THE TÁIN

This was such a well-recorded, produced and pioneering album of music! From the opening notes of "Setanta" (1:52) one cannot quite be sure what one is in for: blistering electric guitar riffs seemingly randomly dispersed over disjointed and disorganized instrumental play. Surprising yet mesmerizing! By the time we get to the third song we are able to get a sense for the style that Horslips are going for--not far from that of Jethro Tull with electric guitars and flutes over drum and bass foundations with folk-styled vocal story-telling--though much more folk feeling than that of JT. Reels and rock, Celtic and military drumming, electric guitars and a variety of flutes occupy pretty equal lead time throughout. The vocalists are quite oriented in the stylings of the Sixties--British bands like The Beatles, Donovan and The Buckinghams--but they are notable for the remarkable variety.

Favorite songs: the instrumental 13. "The Morrigan's Dream" (3:26) (8.75/10); the album's finale, 14. "Time to Kill!" (5:07) (9.25/10); 5. "You Can't Fool the Beast" (3:40) (9/10); 8. "Chu Chulainn's Lament" (3:02) (8.5/10); the wonderful psychedelic 7. "Ferdia's Song" (2:44) (8.75/10) (with it's follow up for its guitar solo, "Gae Bolga" [1:12] [4.5/5]); 10. "Faster than the Hound" (5:38) (8.25/10), and; 4. "The March" (1:34) (4.5/5). The album's opening instrumentals, "Setanta" (1:52) + "Maeve's Court" (1:41) = (10/10), serve as introduction to the story, which begins with the bleed in from the latter to the Jethro Tull-like 3. "Charolais" (4:04) (8/10). 6. "Dearg's Doom" opens with "Theme from Shaft"'s cymbal play before an unique, pre-punk kind of choral shanty starts up. It's actually quite good. (8.5/10) The only truly weak song is the silly, almost pandering 12. "More than You Can Chew" (3:15) (7.5/10).

Total time 42:39

All in all this is a very nice listen, start to finish, one that grows on the listener over time. It helps that the album ends on such a strong note with the final two songs, "Morrigan" and "Time to Kill!" I can see how and why many regard this as a masterpiece of progressive rock music--it is certainly exemplary of the era. I am also a great admirer of the great sound production and stylistic variety of the compositions.

Four stars; a solid demonstration of the rock-side of Prog Folk and a very nice demonstration of a folk concept album. Interesting that I hear in this album a herald of the work of Andy Partridge and XTC.