The motherlode
Brendan P. Delany | New Jersey,United States | 07/07/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Billy Connolly describes his first time ever seeing the Dubliners in concert as a classic case of culture shock! Folk Musicians back then were inclined to wear Aran sweaters so they could be easily identified..not the Dubliners! "Wild bearded goats" with one of their lead singers voice sounding like coal being poured down a delivery chute! The Dubliners did to Folk Music in Ireland what Bob Dylan did in the USA. They were raw, vulgar, unpretentious, talented, funny and, the inspiration for legions of future Irish musicians. The tracks listed on this collection are essentially the best of their original line up. My only slight criticism is that I wish they had kept the track order of the first three albums intact. As musicians, Luke Kelly, Barney MacKenna and Ciarron Bourke were of the highest calibre. This music swerves from incendary to sad and back again. This is what the Pogues sounded like in another life!"
Worth owning, but not front of the pack
Timohuatl | San Francisco | 07/28/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This collection is remarkable for the range of songs it makes available. In fact, once you get past some of the Dubliner's top hits, the music is great. I'm disappointed in their performance of a few standards, such as Whiskey in the Jar, Seven Drunken Nights, and Nancy Whiskey. The performances are not nuanced, they serve too much as drinking songs and do not dig down into the soul of the music. And the compliation repeats titles in "live versions" that add nothing to their depth. The biggest exception to this pattern, however, is the rendition of Black Velvet Band. However! There's a lot of other great music here. The instrumentals are fine, if not inspired. And many of the lesser known titles are great additions to anyone's collection of Irish music. So I'd recommend doing what I've done. Buy it! Certainly! And then upload into iTunes and leave off the titles you don't like when you move the music over to your iPod."
Track Listings (51) - Disc #1