Gaelic Storm has the distinction of somehow being the first "real" band that I have seen live twice. (Sorry, Darik and the Funbags, you don't get included even though you rock out because all the songs you play are actually other people's.) Also, both times I saw the Storm were in Northampton, albeit in very different venues. The first was at the Iron Horse, which is a pretty small place with waitresses lacking in mathematical abilities. I was with Tina, Richard, and Emily, and somehow the 4 of us managed to go the entire show and only drink 6 pints of beer total according to our bill. Now, I drank 5 myself, and everyone had a drink to start, so it would appear that something went wrong with the counting somewhere along the line. Woohoo, free beer! The second time was a few weeks ago at the Calvin, which is really large and does not have a waitress bringing me free pints. However, I was a lot more familiar with their music this time around, which made the show more enjoyable, even though it was more sober.
I reread my post on Appeal to Reason, in which I stated that I was going to stick to that format for CDs. Well, guess what? Much like Slick's movie posts, the format is changing already. Instead, I am going to write this as I listen to the CD, and give individual opinions for each song. The Best Songs, Skips, and Final Rating will remain (just in a different style), so there is at least some consistency. Who knows. By the next CD, this could be different again.
On with the show!
What's the Rumpus? by Gaelic Storm (2008)
One thing to know about the band is that, much like blink-182 or Barenaked Ladies, they have two different singers with distinct sounds. I think their names are Patrick and Steve. I know one is Patrick, and Steve sounds good enough, so let's go with it. Patrick sings the fun and goofy songs, and possibly-Steve sings the more serious stuff. I tend to like the Steve songs more, with some exceptions, but I will not be distinguishing between the two guys in my review, pretty much just to mess with you after you've read this long paragraph. Ha! Deal with that.
1) "What's the Rumpus?" - Good opening track for the CD. It gets things going with a pretty lively song about a party gone slightly too far. It would also be a good song to kick off a live show, but I don't remember if they used it last month. I like it.
2) "Lover's Wreck" - Best. This song is great. It sounds like it's pretty Irish to me, although I have nothing at all to base that on. I think it's about a guy who turns to piracy because he loses something. Probably a girl, but he could also be upset about losing his car keys. That is a pretty crappy thing to have happen to you as well.
3) "Darcy's Donkey" - People love this song when it's played live. I guess because it's about a messed-up donkey who gets wasted, wins a horserace, then dies. It's really something we can all relate to. It's a pretty good song. It's catchy, it's got drunken animals, and it makes me want to start drinking whiskey. You can't really go wrong with any of those.
4) "The Mechanical Bull" - This song is an instrumental one. I don't really know how you come up with titles for instrumental songs. I guess this was was written when someone was either riding a mechanical bull, or when their friend was riding a mechanical bull, or when they were visiting the mechanical farm. It's not bad for an instrumental song, especially if you like bagpipes. Otherwise, you probably won't like it, and you probably shouldn't be listening to band with the name "Gaelic Storm."
5) "Human to a God" - Eh, this song is pretty average. It's about a guy who loves a girl who is marrying another guy and wants some divine intervention. Yawn. It's pretty mellow, so it's like the calm before the storm of the next tune.
6) "Slim Jim and the Seven Eleven Girl" - Best. Despite it's stupid name, this song is one of my favorites. The music is awesome, and the song itself is also good. That's generally a winning combination. You'll know if this song is playing when you drive past me because I'll be rocking out behind the wheel. I am actually doing some foot-stomping while I type this, which is not smart since I'm on a laptop. But I think that gives you an idea of the quality of the song.
7) "Don't Let The Truth Get In The Way (Of A Good Story)" - Who is naming these songs, Fall Out Boy? If I ever review one of their albums, I'll have to watch out for a character limit on the posts and do the thing in phases. This song is about making up ridiculous stories because lying is more fun than being honest. It's the kind of song that you'll listen to, enjoy while it's playing, and then probably forget about. Nothing amazing, but nothing bad either. I'll take it!
8) "The Samurai Set" - This is another instrumental song. It sounds like it's got a lot more fiddle and less bagpipes than "The Mechanical Bull." There is definitely plenty of bagpipes though, so don't be too sad. I have no idea what the name of the song means. Nothing about this song makes me think of Japan or samurai or that video game Samurai Showdown (which I am thinking about now. Is that the one with the little gremlin Gen-an?) or anything samurai-esque. I don't understand how they are naming these things. Also, it's apparent that I need songs with lyrics or else I get completely sidetracked. The song's ok. I don't skip it when I'm listening to the CD, which is about all you can hope for in an instrumental.
9) "Beidh Aonach Amárach" - This song continues the trend that the band has of having one song every album that is completely sung in Irish. Wait, is that a language, or is it supposed to be Gaelic? I assume no one will tell me with a nicely thought-out comment. Jerks. This song is kind of mellow compared to most of what's been going on for the rest of the album. I think it's a nice change of pace, even though something is probably lost in the translation. In this case, I have literally no idea what it's about, as my Irish/Gaelic is limited to yelling "Sláinte!" when I'm drinking Guinness on St. Patrick's Day. Beer is fun.
10) "Death Ride to Durango" - Another instrumental. I don't like when they are grouped so close together, because it's hard to tell them apart. I think this song may be the sequel to the song "Cab Ride to Kingston" from How Are We Getting Home?, but obviously that is just because of the similarities in the title structures. There sounds like a lot of fiddle and tin whistle in this one, and doesn't seem very sad. Maybe Durango is actually a pretty sweet place. I kind of like this song, but I can't really tell what makes it better than either of the other instrumentals. Oh well; if you've got a problem with that, you can write your own opinion website. Just don't try to capitalize on the "Mmmm. . ." brand name.
11) "Faithful Land" - This song is a relaxed, chilling-out song. It's probably about Ireland, but I don't really pay attention to lyrics sometimes. I like it, especially the syncopation in the chorus. It gets to stay in the rotation.
12) "If Good Times Were Dollars" - This song is all about being happy even if you don't have any cool stuff. That's a good message, and the song is also good. It's above average for the album, but probably wouldn't make my Gaelic Storm Greatest Hits Mixtape. Is that a helpful review?
13) "Floating the Flambeau" - The final instrumental, and none too soon. This is a bagpipes-heavy song, with some cool percussion stuff going on in the background. However, it suffers in my book from being the 4th instrumental song, and I am often bagpiped out by the time I get to it. If I start the CD in the middle, it's not an issue, but if I'm listening on the way to Kathryn's or some other far destination, I will probably get annoyed. It does get a little crazy in the middle, which is nice. I'll have to give it a listen sometime when I haven't been listening to the whole CD in one session to see if it changes my opinion.
14) "The Night I Punched Russell Crowe" - It's pretty tough to figure out what the story behind this song is. I wish the title had been slightly less vague. (I need a sarcasm font just to make it clear.) I have no idea if the story really happened, because this CD has already suggested that I not let the truth ruin a good story. Also, there is no telephone throwing anywhere in the song. I feel that a real Russell Crowe story needs someone throwing a phone. The song is ok. I know other people like it more based on the reaction at the concert, but to me it's just an average song with a funny story.
Final rating - "I'm glad I got it, but I wouldn't have had to commit harakiri had I bypassed it." There's enough here to make it worth the purchase, and nothing that I feel the need to skip on every playthrough. And really, that's a pretty impressive feat for a CD at this point in my life. Well done!
And there you have it. The new, potentially improved CD review format. I've got a lot more new CDs, so you'll soon be able to see if I'm going to stick to it.
-Jon
PS - Why is my font different? I don't like this. This part is the correct size, and the rest is weird.
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