THE BOOK OF INVASIONS - A CELTIC SYMPHONY

After the lacklustre Unfortunate Cup of Tea, the next album was going to be a watershed for Horslips. In the end, they returned broadly to the formula that had brought them so much acclaim for The Tain and produced a concept album based on Irish mythology and full of great songs based on Irish traditional tunes. And it works just as well as The Tain, having brought them enormous critical acclaim. If anything, they show their amazing musicianship off even more, with Charles O'Connor's fiddle and mandolin swopping riffs with Johnny Fean's scything lead guitar and Jim Lockhart's flute,whistle, pipes and keyboards. The vocals of bassist Barry Devlin and drumming of Eamonn Carr have improved beyond recognition from their first album. Fean also contributes some of the best rhythm guitar licks on any album. Sword of Light is another classic in the broad style of Dearg Doom and there are no fillers or low spots. The Rocks Remain is a beautiful song, Trouble with a Capital T and The Power and the Glory are powerful anthemic songs and the whole second side is simply magical. This is Celtic Rock at its best. It isn't really true prog rock: it's too traditional and actually far, far better than all but the very best in the prog rock field. It is also one of only 3 concept albums which really work, along with their own The Tain and Camel's wonderful Snow Goose. If you haven't got this album, you really are missing out - big time. It really deserves 6 stars.