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Dougie
MacLean Craigie
Dhu
There's
no getting around saying this...so here it is: Dougie MacLean
is not only one of Scotland's national treasures...he is a musical
genius for the ages...and one of my favorite artists of all
time. "Craigie Dhu," one of his earlier solo albums,
is a thing of intense beauty and skillful mastery.
Dougie's
voice sounds much younger than the Dougie of the 1990's and
beyond...but that's not saying anything bad one way or another.
I was taken aback for a couple moments (I had been introduced
to the Dougie of "Riof" and "Marching Mystery").
Yet in the end, what the young Dougie's voice lacks in maturity,
he more than compensates for in sweetness and honesty. As far
as the music itself goes--Dougie's playing is, as always, mind-blowing
(the title track being just one such instance).
"Craigie
Dhu" is loaded with great songs. It has sweet love songs
(Gin I Were A Baron's Heir; High Flying Seagull; It Fascinates
Me) excellent arrangements of traditional tunes (the afore mentioned
Baron's Heir; It Was A' For Our Rightfu' King; Bonnie Bessie
Logan; and Tullochgorum). Dougie's own songs stand up well next
to the classic tunes he arranges here.
The
highlights of this disc for me are: the heartbreakingly beautiful
"Gin I Were A Baron's Heir," "ready For The Storm"
(which was covered by Rich Mullins on his album "Winds
of Heaven Stuff of Earth"), the rollicking "Tullochgorum"
and my favorite song on the disc--"Caledonia"--if
it doesn't stir your soul...you'd better go check and make sure
you have one.
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