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Chris Rea - Shamrock Diaries Audio CD

A fair review of the Chris Rea "Shamrock Diaries" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Chris Rea reviews here, or go back to the Chris Rea tabs.

Chris Rea Band: Chris Rea
Title: Shamrock Diaries
Rating:
Release Date: 1992-01-01
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Steel River 2: Stainsby Girls 3: Chisel Hill 4: Josephine 5: One Golden Rule 6: All Summer Long 7: Stone 8: Shamrock Diaries 9: Love Turns to Lies 10: Hired Gun

A gem
A wonderful album that gets inside your head, heart, and soul. Along with "On the Beach" this album has Rea at the top of his game. I never tire of listening to this album and the emotions it evokes. Highly recommend this release. A delight on the ears. .


Best Chris Rea album
I bought it because of the song "Josephine" It's a song thats always fresh. This is an outstanding album. The whole album is still excellent, great songwriting, nice guitars and horns. Personal lyrics. And a great feel about the album. One of my all time favourites.


The Master
I was fortunate to be at the Shamrock Diaries concert at Newcastle City Hall many moons ago and was treated to these songs and many others. An absolute gem of an album. One of the most underrated artists ever.


Outstanding album
It was a concert at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England. I first met Cris Rea's music on a cold December night in 1984. Chris Rea was the support act, and Eric Clapton was the main. I don't think that Chris Rea's performance that night was enough to upset the odds (Clapton still remains in a class of his own), but may years on, I still think that this was the best concert I ever went to.

Chris Rea only played five songs. Only one of them appears on this album - the excellent 'Stainsby Girls'. But having heard the concert, I bought this album as soon as it was released, and was not dissapointed at all. In vinyl terms, side one is stronger than side two, but there really isn't a bad track here. I would describe this as a rather melancholy album - lyrically Chris spends a lot of time lamenting the past, but the album is musically excellent. Many years on, I still regard the opening track, 'Steel River' as one of my all time favourite pieces of music. This track has it all - great lyrics, slide guitar, and a wondreful jazzy horn section. Chris Rea's love song about a way of life now gone forever remains a classic.

Why should I spend my time reviewing a rather obscure album from an artist whose later work was more commercially successful? Simple. This album is a classic. Buy it.


Doesn't Get Much Better Than This
Like his other albums, generally a mix of melodic keyboards, often fantastic slide guitar, solid drums - but he gets things right more consistently on this one. One of the best albums of the eighties, certainly the best of Chris Rea's career, does not contain a bad track. The lyrics are evocative without being sentimental, the low-key singing is often complementary to the music rather than being the most important element, but the end result is a bunch of tunes that get so many things right, they should be in college - of if not, they should be taught there. There's the occasional eighties saxophone break, true, but even that's handled as well as possible. As a fan of everyone from 'The Smiths' to 'Prince' to 'Placebo', I have to say that hardly anyone ever hit the heights of this one. Only one other of his own albums - On The Beach - got close. People often say Dire Straits are in the same category as Chris Rea, but that group certainly aren't in the same league.


You can see a complete list of all Chris Rea discography, or go back to the Chris Rea tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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