CLANNAD
The Essential
RCA/Legacy

legacyrecordings.com
 

The word “essential” can refer to something that is absolutely necessary, its deepest essence, or even both at once. Whether or not this two-disc collection satisfies either definition is very much a matter of individual taste.

Clannad began in 1970 in County Donegal as a neo-trad, Irish-speaking family band, featuring singer/harpist Máire (aka Moya) Brennan, her brothers Ciarán and Pól, and their twin uncles, Noel and Pádraig Duggan. Their earlier albums were largely unplugged and harbored a light, jazzy subtext reminiscent of the British group Pentangle.

However, the material gathered here dates from the 1980s-1990s, when the highly processed, synth-laden “Celtic Twilight” movement came close to achieving mainstream status. Much of Clannad’s output from that era, from the ubiquitous “Newgrange” and “Theme From Harry’s Game,” to “I Will Find You” from the soundtrack of “Last Of The Mohicans,” to “In A Lifetime,” which features a guest turn from U2 lead singer Bono, reflect that esthetic.

Given the beauty of Máire’s eerily pure soprano and the skill of the instrumentalists, even people who prefer purely acoustic music are bound enjoy these tunes on some level. But too many of the tracks, despite skillful remastering, come across as dense, overwrought and somewhat dated (although not so much as Riverdance and other such former crowd-pleasers of the day.) Even so, having all 31 tunes compiled in one place will no doubt prove invaluable for longtime fans, completists and nostalgia buffs.

—  Christina Roden