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| Track list: 1. The Greatest Flame 2. Wonderful 3. Dance Called America (Live) 4. Skye (Live) 5. Only The Brave 6. Small Town 7. The Cutter 8. Pride Of The Summer 9. Harvest Moon (Live) 10. Alba (Live) 11. Meadhan Oldhche Air An Acairseid 12. Lighthouse Running time: 57 minutes Released: 2009 |
This was an ill-conceived purchase insofar as it was blind, and I don't think I've ever sat down and listened to it. I bought it at a time when I was picking up Celtic music, having just discovered and fallen in love with Julie Fowlis' songs. I cannot recall what drew me to this specific disc - not why Runrig, not why The Collection (which doesn't seem to be listed in their Wikipedia discography). This isn't meant as a pre-emptive strike against the album, so much as against my purchasing habits, and resulting lack of enthusiasm for a post.
I have it, so I'll hear it.
An odd artefact as I start, the first song came in at the 2 minute mark, in mid flow. After a reset, the same structure actually fires up from a base. It gives me an 80s chart rock vibe more than a folksy (or even folk-rock) one. Oh so forgettable, like it is going out of its way to be bland in order to not be actively disliked by anyone. It just is, there in the background, with no real appeal but no real repulsion. The voices aside, I would have pegged this as American radio fare, perhaps with even less edge. Not a strong start, then.
Wonderful has a bit more life to it, whilst still having the same overall sense of characterlessness - like a cheap knockoff U2. Two tracks in and I can honestly say that not only was this purchase blind, it was off target by several genres; yes, I am regretting it... I have better things to do with an hour of a day off, really I do. Having said that, I did catch myself involuntarily tapping my toe with the rhythm here.
It somewhat beggars belief for me that on the first of four live tracks on the album you can hear a throng of an audience singing along with gusto. Not because there is an audience for this, but because there is an enthusiastic audience for it. I can just about, if I squint, make out the appeal of inoffensive and characterless music. Pleasant enough sound to fill a hole in the background of a busy life and all that. What I find harder to pin down is what would get people excited, rather than, say, comfortable.
There is a brighter sound on Skye that actually in places makes me think more charitable and positive thoughts. Little intricacies in the guitar that remind me of indie-pop; that can be a bit Marmite, something that risks being disliked to deliver.
This has turned into both a blow-by-blow and a rag-fest. Neither of which is a positive direction for the post, so I will digress a bit for a moment. Last week was an odd one, finalising plans for some business travel, an unexpected request and some potentially exciting news on the job front. It was a bit of a whirlwind week all told, and it feels odd to go from that into a week's vacation, booked well before hand. I have a long list of tasks that I want to achieve in this time off - including posting some more here - and whilst I crossed through a number of them yesterday the problem with having that list is that it doesn't really feel like having a week off. The other side of that coin is that if I hadn't listed them out, I wouldn't get anything done and whilst I would end the week rested, I'd feel annoyed with myself for not being productive. #LifesLittleFrustrations or something.
In the meantime Runrig have got through one more number. These tracks average out at just under 5 minutes each, which feels too long to me. But then as we've established above, I am not really falling for this sound, and the extra runtime on each track simply hammers that home.
Here and there the Celtic roots are shown. I can't help but think if the balance between that and the generic rock sound was re-calibrated then these tunes would have more personality and more appeal. In places it feels like they are consciously mimicking traditional instruments and arrangements with their rock band tools. For me, I would much rather they just used those traditions straight up, but at least songs like Pride of Summer have more personality about them.
My chain of thought has pretty much come to a halt with regards to this disc; I cannot come up with interesting ways to rephrase and repeat the same points that stand between me and enjoyment of this music. I feel bad for that in a couple of ways. First, I am not so sure that Runrig really deserve the scorn. Their output here is not for me but it isn't tacky or crass or even bad, really. They sound earnest - particularly on the live tracks - but ultimately they are peddling a style that is a little too flat and open to all for me to get excited about. This isn't a case where I hate the sound, tone or direction so much that I could happily spew indictments and not feel bad about it. I just have to leave it as not my bag.
