Loreena McKennitt album

Album   Released Publisher Rating
Live in Paris and Toronto (Enhanced) 1999 Quinlan Road
Parallel Dreams (Bonus DVD) 1989 Rhino
Elemental (Bonus DVD) 1985 Rhino
Elemental (CD-ROM) 1985 Verve
Back to the topLive in Paris and Toronto (Enhanced)
Review by Aaron Badgley, All Music Guide
Released:
May 20, 1999
Label:
Quinlan Road
Rating:
Genre:
New Age
Styles:
Celtic
Adult Alternative
Celtic Fusion
Celtic New Age
Loreena McKennitt is in her element in front of an audience, telling interesting stories about the songs and assembling a top-notch backing band. This is her first live release available to the public, and uses material from three concerts (one from Paris and two from Toronto) to put together a complete show. As with The Book of Secrets tour, the first half is The Book of Secrets in its entirety, arranged in the same order as the studio CD. This material is covered on the first CD, and it has never sounded better. The live performance seems to breathe new life into the tracks and some songs, such as "Dante's Prayer" and "Skellig," sound better than the studio recordings. The second CD is more of an overview of her career, featuring songs from her back catalog. Again, the tracks seem to benefit when played in front of an audience; in particular, "The Lady of Shalott" and "All Souls Night" are brilliant. The musicianship on this live CD is excellent, and her band is very tight, as though they had been playing together for years. The sound of the CD is amazing; while maintaining the warmth of a live performance, McKennitt is still able to present a crisp, clean recording -- a remarkable feat. Also worth noting is the packaging, which includes notes by McKennitt, wonderful photos, and details of how the whole package was put together. This CD is ideal for fans and is actually a good place for newcomers to start. [This edition features enhanced content on CD-ROM.]
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Prologue 5:00 McKennitt
2 The Mummers' Dance 4:01 McKennitt
3 Skellig 5:24 McKennitt
4 Marco Polo 4:52 McKennitt
5 The Highway Man 9:29 Noyes, McKennitt
6 La Serenissima 5:54 McKennitt
7 Night Ride Across the Caucasus 6:22 McKennitt
8 Dante's Prayer 7:58 McKennitt
9 The Mystic's Dream 6:30 McKennitt
10 Santiago 6:19 Traditional
11 Bonny Portmore 3:50 Traditional
12 Between the Shadows (Persian Shadows) 4:30 McKennitt
13 The Lady of Shalott 9:19 Tennyson, McKennitt
14 The Bonny Swans 7:05 McKennitt, Traditional
15 The Old Ways 5:36 McKennitt
16 All Souls Night 4:46 McKennitt
17 Cymbeline 6:29 Shakespeare, McKennitt
Back to the topParallel Dreams (Bonus DVD)
Review by James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
Released:
1989
Label:
Rhino
Rating:
Genre:
New Age
Styles:
Celtic
Adult Alternative
Celtic Fusion
Contemporary Celtic
Celtic New Age
Parallel Dreams, the Canadian harpist/songwriter's quietly moving sophomore release, finds the mystical red-haired siren in true balladeer form. By far McKennitt's most romantic venture -- the liner notes describe the project's central theme as a "yearning toward love, liberty and integration" -- Dreams is more ambitious than her sparse, impeccably recorded debut, Elemental, tripling the amount of players and laying the groundwork for the immense scope she would go on to attain on future recordings. The heartbreaking trio of "Standing Stones," "Annachnie Gordon," and "Dickens' Dublin" -- the latter features an effective radio-show sample of an unnamed Irish school child detailing the birth of Christ -- stand among the artist's finest works, and the range and clarity of her voice is undeniably powerful. Parallel Dreams was an emotional and career-turning point for McKennitt, as her next recording would be the major-label spectacle The Visit. [In 2004, Parallel Dreams was remastered and re-released with new liner notes and a bonus DVD that featured videos for "The Bonny Swans" and "The Mummers' Dance," as well as a 26-minute documentary exploring the artist's myriad influences.]
