Rogue's Gallery:Pirate Ballads [CD]

I'm a bit of an old folkie but knew that this album was not a straightforward cd of english folk songs. The list of artists featured is very broad - some of them from a folk background, some from the mainstream of pop and rock and some pretty obscure to an English listener.

There are 43 tracks on 2 cd's and I'd probably give 5 stars to at least half of them. You can always skip any you don't like or don't want your granny to listen to - some like Loudun Wainwright's version of The Good Ship Venus are truly filthy.

Among my favourite tracks are Nick Cave's outrageous version of Fire Down Below, a hilarious version of a song, Bully in The Alley by some group called Three Pruned Men and Van Dyke Parks version of The Greenland Whale Fishery, a song I've been singing for about 30 odd years. Hal Willner the weird and wonderful producer has come up with an even weirder and wonderfuller bunch of artists some of whom in turn have come up with truly original versions of the sea songs featured.

I wavered a bit about buying this album but am really glad I did - I'll just need to be careful who's in the car with me when I've got it blasting out!

As a founder member of one the Westcountry's best known shanty crews, Hanging Johnny", who have been singing "authentic" versions of these wonderful sailor's songs for some 15 years, with numerous recordings and appearances throughout Europe to our name, I suppose I could be labelled a "purist" and, having read some of the reviews for this collection, particularly on Amazon.com, might be expected to write a review full of bile and venom, bemoaning the apalling treatment given to such revered and delicate jewels as these 43 songs. However, with one or two notable exceptions, I have to say that I have rarely enjoyed a collection more! Yes there are a couple of dreadful renditions, but the vast majority of tracks are stunning interpretations of songs, all too frequently preserved in aspic and given the "precious" treatment. The opening track "South Australia" is a tour de force where spirit and sheer inventiveness rule and set the tone for the rest of the album. How grand to hear "Good Ship Venus" in all her unexpurgated glory, sung so well by Loudon WainwrightIII with such excellent backing. I am an old-school shantyman, but I take my hat off to these guys; forget purism, forget cardboard cut-out pirates; get this album because of its integrity, and because it has the guts to dare to be different in a bland and boring world -pure entertainment- Stan Hugill would have loved it.

Simon Isserlis -Hanging Johnny

When I heard about the release of this album I was extremely excited, as for years I have been hunting down various old and new recordings of sea chanteys. I'm not a huge fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, as whilst they are a lot of fun and great entertainment for the average person, they are completely fantastical, and anyone who knows much of the history of the real pirates will be aware that there are so many absolutely fantastic and true pirate stories out there. Still, director Gore Verbinski and star Johnny Depp obviously care a great deal about the subject and with some help from some world-class artists have produced this album.

Whether or not you'll like this music depends largely on what you're looking for in it. The songs fall into two loose categories - 1)dedicated folk singers singing fairly faithful versions of the sea chanteys; and 2) rock/pop artists reinterpreting the material in a loose punkish style. The first category of songs I found to be absolutely what I was expecting from the album, and have found some incredibly moving moments among them - the opening tune 'Cape Cod Girls', for example, followed by 'My Son John'and 'Haul Away Joe'. The folk singers seem to be able to deliver an authentic feel to the material which takes you to another place altogether.

The rock singers, on the other hand, should certainly be applauded on trying to make something new of the traditional songs. Alas, it doesn't always really come off. Some work better than others (Andrea Corr's performance is a nice surprise) but some really feel leaden compared to the subtleties of the folkier side of the album, all clunking drums and distorted guitars where they really don't fit. Bono's redition of 'A Dying Sailor To His Shipmates' (a heart-stoppingly beautiful song in the hands and vocal cords of Paul Clayton) is never-ending and cannot fail to grate, and Nick Cave's blackish snarling feels rather like he's trying to compensate authenticity with attitude - it doesn't work. I suppose this is all simply an attempt to attract more interest in the album by having the big names. They don't completely wreck it, and I'm happy that people may hopefully discover the other songs on the album having been initially interested only by the more well-known artists.

Ultimately, I've derived a lot of pleasure from this album, given judicious use of the skip button. There's a huge amount here to enjoy, whatever your taste, so get stuck in and have fun. Yo ho ho.