Anam

Artist: Clannad
Label: Atlantic / Wea
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 075678240928
EAN: 0075678240928
ASIN: B000002ITY

Release Date: 1992-07-14

Related Categories:

British Folk

| Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General

| Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Irish Folk

| Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General

| International | Styles | Music

Celtic New Age

| New Age | Styles | Music

General

| New Age | Styles | Music

General

| Pop | Styles | Music

General

| Celtic | International | Styles | Music

New Age

| Celtic | International | Styles | Music

Fusion

| Celtic | International | Styles | Music

Ireland

Listmania:

My CD Collection By Letter top 10 C's
Great New Age, Celtic, and World Music
Clannad, Enya, Engima 15 Magical Albums
Clannad Classics
enya enigma clannad pure celtic magic
Almost the whole best stuff by Clannad
Craig's Essential Celtic Music Collection
Enya vs. Clannad
music that won't make your ears bleed
Preparing for St. Patrick's Day

Tracks:

Ri Na Cruinne
In A Lifetime
Anam
In Fortune's Hand
The Poison Glen
Wilderness
Harry's Game (from Patriot Games)
Why Worry?
Uirchill An Chreagain
Love And Affection
You're The One
Dobhar

Similar Items:

Banba
Lore
Rogha: The Best of Clannad
Landmarks
Sirius

Customer Reviews:

Stylistic mish-mash, incoherent.......2005-07-15

The problem with this, as another reviewer hinted at, is Clannad seems here to not know whether they want to be pop ("Love and Affection" and "In a Lifetime"), Celtic ("The Poison Glen" and "Harry's Game"), alt-country ("You're the One"), or "smooth jazz" ("Why Worry?"). It's hard to know exactly WHO will find this disc captivating.

HIGHLIGHTS:
The best known cut here is probably the best one. "Harry's Game" (from the PATRIOT GAMES soundtrack) is wonderfully ethereal as a layered wall of Maire Brennan's vocals meld perfectly with bandmate Ciaran Brennan's along with heavenly keyboard produced "oohs" and "aahs" that remind me of nothing so much as the backing vocals in 10CC's "I'm Not in Love". "Harry's" and "Ri Na Cruinne" will probably be the ones most beloved of ENYA fans. The title track is a soft peace anthem. ("when will I see/an end to destruction and woe/and how will I see/no division in my life?") "The Poison Glen" is a bit more traditional number but still mixes in rock influenced drumming, mandola, harmonica and what SOUNDS like an (uncredited) accordion.

LOWS:
"In a Lifetime" doesn't work...Bono's rocker wail sounds completely out of place amidst the more ethereal Clannad vocals and delicate harp which collides against wailing sax and almost jazz drumming. The whole thing is fraught with disaster. "Why Worry?" sounds like SADE's "Smooth Operator" with a lesser lyric.

BOTTOM LINE:
Enya fans...look elsewhere. "Harry's Game" fans...just get PURE MOODS. I don't know that I could honestly recommend this for anyone but Clannad diehards.

Sounds dated...but still has a spark........2005-05-13

I'm not new to Celtic or New Age music, but this recording doesn't seem very faithful to either of those genres. What it seems akin to is saxophone-y, lounge-y jazz of the early 90's. The time period makes sense since that's when this CD came out, but who can explain to me why a Celtic/New Age band is using saxophone this heavily?

The more atmospheric pieces (Uirchill an chreagian, Ri na cruinne) are lovely and very new-agey. I'm glad they don't provide English translations for the Gaelic, since the lyrics for the English pieces are uniformly really, really banal. For example, "Why must I worry/try not to hurry like other people/why must I worry/'cos you know yourself/that is not the way..." Um...okay.

Even the much-hailed "Harry's Game", which was on the Patriot Games movie soundtrack, doesn't really work as a song on its own--it goes better with dramatic things happening on-screen. And once you realize the chorus is nonsense syllables ("Fol lol the doh fol the day/Fol the day fol the day"), it loses a hefty percentage of its mystery.

Maire and Ciaran Brennan are ethereal and pleasing on vocals as usual, but the duet with Bono (In a lifetime) just doesn't work; his voice belongs to another genre, and the contrast is more dysfunctional than interesting. Bridin Brennan's occasional male backup vocals go with the women's voices much better.

This is just such an odd patchwork. "You're the one", a cheerful love song, even verges on a country sound; how many directions do they think they can profitably veer in on one CD? Overall nothing seems to unify this CD except the Brennans' voices and the sporadic intrusion of the saxophone. Die-hard Clannad fans will want this one, but no one else. One listen to this was plenty for me. I think I'll try to sell it.

This CD Has Soul!.......2004-06-15

Many tracks including "Poison Glen" transport one into another more soulful world. What a fresh sound this band has...unlike any other. Vocals from the lead singer are the strength of the group.

one of the album makes me cry!.......2003-07-12

I don't know Gaelic at all (actually I am an Asian from HK)
I borrow Banba from a fd of mine, I liked that (read the recommendation of that) and I run out to record store without hestitate, there are only 2 I found in the record store: Anam and The Magical Gathering, then I got both
once I played this, I am really blown away, I am really appreciated how good the sound in "The poison glen" and "Harry's game", they are really good
but the last 4 of the album are.....
You're the one and Dobhar should be consider as one, when I played these first time, I can't help myself...I cried
then I have no word to discribe how good this album be

Exquisit I tell you........2002-05-20

Don't listen to the negative reviews on this album. Anam is a beautiful CD with a very jazzy twist but still has that Celtic sound.

Anam is Gaelic for 'Soul' and the album title was perfect because the music touches your soul.

Ri Na Cruinne opens this CD with a bang. It's a very haunting song with haunting vocals, ambient keyboards, and thundering beats. This is a song to play on a trip through the mountains on a cloudy evening. In A Lifetime features a duet with U2 frontman Bono. It's a very jazzy song that will make you feel good. IAL is also available on the 1985 album Macalla. One of my all-time favorite duets. The title track is very much like Ri Na Cruinne only more serene and dreamier. I played this song when walking through the colorful gardens on a cloudy evening and I was in total bliss because this song blossoms with beauty, soul, and magic. We head into much more upbeat territory with the Celtic/jazz fusion of In Fortunes Hand. This song is very upbeat with a bit of a pop/jazz/Celtic sound. The Poison Glen is more laid back with beautiful vocals and acoustic guitars with snares. This song is much more Celtic with an accordian. Wilderness is a pleasant acoustic guitar instrumental. Theme From Harrys Game is a very haunting song with a sort of Medieval twist. This song is beautiful but nothing like the next song. Why Worry made this a CD worth buying multiple times. It's a very warm, jazzy song with awesome keyboards, and beatiful chants. I love how the song becomes dark and misty towards the ending. Uirchill An Chreagin is ambient keyboards and gorgeous vocals to make a song to enjoy on a sunny or cloudy afternoon. Love And Affection is more rock oriented with a more upbeat yet moody sound. The song kind of breaks down towards the ending and ultimately fades into mostly ambience at the ending. You're The One is a more country oriented song with a sunny feel-good sound. Dobhar is a piano instrumental that closes this amazing CD.

This one is one of my favorite Clannad CDs in my collection. It's worth the price. I would say get this CD, it's an incredible piece of art. Well done Clannad.

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