Critic's Review
Murrday Fisher, All Music Guide
Basically, Musical Plunder is the first album by two Celtic musicians -- Chuck Hamilton and Jim Carpenter -- from Worcester, MA, who have potential that's not fully realized. And the object of this review is not to tear down the album. Rather it is to give examples of where polishing can improve things -- approaching this in learn-change-grow mode. One can hear New England in Celtic Pirates' intonations (which is fine, a quite understandable regional influence), particularly in the pronunciation of the name Margaret in "The Dutchman." This song also has some enjoyable harmonies, and listeners may find themselves singing along. The artists mention on their website (http://celticpirates.50megs.com) that the selections for Musical Plunder were chosen with an eye toward performing songs that are familiar favorites, so the audience can join in. They succeed in this. However, from a musical standpoint, this presents them with the challenge that several of these songs are already strongly associated, even branded, with the names other groups. Odds are, if one asks a Celtic music fan to name artists for "The Unicorn," they'll say the Irish Rovers rather than Celtic Pirates. Just about every really well-known song will have a previous version by a different band that's better-recognized. Sometimes this can lead to unfavorable comparisons for the new artists. So Celtic Pirates might well-benefit from the inclusion of original songs on subsequent releases to develop selections that are name-associated with them rather than others. Regarding Celtic Pirates' particular recording of "The Unicorn," the harmonious voices of the adults are overwhelmed by an off-key child singing loudly and out of sync on the choruses. While it's understandable to want to include child participation on this charming little song, the problem is that the particular child in question has a tendency to project too volubly and sometimes produce sounds closer to shouting than singing. Awkwardly, listeners are likely to find themselves wincing when the kid bellows out the choruses. This one is strongly urged to be re-recorded, and the child is encouraged to modulate rather than shout. It's lovely to include children in a recording when they understand how to sing. But if they haven't learned when to power-down, it can sound painful. Celtic Pirates play guitars and mandolin skillfully, and they have a pleasantly harmonic sound. The complication is, the recording quality on Musical Plunder isn't doing them justice either. Every debut album is a learning process, and what this particular first venture suggests is that they'd benefit from an upgrade on the technical side. Other songs that would improve from re-recording are "Place in the Choir," where the vocals are less than distinct, and also "Fiddler's Green." On the up side, they do a pleasant job on the metaphorical "Four Green Fields" and the story songs of "The Cobbler" and "Black and Tans," particularly the melodious choruses. This shows that the potential is there, it simply needs to be more consistently developed. So while it's an occasionally rocky and uneven debut, the foundation is in place to build a more mature structure from.
