- Discover more great music in our Proper Music store, and read about the very best of Proper Music's latest and forthcoming releases in Properganda Issue 19 (online flash version).
Jubilee Offer: Patriotic Classics for £2.50 |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
View the MP3 Album.
|
Product Description
Review
This personable Irishman celebrates 20 years in the music business with this best of compilation. Across the course of his career he's attracted several famous fans–former US President Bill Clinton to name one–and enjoyed a large following on MOR radio stations.
Sometimes his songs have been linked to external events. You Raise Me Up, his highest-charting UK hit, rose to number four in the wake of his performance at the funeral of the footballer George Best. Its anthem-like tones are from the same school as Bring Him Home from Les Miserables, challenging for a while the supremacy of You'll Never Walk Alone.
In 2006 Brian Kennedy represented Ireland at the Eurovision song contest with Every Song Is a Cry for Love, which earned him a respectable tenth place in the voting shenanigans of that annual songfest. Another career highlight was his appearance in the Broadway production of Riverdance, with a special set written by Bill Whelan. A fellow Irishman, actor Adrian Dunbar, joins him for the breezy Curragh of Kildare, and the sweet-voiced Juliet Turner duets on The Island, a song that hints at recent troubles ("They say that skies of lemon are a burnin' / those mighty cedars bleedin' in the heat...") but softens its message by apologising that it wasn't meant to be like this.
However, the pithy message of the fast moving Get on With Your Short Life hits home, likewise Life Love and Happiness, though its impact loses out somewhat in the welter of the production. Kennedy clearly identifies with the poetic verses of traditional Irish song Carrickfergus as much as he does the reflective nocturnal musings on Christopher Street (in New York's Greenwich Village), which is prefaced by a tender guitar introduction. He seems at home as the gentle bard who has won a place in so many hearts, in so many places.
--Adrian EdwardsFind more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
CD Description
The release of the Very Best Of Brian Kennedy celebrates Brian’s 20 years in the music business with this definitive compilation which showcases the key tracks from his early RCA albums together with 8 tracks from his later years on Curb Records. These include ‘Get On With Your Short Life’ (Radio 2 single of the week on its release) and ‘Curragh of Kildare’ featuring actor Adrian Dunbar from Brian’s BBC TV series ‘On Song’. Brian representing Ireland in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest and finished in the Top 10 with ‘Every Song Is A Cry For Love’. Brian’s biggest hit single ‘You Raise Me Up’ which reached #4 in the UK was released following his specially requested performance at George Best’s televised funeral in 2005. A busy schedule is planned to celebrate Brian’s 20th anniversary starting with the following: June 12: Dundrum House Hotel, Cashel, Co. Tipperary / June 16: National Concert Hall, Dublin / June 17: The Waterfront Hall, Belfast / June 23: The Arc, Stockton-on-Tees / June 25: Acoustic stage, Glastonbury Festival THESE GIGS WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A FULL SCALE UK TOUR IN THE AUTUMN as well as various festivals during the summer. Brian’s long awaited autobiography will be published in October which follows his two successful novels. The press campaign will feature reviews in all the key UK and Irish music and national newspapers plus specific Irish newspapers in the UK. Confirmed reviews: Irish Word / Irish Post / Irish Music Magazine / Maverick / Country Music People / Classic Rock Society / Q / Record Collector / R2 (Rock N Reel) Great reaction to the album from Radio 2 / Pushing for Album of the Week, week before release (won't be confirmed until 2 weeks before release), Friday Night is Music Night and the Wogan Sunday show, interview and performance. The album will be featured heavily on Radio 2 and regional radio along with key Irish radio stations. Brian will be performing on Songs of Praise in September. Tracks: Put The Message In the Box / You Raise Me Up / Get On With Your Short Life / For One Kiss / Life Love and Happiness / A Better Man / Curragh of Kildare (featuring Adrian Dunbar) / Christopher Street / Captured / Carrickfergus / Town / Ballad Of Killaloe / The Island (featuring Juliet Turner) / Every Song Is A Cry for Love / Galileo (Someone Like You)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I just heard Brian sing "For One Kiss" on the Ken Bruce show this morning--just beautiful--what a voice-why do we not hear more from him-he is so under rated. I have several of his cds, and they are all amazing--and I think he should have won Eurovision with his song--was it last year, or the year before.Just preordered this cd, and eagerly await it's arrival.
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a supremely well crafted compilation album in every respect. Even if you already owned all these recordings, as I do, you could not make a better selection from his career for a single CD showcase of his beautiful voice, incisive lyrics and artful, passionate musicianship.
The songs on this "Very Best Of" (rather than "greatest hits of") have been carefully sequenced to impress as being a truly cohesive and ultimately enjoyable album. Each sets the stage for the next to shine like the true gems they are, and the easiest thing in the world is to hear it all through again.
Brian Kennedy is one of the most talented, skillful, honest and generous musical entertainers in the world (and a damned fine author). For diehard fans, or the uninitiated, this CD will be either a welcome treat or a stunning revelation.
The songs on this "Very Best Of" (rather than "greatest hits of") have been carefully sequenced to impress as being a truly cohesive and ultimately enjoyable album. Each sets the stage for the next to shine like the true gems they are, and the easiest thing in the world is to hear it all through again.
Brian Kennedy is one of the most talented, skillful, honest and generous musical entertainers in the world (and a damned fine author). For diehard fans, or the uninitiated, this CD will be either a welcome treat or a stunning revelation.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Like so many compilation cd's it fails to inspire(is this because we are already familiar with the content?) It could have included some of his collaborations with Van Morrison to illustrate the sublety of his voice and how it compliments the gravelly Van the Man's.
An album to buy if you want a Brian K. album in your collection but, a warning, you will jump tracks!
An album essentially for Brian Kennedy fans!
An album to buy if you want a Brian K. album in your collection but, a warning, you will jump tracks!
An album essentially for Brian Kennedy fans!
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brian Kennedy
Very pleased with this CD. It arrived very quickly, is in excellent condition & was very competively priced. It beat every buy now offer on ebay by a substantial amount. Read more
Published 21 months ago by roger64
brian kennedy cd
ordered this after hearing "a better man" on the radio, so pleased with the cd - a great singer
Published 21 months ago by D. dellow
Generic Greatest Hits
I guess as a Greatest Hits Compilation it is what it is. I've seen Mr Kennedy in concert many times and have all his albums - there is not a single track on this album that isn't... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Margaret Murphy
Disappointing... again!
It's a shame that we're still waiting for a decent album of new and original Brian Kennedy compositions to appear. Read more
Published 22 months ago by B Williams
love it
can't wait for this to come out, it's got all my faves. heard him on Wogan - love him!
Published 23 months ago by mills121
Its been a long time coming........but at last!
Heard Brian on the Wogan Show yesterday - he was fantastic! I've been waiting for a definitive Best Of for a long long time and at last its here. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Barbara C
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
![Music to die for [well almost]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51SZKMVPVRL._AA60_.jpg)
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
