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To Drive the Cold Winter Away
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Price: $11.88
Price subject to change!
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0774213221025
Format: Enhanced
Label: Quinlan Road
Manufacturer: Quinlan Road
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Quinlan Road
Release Date: 1994-01-20
Studio: Quinlan Road
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Customer reviews of To Drive the Cold Winter Away
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Customer Rating:  
Summary: 3.5 stars: A winter solstice treat
Comment: I am a long time Loreena McKennitt fan. Her voice is what captured my heart and soul back in high school almost twenty years ago.I have finally got the chance to hear one of Loreena's older albums, her winter solstice themed TO DRIVE THE COLD WINTER AWAY. For the first time I was actually not taken with the album right away. The music lacked the haunting melodies that I have come to love in Loreena's music. I had to listen to this cd several times for the music to sink in.
What I have noticed on TO DRIVE THE COLD WINTER AWAY is that the general sound of the music is more classical with a hint of mediaval, and lacks the celtic sounds I am so familiar with in recent albums by Loreena. For the first time, I actually found a Loreena McKennitt song I did not like one bit and that was "The King". Where on earth was Loreena's beautiful voice? Thank heavens the song is rather short. The same can be said about the instrumental "Banquet Hall" but I rather liked the instrumental more so than "The King".
I really wanted to like this album as much as her more recent albums. TO DRIVE THE COLD WINTER AWAY isn't terrible per say but compared to albums like MASK AND MIRROR and BOOK OF SECRETS, this album falls rather flat in comparison. Nevertheless the music is anything but your traditional holiday album.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Very Special SEASONAL, or ANYTIME Album from Loreena McKennitt
Comment: Everyone wants to label this a Christmas Album.......well, that's ok, but personally I would tell them "please don't do that!"
This is a VERY special album. Go up, here, and click on the links to the samplings from this album. Now, remember you're only gonna get about 28 seconds, totally out of context from each listing.....NOT the way to experience this music at all! But, perhaps it will "tweak" your ears and get you to go to your nearest music shop and pick up this truly unique album.
I begin listening to this album in the late fall, when the leaves are just gone, and right through until they appear again in the spring. I do not consider this a Christmas album. This is a Seasonal album to me, that being, leafless trees, brisk chilly winds and breezes, snowfall, and icicles on limbs and eves, little winter birds, etc. Christmas music to me is Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Winter Wonderland type stuff, and Carols. The music here is more "old age" stuff, yes, a carol or two, but not too familiar to you, and this makes this album SO VERY SPECIAL....it IS things that you've not heard before, so no "ugh, THAT again!" type thoughts when a selection starts.
A definite "Must-Have", and I would seek it out soon, as it is an older one, and I'm not sure if her work would go out of print or not. You NEED this album, trust me again! ~operabruin
Customer Rating:
Summary: Lovely music for the season, recorded in resonant halls
Comment: More gentle, clear-voiced beauty from vocalist/arranger/multi-instrumentalist Loreena McKennitt--this time a collection of rarely heard seasonal songs from England, Ireland and Scotland with a few original compositions thrown in for good measure. As with her prior album, "Elemental," McKennitt's arrangements here are filled with a spare but striking magic--in this case, reminiscent of the quiet stillness of a snowfall as it blankets the world in soft, crystaline white. The music was recorded in Annaghmakerrig, Ireland; Glenstal Abbey, England; and the Church of our Lady, Guelph (in Canada). In the album's liner notes, McKennitt writes, "as a child, my most vivid impression of music for the winter season came from songs and carols recorded in churches or great halls, rich with their own unique ambience and tradtition. In that spirit I have ventured into several similar locations that I have come to cherish in my travels ... The arrangements are sparse but somehow I felt that reflected the dynamics of the fall and winter seasons, and that their can be much beauty in such simplicity." I can't say it any better. Some of the songs are performed by McKennitt alone as harp-embellished vocals. Others feature understated harmonies and accompaniments by guest artists Shannon Purvis-Smith (viols) and Cedric Smith (vocals). If track #5, "Snow," sounds familiar, that might be because it also appears on one of McKennitt's later albums, "A Winter Garden." Loreena McKennitt's next album is "Parallel Dreams." Compare her work with that of rich-voiced singer Susan McKeown in "Lowlands" and the haunting a cappella ballads of Niamh Parsons in such albums as "Loosely Connected."
Customer Rating:
Summary: Warm your heart this winter
Comment: "To Drive the Cold Winter Away" belongs in every music lover's library. Stunningly and breathtakingly gorgeous in its wondrous sincerity and elegant tranquility--if you can find a more lovely, soulful winter album, please let me know--and good luck! There's no other singer in the world, imo, that can hold a candle to the angelic voice of Loreena. Every single song is Flawless. TDTCWA is truly a five star album. Buy it now, trust me.
I wish to include Loreena's own words in the liner notes about her inspiration for this ethereal, enchanting album:
"As a child, my most vivid impression of music for the winter season came from songs and carols recorded in churches or great halls, rich with their own unique ambience and tradition. In that spirit, I have ventured into several similar locations that I have come to cherish in my travels...[mentions Annaghmakerrig and Glenstal Abbey in Ireland]...
This recording was completed in The Church Of Our Lady in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. As we recorded through the dark hours of the night, this magnificent church, built in 1877, offered great inspiration.
The arrangements are sparse, but somehow I felt that reflected the dynamics of the fall and winter seasons, and that there can be much beauty in such simplicity. As it is recorded on location, you many occasionally hear sounds of life continuing on around us. We hope these aren't distracting, but rather are embraced like the flecks of straw in the wool sweater your grandmother might have knitted you to keep the cold winter away." L.M.
"All hail to the days that merit more praise than all of the rest of the year.." from "In Praise of Christmas." Ah yes, let's keep the spirit of Christmas in our hearts year round. I give this one of my highest recommendations and likewise, this album. Heh.
Soar!
Customer Rating:
Summary: not my absolute favorite McKennitt, But......
Comment: I love the Celtic sounds and stories of Loreena McKennitt's CDs. They take me back to another time, and I fancy I can see the misty moors, the dashing men on horseback, the travels to exotic places. If I close my eyes, there are the castles, the Lady of Shalott floating off to Camelot. Alas, this one didn't transport me very far. I loved Banquet Hall, in which I could see and smell the Yule log in the giant fireplace. The Stockford Carol carried me away, and Let All That Are To Mirth Inclined sounded most like the McKennitt I'm accustomed to. It sounds as though I didn't like it -but I Did like it! Just not as much. This album belongs in every McKennitt collection, to be cherished as a glimpse into the Dickens winter season, crisp and cold, a snowflake upon the tip of your nose; ladies in their velvet capes, laughing upon the arm of a dapper gent. Sticky balls and humbug candies, disappearing into little hands and mouths. It always seems as though a century has gone by since the last McKennitt CD has made its appearance. Don't wait till Christmas - you can play this anytime.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Soon to be back in stock to make sure all of your Christmas wishes come true. 10 track Christmas album. These are traditional English and Scottish songs mixed with orginals by this elegant modern folk artist.
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