Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Unmoved !, 5 Mar 2008
This is probably treasonous but I find this CD a let down.I would love to have written the previous review but apart from the Welshman's suggestion that the Irish government should be replaced,I find little else to agree with ! Moving Hearts mean different things to different people and they underwent frequent line-up changes, which obviously affected the direction their music took.Donal Lunny's "DEFINITIVE Moving Hearts collection" CD has only 2 of the tracks featured on this disc so that speaks for itself !
Potential buyers need it pointed out that it is an exclusively instrumental offering.Not a problem in itself, but many of these tunes ramble and outstay their welcome. This is basically a live version of their most famous album "The Storm" (which I found to be over- rated), with a couple of fillers added.My main complaint is that these (exceptional) musicians are not particularly good composers or songwriters. Intros are drawn out and (to my mind) fairly pointless jamming takes up a lot of the rest of the time.The Storm was essentially a Davy Spillane solo project (Donald's gorgeous sax only appeared on 3 tracks,it had only one guitar track),and he is the focal point for much of this concert also. Again not a problem except his later solo material is stronger and more dynamic.The new additions, Anto Drennan (replacing guitarist Greg Boland), and Kevin Glackin on fiddle get little opportunity to shine, and their abscence would not have been missed.
The best moments are when Keith Donald adds sax to the pipes or improvises, but only the title track and Tribute to Peadar O'Donnell carry real musical weight, and avoid the padding of the rest of the material. The additional musicians plus the talent available could have been much better utilised to introduce more dynamics and better variations to the original recordings but this didn't happen. Moving Hearts remain a group which together amounts to considerably less than the sum of their parts. If they do produce a new studio album I hope Donal Lunny's love affair with synthesisers and non-stop percussion is held in check. Irish music and uileann pipes in particular need neither ! Not as recommendable as the outstanding Planxty reunion concert.
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A MATTER OF THE HEARTS, 24 Nov 2007
A MATTER OF THE HEARTS
When I was younger living @ home with mam and da brother-years ago I used to be rocked to sleep by Moving Hearts & Davy Spillane's low whistle (I was 26 @ the time!);"The May Morning Dew" was the closedown tune of Ireland's national broadcaster RTE and living in Anglesey we could clearly tune in to the fabulous music radio programmes they made-my late night favourite being Mark Cagney who introduced me to so many Irish and American gems.
"Moving Hearts Live in Dublin" (DVD and CD-Rubyworks label Dun Lagohaire) is an absolutely stunning testament to the phenomenal Irish band who recorded their comeback concerts @ Dublin's Vicar Street early in 2007(more gigs and a brand new CD in 2008!).
The band's early career featured legend Christy Moore on vocals and later Mick Hanly and Flo McSweeney-but the '07 re-formed Hearts are the mighty instrumental line up that recorded the historical ground breaking -or is that earth shattering "The Storm" released in 1985.
The sound mix by Andrew Boland and the band as well as Philip King's masterful direction on the DVD make this one of the world's best albums for me in 2007.
They were a band before their time in 1981- and they are still the leaders with their unique fusion of rock, jazz and trad even today and their sound is so unmistakably Irish.
I now call for Donal Lunny to be the next Irish Taoiseach and his cabinet should be Keith Donald-Minister for sax;Davy Spillane,National uillean piper and low whistle minstrel (-yes he also MAKES his own instruments!) Matt Kelleghan,drum secretary,Noel Eccles his expert and perfect percussive assistant ,Eoghan O'Neill -Dr Ace O' Bass,and Anto Drennan Guitar
Maestro assisted by new junior ministers of funk and trad Kevin Glackin -fiddle and Geordie Graham Henderson on keyboards.
Personally,I miss The fiery songs -mainly Christy and Mick as well as harmony vocals provided by various members;Declan Synnott's "Let Somebody Know" was also an early fave of mine-but I'm happy enough with this amazing,rich instrumental line-up,too.The light and shade provided by guitars,bouzouki,bass,percussion,subtle keyboards,whistle,pipes and sax create a totally unique listening experience that has improved no end with experience.
All older bands now profit from the explosion in new technology both onstage and in the recording studio so the Hearts' sound today is so much better-and they were fabulous in the 80's a decade that was not a particularly good one if you believe the rock pundits-but they obviously weren't listening in the right places such as Dublin's Baggot Inn where the band had a three-gig a week residency in their early days.
All the incredibly clever and haunting Moving Hearts instrumental classics are here-the early (original guitarist Declan Synnott), Donal Lunny/Davy Spillane/Eoghan O'Neill compositions either in tandem or solo works-Downtown,McBride's,Category,Lake Of Shadows as well as The Storm stalwarts such as The Titanic,The Lark, Tribute to Peadar O'Donnell and Finore.
An explosive and vibrant visit to Ireland's glorious recent past when the Hearts were the kings of their country-and there is still no threat to their collective thrones.
Long may their musical hearts beat.
Tudur Morgan,Musician,Wales
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Still Moving, Still Got The Heart, 11 Oct 2008
Great to hear (and see on the DVD - I would recommend getting the CD & DVD version as the DVD is worth it and has chat with Donal Lunny as well as well filmed concert) The Moving Hearts play their best music from The Storm and the instrumentals from the song albums. Really takes me back. We could've done with this album about 10 years ago but I'm not complaining...
I'm glad that this wasn't a reunion with the songs side of the band - I always found those to be a bit weaker than the instrumentals and on the song albums I used to have to skip the odd limp song.
One thing I always loved about The Moving Hearts was the masterful arrangements and textures - the use of percussion, guitar and synthesizers alongside the low whistle, sax & bodhran and low whistle - a perfect balance.
What Shakti was to Indian fusion, The Moving Hearts were for Celtic Fusion.
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