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Samain Night 4:32 McKennitt
2 Moon Cradle 4:30 Collum, McKennitt
3 Huron 'Beltane' Fire Dance 4:22 McKennitt
4 Annachie Gordon 8:25 Traditional
5 Standing Stones 6:59 McKennitt, Traditional
6 Dickens' Dublin (The Palace) 4:43 McKennitt
7 Breaking the Silence 6:26 McKennitt
8 Ancient Pines (From Goddess Remembered) 6:10 McKennitt
9 No Journey's End (DVD) N/A N/A
10 The Bonny Swans (Music Video) N/A N/A
11 The Mummers' Dance (Music Video) N/A N/A
12 Explore the Music of Loreena McKennitt (Interactive Discography) N/A N/A
Back to the topElemental (Bonus DVD)
Review by James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
Released:
1985
Label:
Rhino
Rating:
Genre:
New Age
Loreena McKennitt recorded her 1985 debut on a farm in southern Ontario, a pastoral setting that infuses every note on Elemental with atmosphere and rustic simplicity. What's immediately striking is the Canadian harpist's fully realized voice. Most artists take years to hone their pipes, and that McKennitt brings a nearly finished version to the table on her first outing is not only notable, it's revelatory. McKennitt presents an evenly distributed mix of new age and contemporary Celtic that evokes the work of Enya, Clannad, and Capercaille, adapting the words of Yeats ("Stolen Child") and Blake ("Lullaby") as effortlessly as she rearranges traditional folk songs like "The Blacksmith" or "Banks of Claudy." Elemental may not have the worldbeat scope or acrobatic arrangements inherent in her later works, but its epic balladry and relative sparseness offers an intriguing look at the artist at her most subtle. [In 2004, Elemental was remastered and re-released with new liner notes and a bonus DVD that featured videos for "The Bonny Swans" and "The Mummers' Dance," as well as a 26-minute documentary exploring the artist's myriad influences.]
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Blacksmith 3:19 Traditional
2 She Moved Through the Fair 4:02 Traditional, Collum
3 Stolen Child 5:04 McKennitt, Yeats
4 The Lark in the Clear Air 2:05 Traditional
5 Carrighfergus 3:25 Traditional
6 Kellswater 5:13 Traditional
7 Banks of Claudy 5:33 Traditional
8 Come by the Hills 3:02 Traditional
9 Lullaby 6:59 McKennitt, Blake
10 No Journey's End (DVD) 26:19 N/A
11 The Bonny Swans (DVD) 4:00 N/A
12 The Mummers' Dance (DVD) 3:58 N/A
13 Explore the Music of Loreena McKennitt (DVD) N/A N/A
Price: $17.98     5 Reviews
Back to the topElemental (CD-ROM)
Review by James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
Released:
1985
Label:
Verve
Rating:
Genre:
New Age
Loreena McKennitt recorded her 1985 debut on a farm in southern Ontario, a pastoral setting that infuses every note on Elemental with atmosphere and rustic simplicity. What's immediately striking is the Canadian harpist's fully realized voice. Most artists take years to hone their pipes, and that McKennitt brings a nearly finished version to the table on her first outing is not only notable, it's revelatory. McKennitt presents an evenly distributed mix of new age and contemporary Celtic that evokes the work of Enya, Clannad, and Capercaille, adapting the words of Yeats ("Stolen Child") and Blake ("Lullaby") as effortlessly as she rearranges traditional folk songs like "The Blacksmith" or "Banks of Claudy." Elemental may not have the worldbeat scope or acrobatic arrangements inherent in her later works, but its epic balladry and relative sparseness offers an intriguing look at the artist at her most subtle.
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Blacksmith 3:19 Traditional
2 She Moved Through the Fair 4:02 Traditional, Collum
3 Stolen Child 5:04 Yeats, McKennitt
4 The Lark in the Clear Aire 2:05 Traditional
5 Carrighfergus 3:25 Traditional
6 Kellswater 5:13 Traditional
7 Banks of Claudy 5:33 Traditional
8 Come by the Hills 3:02 Traditional
9 Lullaby 6:59 Blake, Hayes, McKennitt
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