Horslips - Drive The Cold Winter Away '1975 [2008]

Tracks list

At a time when Horslips were rapidly drifting away from their quasi-traditional
Irish roots, they unexpectedly delivered this gift-wrapped gem. With the
exception of Barry Devlins electric bass and John Feans occasional contemporary
guitar stylings, this is a solid traditional Irish album and certainly the most
autochthonous recording by Horslips. All 13 of the selections are of Irish
origin, among them three Turlough OCarolan tunes including the sprightly Sir
Festus Burke (it is unclear whether it was ever intended as a Christmas song).
It unfolds into a Celtic wall of sound featuring Jim Lockharts harpsichord, with
banjo, flute, fiddle and guitar gradually joining in the round.
Thompsons/Cottage in the Grove is a pair of reels that progress in much the same
fashion. This time, the concertina of Charles OConnor is followed by banjo,
piano, whistle, bodhran and bones. The nearest this record gets to familiar
holiday carol territory is found in a passage from the hornpipe Piper in the
Meadow Straying, which bears a calculated resemblance to Don we now our gay
apparel from Deck the Halls. This was a surprising and risky recording for a
mid-70s rock band, but it definitely rejuvenated them and paved the way for
their 1976 tour de force Book of Invasions: A Celtic Symphony.

Tracks:

01. Rug Muire Mac do Dhia (1:54)
02. Sir Festus Burke,Carolans Frolic (3:42)
03. The Snow that Melts the Soonest (4:30)
04. The Piper in the Meadow Straying (2:37)
05. Drive The Cold Winter Away (2:33)
06. Thompsons,Cottage in the Grove (2:44)
07. Ny Kirree fo Naghtey (2:23)
08. Crabs in the Skillet (2:19)
09. Denis OConnor (2:50)
10. Don oiche ud i mbeithil (3:32)
11. Lullaby (2:27)
12. The Snow and the Frost are All Over,Paddy Faheys (2:51)
13. When a Mans in Love (4:13)

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