BEYOND THESE SHORES

Beyond These Shores is Iona's third album and it's an excellent one with another great conceptual theme. Just like on their other albums the overall sound is very dynamic, consisting of a few different styles such as Celtic folk, prog rock and new age. Much like the other albums, especially "Book Of Kells" it's difficult to hear everything going on within the music at first, therefore repeated listens or revisiting this music is highly recommended. There are more vocals here than on the first two albums and a few progressive pop songs, which are of very high quality. "Treasure" and "Burning Like Fire" are two of the more uplifting moments, with great melodies and layers of synths. "Bird of Heaven" is one of the band's big epics. It's quite a poweful one and the guitar solo by Dave Bainbridge is excellent. Two personal favourites of all are "Edge of the World" and "Murlough Bay" which both show off the mellow atmospheric aspects of the band. They are really soft ballads, the vocals and underlying melodies are particularly beautiful. "Beachy Head" is also a fantastic song, It's so wonderfully arranged and orchestrated too. As it's been said, this is very inspiring and often incredible music. Four solid stars.