THE RIVER FLOWS : ANTHOLOGY VOL. 1

This anthology is a no brainer for all IONA fans. There is something like 29 pages in this hard cover book that holds 2 cds in the front inside cover and 2 cds in the back inside cover. The pages are filled with fantastic pictures as well as detailed imformation about the albums and songs.This anthology contains their first three studio albums remastered, as well as a fourth disc called "Dunes" that contains some previously unreleased material and live versions of songs as well as an 8 song piece that was originally used on a BBC- TV Natural World Series Programme "Snowdonia-Realm of the Ravens". I have reviewed the first three studio albums on this site already and will review this fourth disc ("Dunes") here.

"Snowdonia-Realm of the Ravens" is such an atmospheric masterpiece. I just can't get tired of this amazing music.There are no words that are sung but there are vocal melodies. It starts off with "Realm of the Ravens" which features waves of synths, vocal melodies and tin whistles. "Dunes" opens with tin whistles as acoustic guitar and piano come in. I can't explain why this music is so moving. "Macha" continues with the tin whistles and it isn't until we get to "Dome of Harlech" that we get a change of pace with some good guitar, drums and uillean pipes. "Above the Clouds" is very similar to the opening track as it has a lot of atmosphere with vocal melodies. "Song of the Waves" continues with synths,but they add fretless bass and violin to it. "Moondawn" opens with what sounds like mellotron (but apparently isn't) celtic harp,uillean pipes and drums with piano later. It blends into "Winter" another atmospheric song and although no words have been sung during this 8 part epic it feels like so much has been said. We now move onto individual tracks starting with "Jigs" a live,previously unreleased 6 minute song. And it really is a jig that they play. Tin whistle, uillean pipes, piano and light drums stand out. Violin takes over later.

"Heartquake" was an encore song that IONA used to play in concert a lot. This is a live version as well. Tempo changes abound on this great sounding tune. "Castlerigg / Reels" is from the "Open Sky" album and is recorded live here. I found it went on too long (10 1/2 min.). "I Will Give My Love An Apple" is a song that Jo-Anne has been singing since she was 12 years old. This is the first song with vocals on this cd. Troy plays E-bow guitars and bouzouki on this track. "Song of the Waves(Reprise)" is powerful as Jo-Anne speaks words into the beautiful soundscape. A highlight of this album. The final song "The Final Journey" was originally supposed to be on "Beyond These Shores" album as part of the Brendan songs. I'm not sure why this wasn't used as the final song on that album as it also very powerful with low whistles, keys and vocal melodies that create an atmospheric soundscape. I've been listening to this cd at work and I stopped in my tracks when this song was on just moved by the emotion that poured through the vocal melodies and instrumental work. Again this is difficult to explain.

This anthology is a 4.5 star release. It's hard for me to give 5 stars for an antholgy but this one is as close as it gets.