And from an upcoming band with much to prove and some of the future of Irish pop/rock music in their hands to one who lead the way, almost forty years ago. None of the guys from Two Door Cinema Club were even born when Horslips were formed, and it was this band who most agree went the furthest in fusing the music of traditional Irish with rock, two genres which had been not only separate up to then, but more or less universally despised one by the other. Those who played traditional Irish --- or “trad” --- music believed that rock musicians were bastardising the form, while rockers looked down on trad musicians as old men playing jigs and reels, which they were, mostly, but neither really gave the other any credit, considering their genre the only “true” musicians.
Horslips did a lot to change that. Formed, appropriately enough, on St. Patrick's Day 1972, Horslips began playing Irish trad music but soon began to inject folk and then rock and even pop music into their recordings. Their biggest crossover was the album below, one of several concepts that they released during their ten-year career, and one which has helped to cement their position in Irish music history as the founding fathers of celtic rock.
The Tain --- Horslips --- 1973 (Horslips Records)
“The Tain”* is an ancient Irish legend, which concerns the theft of the “Brown Bull of Cooley” from Maeve*, Queen of Connaught* (one of the four main Irish provinces) by the men of Ulster (yeah, another province, but you'll probably know that one) including the Irish legendary hero CuChulainn.* Rather than put in brackets how to pronounce all the Irish words, I'll stick an asterisk after each and put a key after the review, okay? Cuchulainn comes up against his foster-brother and friend, Ferdia, and has to battle him. As in most lore, this does not go well.
Much of the album is instrumental, and most of the tracks very short, and I have to pay a great debt of thanks to the official Horslips site (
The Official Horslips Web Site) for its depth of information on this album, so that I can explain it the better. “Setanta”, which is one of the many instrumentals, opens the album, and is essentially chronicling the early life of the hero CuChulainn, who began life known as Setanta, but got his name when he killed one of the hounds of the master of Chulainn --- cu in Irish means hound, and Setanta agreed to stand in for the dog and protect the lord's place, thus becoming the hound of Chulainn, or CuChulainn. It's a short, almost Jeff Wayne-ish instrumental --- even though it would be years yet before we even heard of a musical version of the War of the Worlds --- and goes into a sort of jig, reel or something called “Maeve's Court”, and then the first vocals come with “Charolias”*, a boppy uptempo song with guitar and fiddle, pipes and booming drums as the men of Ulster invade Queen Maeve's realm to steal away her black bull, which she is so proud of and which the king of Ulster covets, as kings often did. Nice tin whistle solo --- yeah, it's trad, get used to such phrases! --- from Jim Lockhart followed by a great guitar solo from John Fean, and while the main vocal is a little quiet, the backing vocals are quite strong.
A march then in the style of “The battle hymn of Munster”, which also forms the basis of the preceding track, with some good organ and again some fine whistle, which takes us into “You can't fool the beast”, with a great vocal line and some smooth guitar from Fean. Horslips were always at their best and strongest when they were all singing together, and indeed so it proves again here. Ian Anderson would have been proud of Lockhart's whistle, and there's also a great guitar solo that's just this side of Thin Lizzy, with the other foot tipping Carlos Santana territory. Oh, didn't I mention? Some excellent fiddle from Charles O'Connor too.
This takes us into Horslips' most successful and famous track, “Dearg* doom”. Literally, red doom, or red destroyer according to the Horslips site, it will be familiar to anyone who has ever heard the Irish World Cup song from Italia 90, “Put 'em under pressure”, as it forms the main guitar riff in that song, and its use helped introduce a younger and wider audience to the band, and of course revitalised their career and back catalogue for a little while. It's probably the rockiest of the tracks on the album, hopping along at a great lick, with great guitar and fiddle, a bass line to die for and of course
that guitar riff. Special. The song itself concerns CuChulainn, who is the “dearg doom” referred to, as he prepares to go into battle.
“Ferdia's song” then is a reprise of the tune of the opener, as CuChulainn tries to dissuade his friend Ferdia from fighting him, knowing he must kill the man, but Ferdia of course will not be frightened off. Nice guitar again, some lovely keyboard work from Lockhart and some lonely tin whistle adding a real note of despair and frustration to proceedings. Another great guitar solo and some mournful fiddle, which runs then into an instrumental continuation of the theme, under the name of “Gae bolga*”, this being the name of CuChulainn's spear. Ends on some frantic, swirly keyboard as Ferdia dies.
A low tin whistle then accompanies the vocal as “CuChulainn's lament” gives pause, as the hero mourns his fallen friend, fiddle and percussion joining in with some nice oileann* pipes, then we hear from Maeve's messenger, MacRoth, as he reflects on the battle to come in “Faster than the hound”, a sort of Beatles sound to the music, mixed with a certain sense of ELO. A nice, laidback ballad, the calm before the storm, as the men of Ulster prepare for battle in “The silver spear”, which is, according to the Horslips website, a trio of different reels, and certainly gives the impression of building excitement and anticipation.
“More than you can chew” is a folk/rock uptempo song, as CuChulainn warns Maeve that she does not know what she's taking on. Nice female backing vocals, unfortunately uncredited, as the song moves to the theme of the March of the King of Laois*, then one more instrumental in “The Morrigan's dream”, set to an Irish dance tune called “Old Nolls' Jig” --- the Morrigan was the Irish queen of combat and war, usually represented as a crow or raven --- and we close on “Time to kill”, set to another jig, “The humours of whiskey”, as CuChulainn lies dying, wondering whether it was all worth it. Great vocal harmony opening, then the jig comes in with keyboards, guitar and fiddle, drums and whistles.
To properly appreciate this album you need to understand the story of the Tain, but I have not the space or the inclination to go into it here. If you want to, you can look it up on Wiki: it really is a fascinating story. But you can still appreciate the difference Horslips made to Irish music by listening to this album: the fusion of various different styles into one cohesive and recognisable whole set the trend and laid the groundwork for some excellent albums that were to follow, and was no doubt a big influence on the already-reviewed “Erinsaga”.
TRACKLISTING
1. Setanta
2. Maeve's court
3. Charolias
4. The march
5. You can't fool the beast
6. Dearg doom
7. Ferdia's song
8. Gae bolga
9. CuChulainn's lament
10. Faster than the hound
11. The silver spear
12. More than you can chew
13. The Morrigan's dream
14. Time to kill
LIST OF PRONOUNCIATIONS:
*Tain = Tawn or sometimes Toyn
*CuChulainn = Coo-kull-in
*Maeve = Mayv
*Gae bolga = Gay bulg-ah
*Laois = Leesh
*Connaught = Conn-aw-ckt
* Dearg = Dar-ag or jar-awg
*Charolias = Shar-oh-lay
* Oileann = Illin'