Search - Planxty :: The Woman I Loved So Well

Softer, but quite as impressive as "After The Break"

mianfei | 03/20/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Planxty's remarkable return with the 1979 masterwork After The Break must count as a surprise given the character of the music scene in the late 1970s: they were able to achieve a power and intensity of melody not seen on their pre-breakup albums at a time when anything deviating from simple, stripped-down rock and roll was frowned upon (as it always has been in my native Australia).



"The Woman I Loved So Well" featured much the same line-up as After The Break, but adds traces of electronics. This, though no more noticeable than on June Tabor's Ashes and Diamonds, makes the tone notably softer: there is none of the ecstatic fire of parts of After The Break here. Rather, the focus is on simple, sparsely accompanied balladry, seen to excellent effect on the epic closer "Little Musgrave", the opener "True Love Knows No Season" and "Roger O'Heir".



"The Tailor's Twist", on the whole, appeared to be treading water, but Christy Moore's voice was unusually refreshing on "Kellswater", which takes time to appreciate, but the atmosphere and the song really was beautiful.



Despite its eleven-and-a-half minute length, "Little Musgrave" was amazingly simple yet every single note from the lightly-played bozoukis manages to make a wonderful impression on a listener. Christy's voice gives a feeling and depth that can only be provided through the most extreme softness: every time he sings, you just realise how sad he must feel. The reel "The Woman I Never Forgot" sound totally different from most of what Planxty did: sounding like a subdued and softly played orchestra, the sound actually comes from a concertina sounding unusually pure.



After The Break and "The Woman I Loved So Well", though unhappily out of print, are undoubtedly the finest works of pure Irish folk - undoubtedly surpassing Planxty's earlier achievements. One does hope someone can petition Tara to make them more widely available soon.



The beautiful cover, epitomising the Irish countryside in a childlike, yet spectacular way, makes this album even more desirable a purchase if it can be found."

The jigs and Little Musgrave alone make this a great album

Bernard Farrell | North of Boston, MA USA | 04/20/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Set your CD player to play tracks 2 and 8 and you'll go from the euphoria of the jigs to the bone chilling uilleann pipes of Liam O' Flynn on Little Musgrave and the heart wrenching story in that ballad.You could get this album for these two tracks alone and it would be money well spent."

Wonderful Ballads

NotATameLion | Michigan | 10/03/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is one wonderful disc. Just a few reasons why:Breathtaking ballads-If you love beautiful ballads, you cannot find a better album Than The Woman I Loved So Well. Little Musgrave is a masterpiece. It is very long; but leaves one wishing for more. The pipe playing on the album is hard to match. Liam O'Flynn is a king in his field-it shows here. My favorite part is again in Little Musgrave (the rest of the album is good too...really). The pipes that play during the interlude of that song are heart-wrenchingly beautiful.Christy Moore has a great voice for these songs. Few singers or storytellers are as expressive as he is here. I could continue to list reasons why this album is excellent, but don't trust me. Get the album for yourself. It is well worth the price."