Irish Weddings

Ireland

Weddings and Courtships
Clannad PastPresent



PastPresent was released in 1989 as a "best up until now" compilation for the Clannad family group of musicians. This was a key turning point for the band, when they had just begun to expand from their extremely traditional, Gaelic-singing roots to a more wide-reaching, new-age / pop style. That's not to say they turned into Britney Spears! Instead, they brought a more ethereal, rich texture to their tunes - one that inspired many other artists, including Enya, to even greater heights.

This is one of my favorite CDs, and each song in here is powerful in its own way. I love Harry's Game, the Gaelic-language theme song which begins the set. I adore the pair from the Robin Hood TV Show - Robin and Lady Marian. Each of the other songs is meaningful in its own way. In a Lifetime features Maire (you pronounce that 'Moiya') singing a duet with Bono of U2 fame. The pairing is quite beautiful to listen to.

Plus, there are a few songs on here added especially for this cutting.

In a world where we can pick and choose songs one by one on iTunes and other online systems, this really does do the job for you right from the start. It's of course great to own the actual CDs that Clannad put together up until this point - to have all of the other songs not chosen for this one compilation. But if you're starting out, this is a great place to begin, to get a sense of the types of songs they offer.

Highly recommended.

Clannad PastPresent CD from Amazon.com

Irish CD Reviews