The penultimate track is Gaelic lyrics and theme crossed with the orient in terms of certain sounds in the arrangement. I cannot accuse this of not having some personality. I'm not a fan of the guitar work on the track, which becomes more prominent as it goes, but up to that point it has been by far the most interesting number on the disc. Not enough at this point to salvage anything but a nice note of difference and of positivity that was unexpected.
When it comes, the end is sudden. No long lead out here, just a final trill. I will not miss this.
I have it, so I'll hear it.
An odd artefact as I start, the first song came in at the 2 minute mark, in mid flow. After a reset, the same structure actually fires up from a base. It gives me an 80s chart rock vibe more than a folksy (or even folk-rock) one. Oh so forgettable, like it is going out of its way to be bland in order to not be actively disliked by anyone. It just is, there in the background, with no real appeal but no real repulsion. The voices aside, I would have pegged this as American radio fare, perhaps with even less edge. Not a strong start, then.
Wonderful has a bit more life to it, whilst still having the same overall sense of characterlessness - like a cheap knockoff U2. Two tracks in and I can honestly say that not only was this purchase blind, it was off target by several genres; yes, I am regretting it... I have better things to do with an hour of a day off, really I do. Having said that, I did catch myself involuntarily tapping my toe with the rhythm here.
It somewhat beggars belief for me that on the first of four live tracks on the album you can hear a throng of an audience singing along with gusto. Not because there is an audience for this, but because there is an enthusiastic audience for it. I can just about, if I squint, make out the appeal of inoffensive and characterless music. Pleasant enough sound to fill a hole in the background of a busy life and all that. What I find harder to pin down is what would get people excited, rather than, say, comfortable.
There is a brighter sound on Skye that actually in places makes me think more charitable and positive thoughts. Little intricacies in the guitar that remind me of indie-pop; that can be a bit Marmite, something that risks being disliked to deliver.
This has turned into both a blow-by-blow and a rag-fest. Neither of which is a positive direction for the post, so I will digress a bit for a moment. Last week was an odd one, finalising plans for some business travel, an unexpected request and some potentially exciting news on the job front. It was a bit of a whirlwind week all told, and it feels odd to go from that into a week's vacation, booked well before hand. I have a long list of tasks that I want to achieve in this time off - including posting some more here - and whilst I crossed through a number of them yesterday the problem with having that list is that it doesn't really feel like having a week off. The other side of that coin is that if I hadn't listed them out, I wouldn't get anything done and whilst I would end the week rested, I'd feel annoyed with myself for not being productive. #LifesLittleFrustrations or something.
In the meantime Runrig have got through one more number. These tracks average out at just under 5 minutes each, which feels too long to me. But then as we've established above, I am not really falling for this sound, and the extra runtime on each track simply hammers that home.
Here and there the Celtic roots are shown. I can't help but think if the balance between that and the generic rock sound was re-calibrated then these tunes would have more personality and more appeal. In places it feels like they are consciously mimicking traditional instruments and arrangements with their rock band tools. For me, I would much rather they just used those traditions straight up, but at least songs like Pride of Summer have more personality about them.
My chain of thought has pretty much come to a halt with regards to this disc; I cannot come up with interesting ways to rephrase and repeat the same points that stand between me and enjoyment of this music. I feel bad for that in a couple of ways. First, I am not so sure that Runrig really deserve the scorn. Their output here is not for me but it isn't tacky or crass or even bad, really. They sound earnest - particularly on the live tracks - but ultimately they are peddling a style that is a little too flat and open to all for me to get excited about. This isn't a case where I hate the sound, tone or direction so much that I could happily spew indictments and not feel bad about it. I just have to leave it as not my bag.
The penultimate track is Gaelic lyrics and theme crossed with the orient in terms of certain sounds in the arrangement. I cannot accuse this of not having some personality. I'm not a fan of the guitar work on the track, which becomes more prominent as it goes, but up to that point it has been by far the most interesting number on the disc. Not enough at this point to salvage anything but a nice note of difference and of positivity that was unexpected.
When it comes, the end is sudden. No long lead out here, just a final trill. I will not miss this.
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