Rating: 5.0 stars
Celtic Thunder's second release was Act Two, which trends with their amazing style and knack for making good songs ever better with their amazing voices. Released in 2008, Act Two does not disappoint! It can get people who don't have a clue who the hell Celtic Thunder is to fall in love, or it could make current fans jump for joy. It includes an extended version of Celtic Thunder's original epic Heartland, and has two songs more than their first release (Celtic Thunder: The Show). Over all, this is not your average crappy remix CD.
Act Two cover art
Product Information
Release: 2008
Artist(s): Celtic Thunder
Genre: World
Artist(s): Celtic Thunder
Genre: World
CD Tracks
- Ride On Ryan Kelly with group backup
- A Bird Without Wings Damien McGinty with harmonies by George Donaldson
- My Boy George Donaldson solo
- Raggle Taggle Gypsy Group ensemble
- Love Thee Dearest Paul Byrom solo
- I Want to Know What Love Is Keith Harkin solo
- Heartbreaker Ryan Kelly solo
- Mull of Kintyre George Donaldson with group backup and group ensemble
- Nights in White Satin Paul Byrom solo
- Young Love Damien McGinty solo
- Yesterday's Men George Donaldson solo
- That's a Woman Paul Byrom and Ryan Kelly
- Danny Boy Group ensemble
- Caledonia Group ensemble
- Heartland (Extended Version) Group ensemble
- Castles in the Air George Donaldson
- Christmas 1915 Group ensemble
Track Organization
Track Organization rating: 5.0 stars
Unlike some CD's out there today, Celtic Thunder's Act Two is extremely well planned out! The track's aren't bunched together, which means that you get a multitude of styles and emotions spread out over this Compact Disc! The artist organization is also well spread out, which means that you're not listening to song after song of George Donaldson (even if he is good). I love how they share the songs and have organized it to show diversity of music.
For starters, the CD opens with a strong note, using Ryan Kelly's spectacular rendition of Ride On to set the center stage with an energetic song. Following this is George and Damien's spectacular performance in the lovely A Bird Without Wings, which easily transverses moods, smoothly changing from the energy of the beginning to a tamer mindset. After this is George's solo in My Boy, which yanks on heartstrings and tangos with your emotions. George's marvelous performance makes the song even more emotional. Set after this is another more loose, energetic song as a bit of a pick up. This is the spectacular, if not a bit exotic, group performance to Raggle Taggle Gypsy. Nerves are then calmed to a more mellow mood with Paul's wonderful solo in Love Thee Dearest. Following this is another wonderfully performed love song soloed by Kieth (I Want to Know What Love Is). The love continues with Keith's performance in Heartbreaker. Even though Keith is nice, we have a nice change to George with a more neutral yet moving song, Mull of Kintyre, which is skillfully sung by the whole group and spearheaded by George. Again, we get another calming break with Paul's breathtaking rendition of Nights in White Satin, which is followed by the Young Love performance by Damien. Again, another fast-paced but moving song is soloed by George (Yesterday's Men) before we transfer to the ingenious Paul and Ryan duet and counterpart song That's A Woman. After this, the mood smooths slides to sober with Danny Boy. Keeping with the group, the songs move on to Caledonia. Then we get to the group's marvelous remix of their own Heartland, though I don't recommend listening to the song at nighttime if you're a bit of an anxious person that thinks every creak is a person creeping you your room to kill you. We then wrap up with George's Castles in the Air and finally the marvelous, moving performance by the group of Christmas 1915 (which also fits nicely with Green Fields of France...which is, unfortunately...on another CD).
Unlike some CD's out there today, Celtic Thunder's Act Two is extremely well planned out! The track's aren't bunched together, which means that you get a multitude of styles and emotions spread out over this Compact Disc! The artist organization is also well spread out, which means that you're not listening to song after song of George Donaldson (even if he is good). I love how they share the songs and have organized it to show diversity of music.
For starters, the CD opens with a strong note, using Ryan Kelly's spectacular rendition of Ride On to set the center stage with an energetic song. Following this is George and Damien's spectacular performance in the lovely A Bird Without Wings, which easily transverses moods, smoothly changing from the energy of the beginning to a tamer mindset. After this is George's solo in My Boy, which yanks on heartstrings and tangos with your emotions. George's marvelous performance makes the song even more emotional. Set after this is another more loose, energetic song as a bit of a pick up. This is the spectacular, if not a bit exotic, group performance to Raggle Taggle Gypsy. Nerves are then calmed to a more mellow mood with Paul's wonderful solo in Love Thee Dearest. Following this is another wonderfully performed love song soloed by Kieth (I Want to Know What Love Is). The love continues with Keith's performance in Heartbreaker. Even though Keith is nice, we have a nice change to George with a more neutral yet moving song, Mull of Kintyre, which is skillfully sung by the whole group and spearheaded by George. Again, we get another calming break with Paul's breathtaking rendition of Nights in White Satin, which is followed by the Young Love performance by Damien. Again, another fast-paced but moving song is soloed by George (Yesterday's Men) before we transfer to the ingenious Paul and Ryan duet and counterpart song That's A Woman. After this, the mood smooths slides to sober with Danny Boy. Keeping with the group, the songs move on to Caledonia. Then we get to the group's marvelous remix of their own Heartland, though I don't recommend listening to the song at nighttime if you're a bit of an anxious person that thinks every creak is a person creeping you your room to kill you. We then wrap up with George's Castles in the Air and finally the marvelous, moving performance by the group of Christmas 1915 (which also fits nicely with Green Fields of France...which is, unfortunately...on another CD).
Vocal Quality
Vocal Quality rating: 5.0 stars
The vocals in this CD really are amazing. I love them, and the harmonizing is spectacular. Case in point, the wonderful group rendition of Caledonia. There are a crapload more, but that's just one really nice one. Another great instance is Christmas 1915, based on a real event in World War I.
However, the whole CD isn't group work, so let's move onto the solos. The solos are marvelous, and reflect the talent of the singers. Every solo is skillfully sung with emotion and energy. A wonderful example of such solos is Paul Byrom's Love Thee Dearest. All in all, the vocals are awesome.
The vocals in this CD really are amazing. I love them, and the harmonizing is spectacular. Case in point, the wonderful group rendition of Caledonia. There are a crapload more, but that's just one really nice one. Another great instance is Christmas 1915, based on a real event in World War I.
However, the whole CD isn't group work, so let's move onto the solos. The solos are marvelous, and reflect the talent of the singers. Every solo is skillfully sung with emotion and energy. A wonderful example of such solos is Paul Byrom's Love Thee Dearest. All in all, the vocals are awesome.
Instrumental Quality
Instrumental Quality rating: 5.0 stars
Overall, the instrumentals are awesome. As far as I can tell, I can hear no score mistakes and whoever it is that is playing the instrumentals, hats off to you. You all have talent. The instruments chosen compliment the songs and it's not like...um...(Warning: Incoming bad analogy) trying to sing the classical Danny Boy while someone plays it on the electric guitar. I could happily sit and listen to the instrumentals alone!
Overall, the instrumentals are awesome. As far as I can tell, I can hear no score mistakes and whoever it is that is playing the instrumentals, hats off to you. You all have talent. The instruments chosen compliment the songs and it's not like...um...(Warning: Incoming bad analogy) trying to sing the classical Danny Boy while someone plays it on the electric guitar. I could happily sit and listen to the instrumentals alone!