SEAN TYRELL - Cry Of A Dreamer (Hannibal/Rykodisc)
'Sean Tyrell is a throwback to the days when Irish culture meant great poets, wild music and glasses of porter on the table' - it says here on the advance promotion material.
I find the claim for 'great poetry' hard to equate with lyrics like 'Remember, remember the rain in November...' nor is this an album of 'wild music', unless wild can be defined as tapping your foot a little too vigorously to the few tracks that break into a leisurly jog - notably 'No-Go' with a tune sounding like a combination of 'Off She Goes' and 'Pop Goes The Weasel', and a nice line in contemporary lyrics nicked from the poet Louis MacNiece. For the most part though this is a leisurly amble.
True, Mairtin O'Conner's accordian and Davey Spillane's pipes lift the album in places, but for my money there are too many songs like 'Isle Of Inisfree, 'Coast Of Malabar' and 'November Rain' that exude gushing, mawkish sentiment.
'Demolition Dan' has some dark atmospherics and reminded me somewhat of the 'George Collins' ballad.
'Fortune For The Finder' is pure armchair Country and Western and best forgotten.
Yer man himself sounds more than a little like Christy Moore and chances are if you like Christy you'll like this.
Perhaps those nice people at Hannibal ought check the definitions of 'Great Poetry' and 'Wild Music'.
(Andy Hemsley)