Customer Rating: 
Summary: Overall a great CD!
Comment: I bought this albulm for my wife years ago and she loved it. I started listening to it a year or two ago and it is very calming while I sit in traffic. My 3 year old daughter loves his version of "Wild Mountain Time". I really enjoy the opening track and recommend this albulm to anyone looking for new age celtic music!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Highland Farewell
Comment: Beautiful, moving and gradious music.An excelent sample of neo-celtic-new age style of music.Along the different songs Steve McDonald portrays the sense of loss and dettachmnt of the scottish people that had to leave their beloved land and move for good to foreign and unknown lands.Even if you're not scottish you can perceive the great drama of the celtic exodus.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Beautiful!!
Comment: I love all of Steve's CD's! They always take me back in time to the experiences of the Scottish people. I don't know how many times I've cried while listening to his music. The strength and stamina of the Scotts is incredible and Steve's chronicle of their desire for freedom is excellent!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Trite, Banal Treatment of a Terrible History
Comment: If you are looking for Gaelic music, even in a progressive format, you won't find it in this CD, which is a pastiche of bad poetry and bad music.Several reviewers have commented on the poetry aspect of the songs - well, if you are into trite and banal rhymes, then this is the album for you. Let's see, we've got the chorus of "Southern Gael" - "Hey hey, Southern Gael, you made it through the wind and hail" repeated ad nauseum. The rest of this, with the exception of "Pain", which is a true work of Scotland, is much the same.
The music, which overuses synthesizers, is typical New Age garbage - all major key, 4:4 timing - kind of like Madonna without the originality. Actually, the whole album reminds me of David Arkenstone. Wordy and pretentious
The Highland Clearances were a dark and sad time, and the story deserves a better treatment than this. I suggest "Fire in the Glen" by Manus Lunny, Phil Cunningham and Andy Stewart, of "Silly Wizard" fame, not to mention "Caledonia's Hearty Sons" by the full "Silly Wizard" crew, "Anthem for the Common Man" by the very prolific "Battlefield Band", and "Real Estate" by Dougie MacLean.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Melodius McDonald
Comment: While this CD doesn't have the impact of "Sons of Somerled," it is still more than worth a listen. McDonald illustrates his love and pride in his Scottish ancestry with every breath, bringing both pathos for the Clearances, and pride in the Scots ability to triumph in the face of adversity. McDonald's work brings unique cultural stamp of the Highlands to all corners of the world--a polar opposite to the original English intent!Bravo!
