Search - Clannad :: Legend

THE Legend

Anna | 09/21/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great, short, sweet but haunting CD, one of the rare soundtracks with original background music that you can actually listen to. It is a great soundtrack because it doesn't even sound like one. Battles is one of my favourite tracks in general and, like most of them, it is too short. One of the rare but dazzling examples of how Clannad can turn wild. Lady Marian goes together with other harp instrumentals we know like A gentle Place, Faery Queen and Fonn Mharta. It is indeed exciting to listen to so opposite moods like rage in Battles and melancholy in Strange Land. These two perfectly go together in a track Now is Here with a "folky" traditional tune not so characteristic for Clannad. I was also surprised to hear not-really-Clannad accordion in Ancient Forest. This is not a Robin Hood sountrack - it is a Clannad soundtrack."

Robin of Sherwood

Clara | New York State | 11/22/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This soundtrack brings back very fond memories of the show. However even if you haven't seen the show the simple music is beautiful. The songs are good at invoking images of spring forest and the sleepy villages of yore."

Inspired cure for insomnia

Paul Lawrence | Australia | 10/21/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Clannad/Enya/whatever truly inspired me in my youth as they showed just how much could be achieved with next to nothing. And their influence in delivering mainstream acceptance of the `whispering breathless' style of `Celtic' singing cannot be overestimated. Though quite why this style of singing is so beloved of folkies and why it's become entwined with the image of early Irish/British culture is a mystery to me. But that's not to deny the inroads that Clannad achieved on the mainstream with albums like Legend which, as has been noted, was used in part as the soundtrack to an 80's Robin Hood franchise.



And the music here - well what music is here - truly does evoke images of ancient bards and druids etc in quiet contemplation in some secluded Welsh glade. Magic stuff if your from a Western European background I suppose, it just resonates and feels like small ripples of music washing over you. The lyrical concerns aren't really concerns, just phrases put together to add a human touch. I mean, often the title of the song is the main body of the lyrics, just repeated at appropriate intervals. Or in the case of track two `Now Is Here' we get the truly illuminating lyrical couplet of "Now is here, here is now". Profound stuff indeed.



But really this is not music with a message unless the message is to relax, biding a while in Clannads musical ambience until reality comes along to intrude upon your repose. And as such it delivers it's message very well indeed as the soporific strains of a variety of instruments intertwine quite pleasantly to produce a gentle listen and an experience that does open up with repeated listens, the small and rather dainty melodies beguiling in their fragility.



If your a Clannad fan, you probably want this in your collection if you haven't already acquired it. Just remember to swing by the negative vote button before you put this in your cart in order to assuage your righteous indignation at me daring to lay bare a few inconvenient truths in this review. If your not a Clannad fan, well, neither am I but this has graced my stereo innumerable times over the decades and if your after some ambient tunes to chill out to then picking this up cheap may just open up a new world to you."