It’s the second straight review from 1999. I’d say that means tonight I’m going to party like it’s 1999, but I’ve had a hell of a long day and frankly, I’m knackered. Not too knackered to knock out a music review, however.
Disc 1533 is…. Old Friends
Artist: John McDermott
Year of Release: 1999
What’s up with the Cover? I feel like McDermott submitted this from a family holiday to the aquarium. The band of colour on the left-hand side is there to obscure an inquisitive sea lion hoping for a herring.
How I Came To Know It: I liked John’s 1992 album “Danny Boy” so when I saw this one many years later I gave it a chance. It helped that it had “Massacre of Glencoe” on it, which is one of my favourite folk classics.
How It Stacks Up: I have two John McDermott albums, and if you have been reading along you know which two. “Old Friends” is definitely the weaker of the two.
Ratings: 2 stars
Great singing has to hit all the notes no matter how hard, while making everything seem easy. On “Old Friends” John McDermott gets it half right. His voice is amazing, but he spends too much of his time very self-aware that he is SINGING. That alone can’t make your heart sigh.
There’s no denying McDermott’s got a set of pipes on him. This guy belts it traditional Scottish folk songs with the power of an opera singer. Listening to him en-nun-see-yate every word like he’s tasting an expensive single malt Scotch is a technical thrill, but I spent a lot of this record hoping he’d just cut loose.
Everything about this record screams “reserved and regal”. It feels like when you go to one of those special holiday events at some mansion or old castle. All the ladies have long dresses and all the gentlemen have suits and ties (and moreover, ties are required). There’s a whole lot of pomp and circumstance, and the booze is free, after you get past the obscene entry fee of course. And no matter how old you are, you find you’re the youngest person in attendance who isn’t behind the bar serving the sherry. At the top of the spiral staircase you spot a guy in tux belting out tunes. That guy is John McDermott.
On 1992’s “Danny Boy” McDermott lands a whole host of tear jerkers and heart-swelling tales of heroism upon the heath. I’ve had that record since around when it came out and I still pull it out from time to time when I’m feeling nostalgic.
“Old Friends” has a few moments of its own, notably “Massacre of Glencoe”. There aren’t a lot of songs that are the perfect intersection of tragedy and formal solemnity, but this is one of them. The song is the tale of the 1692 slaughter of the MacDonalds of Glencoe by order of King William III. I played it as I drove into Glencoe on a holiday in Scotland and I found it damned affecting. The chorus is a bit upbeat for my tastes, but when McDermott sinks into the verses you can feel him quivering with the rage of it all.
My favourite tune on the record is “Lachin Y Gair (Dark Loch Nagar)” which is a poem written by the Romantic poet George Gordon, Lord Byron, and set to music by his contemporary Henry Bishop. This song is a love song to Scotland and is the perfect belter for the overwrought power of John McDermott. He drops this thing like a bomb. Even the arrangements and production, that let so many other tunes on “Old Friends” down are perfect here. Of course, anything involving Lord Byron is great. I’m more of a Tennyson guy overall, but as far as the Romantics go, give me Lord Byron every day of the week.
While that stuff is great, “Old Friends” just doesn’t have enough of these moments. The songs routinely demand the same gravitas but rarely earn it, and the saccharine production does nothing to generate the missing energy. Lots of mid-tempo plodding, but it often feels like background music at a museum exhibit.
I’ll be keeping “Old Friends” for a few songs that make my heart soar (including a stirring rendition of “Amazing Grace”) but I know I won’t be putting it on very often. McDermott can sing with the best of them, and he is always on point and in tune, but this record needs to be a little more loose in stays to find the emotional depth it seeks.
Best tracks: Farewell To Pripchat, Amazing Grace, Lachin Y Gair (Dark Loch Nagar), Massacre of Glencoe
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