Search - Horselips :: Dancehall Sweethearts

One of those neato oddball classics...

Kirk P O'Brien | Richmond, Virginia United States | 10/05/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are two types of classic albums. There's the type that defines a genre of music (e.g. Exile on Main Street or Born to Run) and spawns a horde of imitators (see Aerosmith and Bon Jovi). The there's the classic album that is so idiosyncratic and unique no one could ever possibly make a reasonable imitation of it (e.g. Swamp Dogg's Total Destruction to Your Mind). Due to their oddness, this second group of albums usually wind up languishing in obscurity despite their excellence. I've always been a sucker for this second type of classic, and here's a great example. This is an amazing record. Around every corner lurks something unexpected, different, and perfect. Here's a female chorus singing in Gaelic, here's a brassy horn section over a traditional tune, here's some funhouse organ, here's god-knows-what piled on top of heaven-only-knows. And it all somehow works. By turns, the songs are joyous, melancholy, playful, and mournful. There's a strong traditional element to the tunes-- in fact, may of them of them are based on Irish traditional music-- but by the time the band piles various instrumentation over top of them or strips them down to their base, they're transformed into something unique. Lyrics, a weakness on their two prior albums, here reflect the good humour of the playing. The band has recently regained the rights to and control of their recordings, and they've done this reissue right. The sound is clear and precise, and the insert reproduces all the original artwork plus an extra photo or two. There's an instrumental bit and extra verse on "The Blind Can't Lead the Blind" that wasn't on the original album and, unlike many later additions to classic albums, actually works. Like everything else on this excellent album."

A great memory

Eric | 12/13/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Soon after I won a copy of The Book of Invasions from a radio station I happened across Dancehall Sweethearts in a cut-out bin. It became one of my favorite albums. I thought it was my personal secret because I never heard anyone else play or mention it. It's nice to read the other reviews and know I'm not the only one to ever listen to it. Back then, in the late '70s, I saw Horslips live at a club in Portland, OR. Toward the end of the show, soon after they started King of the Faeries, the lighting system blew a breaker or something and the stage and most of the audience was dumped into blackness. The sound system still had power and the band never stopped. They didn't even hesitate. It's one of my strongest memories, being in a crowd listening to this electric Irish jig screaming along in the dark."

Irish rock at it's best!

Joseph | Seattle, WA United States | 09/13/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Unlike it's predecessors, this release from Horslips strays a little furthur away from the blends of traditional Irish music and rock and enters into more of an Irish-"pop"-rock sound. Excellent music, happy, progressive, complex w/harmonies, jigs and reels... Tullish. This band was definitely ahead of it's time as I guess this release is dated back to the mid 70's, it's still extremely current expecially with the new surge of "world music". You can't go wring with this particular album. If you are looking for something a little more traditional, see if you can find a copy of their first releases, "Happy to meet-sorry to part" or, "The Tain". Both excellent!!!"