, jigs, strathspeys and mazurkas with a reckless abandon. Not content to merely play the dizzying melodies at demanding tempos, all six musicians seem to lean into the rhythms with an urgency that's thrilling to hear. When the music slows down for a slow Gaelic song by Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, the contrast with the blistering tunes only heightens the drama of her gorgeous, wistful soprano. --Geoffrey Himes
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
If you're looking for good traditional Irish music, and/or the fiddle is your favourite instrument, look no further than Altan. This album wouldn't be a bad starting point, either. It is also the last that the group made before flutist/"Mairead's husband" Frankie Kennedy's death. Island Angel contains amazing reels and jigs (the most outsanding example being "Glory Reel/The Heathery Cruach"; there's a reel you will listen to over and over again!) together with some more unusual instrumental music such as "Mazurka", all of it of great quality and, more often than not, heavy on the violins, of which there are two in the group. Ni Mhaonaigh's singing appears to divide opinions, many fans of Altan being fans precisely because of it, others calling her voice shrill and singing technique unprofessional. Personally I belong to neither group, finding Ni Mhaonaigh's voice often girlish, technically far from perfect, but nevertheless pretty, and, more importantly, suitable for the songs that she performs. If you're a fan of her singing, you are sure to enjoy the songs of this album. However, the real interest of this album lies, in my view, between the songs. The instrumental music is energetic and inspired; while listening you could easily picture a group of musicians and good friends seated at their local pub and happily losing themselves in the wonderful music they are playing. Of the songs, "Dúlamán" contains a nice violin theme, and "Jug of Punch" is the one that I would count among Altan's finest. What is there in that simple little song that it should wring my heart thus?...
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
14 reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Altan's Best
5 Feb 2002
Format:Audio CD
Although I own all their albums, this by far is my favorite Altan record. Harvest Storm was their first masterpiece, but this is Altan's crowning achievement. While there were fine performances on there earlier recordings like The Red Crow, they hadn't yet refined their exhilarating mixture of sweetness & fire. More recent major label recordings, unfortunately, saw too much smoothing of their edges (although 2000's "Another Sky" was a return to form). Island Angel perfectly captured that balance & was the last album to feature late, founding flute player Frankie Kennedy. An album every Celtic/Irish music lover should own and the place to start any Altan collection.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Farewell, Frankie.....
31 Jan 2003
Format:Audio CD
Not one for sentimentality, in fact often brutally humourous, Frankie Kennedy left us with "Island Angel" (Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh?) as his coda on a career that established him as the most creative, inventive and dynamic leader in Irish music ever. Losing his battle to cancer, he virtually willed this album into being, refusing to let his bandmates slip into the tragedy, and insisting that they join him in leaving a final document to his passion for interpreting a tradition ad moving it forward, and I can think of no other musician in any discipline who did so more heroically than Frankie Kennedy.
Dermot Byrne was on board by this time as a full time member of the band and brought considerable writing skill to the team, as well as a new dimension to te sound. It is as though Frankie knew what would be needed when he passed and had the foresight to make a bold and important move for the future integrity of Altan. But by this point, all of them knew that they had reached a sort of Crispin's Day. And each of them rose to the occasion.
Dermot Byrne was on board by this time as a full time member of the band and brought considerable writing skill to the team, as well as a new dimension to te sound. It is as though Frankie knew what would be needed when he passed and had the foresight to make a bold and important move for the future integrity of Altan. But by this point, all of them knew that they had reached a sort of Crispin's Day. And each of them rose to the occasion.
What you have here then is the companion piece to "Harvest Storm." All the components are in tact: brilliant musicianship, with Ciaran Tourish establishing himself more confidently, particularly on stage when Frankie's health would at times impede his dynamic presence, and most especially when it would all come crashing down. The Philadelphia Folk Festival appearance was a defining moment: Frankie was home in very drastic straights, the team soldiered on, but the pain was visible. Tourish rallied his colleagues bravely for what was the most difficult performance I've ever seen a group give. It was not their best show, it was certainly their finest hour.
And so, the Phoenix was born with this album, and it is as mystically beautiful as "Harvest Storm" was tempestously passionate. It is a stellar acheivement for any creative person to reach the mountaintop in their creative lives. To do it twice in succession is unparalleled. With this CD, Altan set themselves apart forever. This is a loving farewell to a visionary from those determined to take that vision forward. Frankie would have expected nothing less.
Farewell, Frankie...
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Undoubtedly a celtic classic!
11 Aug 2002
Format:Audio CD
I'll apologize right away for a short review! Now that I consider myself pretty well schooled in celtic music (at least modern), I can safely say I consider this to be a classic of the genre. As a matter of fact, I believe it's my favorite celtic music album altogether! The diverse songs do a fine job of highlighting Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh's beautiful singing voice, but the thing that stands out to me most are the numerous fast-paced fiddle tunes that I consider among the best to be found. I could play track #10, "Glory Reel, The Heathery Cruach" over and over and over, and tracks one (Tommy Peoples, The Windmill, Fintan McManus's) and three (Fermanagh Highland, Donegal Highland, John Doherty's, King George IV) are outstanding as well. Dual fiddles at their finest, with Altan's typical musical excellence and wonderful collective sound. An exceptional album from an exceptional band. . BUY IT, you will NOT regret it!!!
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