The fifth album by
the Chieftains was also their best, and their first one to cross over, at least in America -- where it was originally issued by the Island label -- to progressive rock audiences. It was also the group's most pronouncedly lyrical album up to that time, with newest member
Derek Bell's harp providing the album's intro and
Paddy Moloney's pipes,
Michael Tubridy's and
Sean Potts' tin whistle sharing the spotlight, percussionists Peador Mercier and Ronnie McShane, by contrast, show amazing restraint across this recording, which gives most of the material on
Chieftains 5 a much more poignant, haunting tone, at least until the fourth cut, "Ceol Bhriotanach (Breton Music)," where the familiar bodhran and bones come in -- and the group crosses over into territory more familiar to fans of
Alan Stivell. But even here, the addition of
Bell's harp, and its thorough integration to the group's sound, opens up a vast, rich palette of sound not in evidence as fully on their prior work. Seán Keane's and Martin Fay's fiddles come to the fore on "The Robber's Glen," and from there the music blooms in several directions at once across the remainder of the album, ending on the bracing "Kerry Slides." This was
the Chieftains' flash point among college-age listeners in America (beyond the ranks of those of Irish descent or majoring in Irish studies), as the album got airplay on radio stations such as WNEW-FM in New York -- a live album followed, and by then, Stanley Kubrick had engaged them for the music in his movie Barry Lyndon; and while the latter film was not a huge success, as the work of the maker of Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange, it was widely seen and heavily promoted, and
the Chieftains popularity fairly exploded in its wake. ~ Bruce Eder