Up

UP is the 1996 release from Newfoundland's Great Big Sea, who have an expansive, contemporary take on Celtic music. "Run Runaway," "Mari-mac," and others make up the tracklist.
Personnel: Alan Doyle (vocals, guitar, bouzouki, mandolin); Séan McCann (vocals, guitar, tin whistle, snare drum, bodhran); Bob Hallett (vocals, mandola, mandolin, fiddle, tin whistle); Darrell Power (vocals); Danny Greenspoon (guitar); Oliver Schroer (violin); Al Cross (drums, percussion); Rick Lazar (percussion).
Liner Note Author: Bob Hallett.
Recording information: Nickel, St. John's, Newfoundland; The Battery; The Battery, St. John's Newfoundland; The Nickel In St. John's, Newfoundland; The Nickel, St. John's, Newfoundland; The Sound Hole, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Photographer: Andrew MacNaughtan.
Arranger: Great Big Sea.
Although Great Big Sea initially started out as a fairly traditional Newfoundland outfit, Up shows the band adding more rock muscle to the fiddles and accordions. It's still a pretty traditional sound by most standards, with jigs and reels galore, but it allows the band to do a revved-up cover of Slade's "Run Runaway" and make it appealing to both the traditionalist and the rock fan. There's everything you'd expect from a bunch of young Maritime musicians from Canada: a good dose of Celtic, songs about the sea and about drinking, a good dose of fun, but a healthy reverence for the musical tradition. "Mari-Mac," where the lyrics accelerate to a terrifying speed by the end, is worth the price of admission alone. ~ Sean Carruthers