2000 release unavailable in the US, featuring 12 tracks.
CD Reviews
The Undicovered Sound of Scotland
04/23/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In my home country of Scotland, this group out sells Madonna and Dire Straits and yet are still unknown to the world at large. This album brings you a group that plays live to 50,000 people on the banks of Loch Lomond and many of the tracks on this album are main stays of the groups current live performances. The tracks start with the up beat news from Heaven following onto the lyrical every river and onwards and upwards the music takes you on a musical tour of the real Gaelic music. The writing force in the group are Rory and his younger brother Calum, whose up bringing on the Isle of Skye where English was the second language is evident in all tracks. Eirinn a track about the sad history of Ireland is not a political song in support of the IRA more a sociol comment on the destruction of a beautiful country by the few.This album was critised by some Gaelic journalists due to the lack of Gaelic songs, however Runrig have realised that the big world out there does not speak or understand gaelic, they do understand good professionally presented music and lyrics. Siol Ghoraidh (the geneology of goraidh)is my track of choice, if you ever get a chance to see the video Live at Stirling Castle you will see and hear the anger, dispair and ancient history within the lyrics of the song.In summary the best album to come out of Scotland in many years. Forgot the false Gaelic or Celtic music of some of the current groups coming out of the Britain, Runrig live and breath the experience and their music is not staged to be fashionable."
Their most commercial; not their best
Audun Myskja | 03/05/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"It`s strange that Amazon.com carry this album, which is a half-baked attempt at reaching a wider audience, compared to their two masterpieces; "The Big Wheel" (1991) and "Amazing things" (1994), where their gaelic folk mouth-music roots fuse with rock power borne of the pulse of two percussionists.But the most amazing about the reviews appearing so far is that they`re replete with Big Country comparisons, but fail to mention the true driving force of Runrig: The songs of the Mac Donald brothers, and particularly the lyrics of Calum MacDonald, which to my heart and mind are the most consistently inspired, even illuminated in popular music, barring Dylan and Cohen. Songs of mature love, instead of "my baby left me", songs of the love of the land and the winds of spirit weaving through our lives. The mixture of English and gaelic lyrics produce an uplifting blend. Why cannot Amazon carry these two albums, which have been their bestsellers in Scotland?"
The Best of Scottish Music
HealingCross | 03/19/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Who would understand? One of the best of Scottish Music, Runrig is treated as an exotic at Amazon.com. Where are other albums like "Amazing Things" or the even more contemporary ones like "Live at Celtic Connection"? It doesn't throw a good light on the American market that it hasn't discovered the band from the Scottish Highland yet. Searchlight is certainly one of their best albums (and it was the first by them that I owned). Runrig successfully brings together a fusion of traditional folkloristic style with modern kind of music, melting it with lyrics about the beauty of their homeland, sometimes reaching even religious tones. It's the newly evolving self- consciousness of the different European regions that may explain their success in Europe - a new interest in traditional expressions of culture and art. Therefore some songs of this album are sung in Gaelic, the old Celtic language of Scotland. And these songs touch the heart even more. Searchlight is a good start to discover Runrig - as I have to confess myself. But there's more to Runrig than that. And I hope, even America will find out."
A brilliant album! :-)
Laura Sparling | Ignacio, Colorado, USA | 08/12/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Not recognized in the States for their inspiring lyrics and uplifting music, Runrig is one of the best Scottish bands around. In just seconds they can take you from the height of love and wonder to the deep depths of the soul. Even the most skeptical person will find themselves humming the lyrics of City of Lights or tapping their foot to the drumbeat of Tear Down These Walls. An absolutely wonderful album. My second favourite of theirs next to The Gaelic Collection."
More pop-py than usual, but still excellent
Bedawyn | Asheville, NC | 11/21/1998
(5 out of 5 stars)
"What can you do with a band that [Note: A--z-- appears to have edited my review without telling me. Originally, the first sentence pointed out that some stores class Runrig as heavy metal and others class them as folk.] but love them?? When I first got Searchlight years ago, I was a little disappointed -- I thought it was too pop-py for my tastes, which run more to, well, folk and heavy metal. :-) I don't know whether I've mellowed or it's grown on me, but now I find it's one of the albums I listen to most often. All those US women like me who dissolve into hormonal mush at the right Scottish accent will be appropriately mushy for "Eerin"; you could drown in the singer's voice. And if you like harder music, "Siol Ghoraidh" has the same almost-martial, uncompromising rock sound that I loved from their Once in a Lifetime album. The best songs, "News from Heaven" and "Every River", are more mainstream but I find myself stopping whatever I'm doing so I can sing along every time. They're both exhilarating songs with just a hint of melancholy--the recognition that current joy is all the more miraculous because it's so hard to find and keep. Most of the album is danceable rock--not dance music, per se, but the sort that you find yourself bopping to no matter what you're doing--with just a hint of a country flavor. The lyrics celebrate life and love the way it works for real people, not movie fairy tales; Runrig's usual political awareness is present but less emphasized than in some of their other albums. Of their albums I have, this is the one I'm most surprised NOT to hear on the radio; depending on the song, it could easily fit contemporary or alternative rock formats."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1