Since 1996
Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective
Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready....
Subscribe
About Us
Features
News
Album
Reviews
Movie
Reviews
Concert
Reviews
Top
10
Resources
Time
Wasters
Contact
Us
The Circling Hour
Artist: Iona
Label: Open Sky Records
Tracks: 11/65:00
It opens with a hushed, almost whispered voice followed by an explosion of sound, followed by a pipe/ guitar driven crescendo building into the main theme of the opening song. Ladies and gentleman, Iona is back! The band has just released their first studio project since 2000's Open Sky. The album is called The Circling Hour and could very well be the best collection of songs that this group has ever released. Whereas "Open Sky" was a very moody atmospheric collection of tunes mixed with ambient soundscapes, this newest collection is very song centered hearkening back to the days of Beyond These Shores or Journey Into The Morn. The core of the band remains the same as on the past two releases. With us on this musical excursion are Dave Bainbridge, Joanne Hogg, Troy Donockley, Frank VanEssen & Phil Barker. Guest vocalist Heather Findlay makes a brief appearance toward the end of the last piece, otherwise this a totally self contained album musically speaking.
Lyrically, the album uses as a jumping off point an old hymn entitled "How Wonderful This World" by Fredrick Pratt Green. It is a theme that recurs throughout the album. Other lyrical contributor's are David Teems who co wrote the lyrics to "No Fear In Love" with Joanne. Steve Stockman contributed the lyrics for the tune entitled "Factory Of Magnificent Souls". Stocki's lyrics on this tune are nothing short of brilliant, I almost said magnificent but that would have been cheesy. Although as I said this is a very song oriented project, all of the traditional Iona nuances are present. Jo's voice has never sounded better, Frank's percussion and drumming are impeccable, Phil keeps things together with some fine chunky bass lines and what can you say about Troy & Dave. The harmonic pipe and or whistle/ guitar playing that has become an Iona standard has never sounded tighter or better. I'll say it again this could very well be the best album this band has ever released. It is just as good as if not better than Dave's solo project "Veil Of Gossamer", it's just that good. By the way did I mention that the packaging of this disc is awesome too. In particular the picture on the page for the song "Skymaps" by Tim Martindale is amazing. Let's just hope it doesn't take another six years till the next release.
Chris MacIntosh aka Grandfather Rock
Iona is that rarest of quantities in music today...a group creating music that is original and unique. The Circling Hour features over 60 minutes of beautiful and magical music that springs from the hearts, minds and intruments of the group known as Iona. After a much too long 6 year wait Iona presents perhaps their finest performance, a haunting, ethereal and majestic masterpiece that you will return to again and again. Their inspired mixture of Celtic/progressive/world/folk/rock/ambient (and more!) styles meld into a beautiful mixture that is held together by a lyrical theme borrowed from a touching old hymn called "How Wonderful This World" by Frederick Pratt Green:
How wonderful this world of ThineIona is adept at weaving enthralling songs filled with instrumental and vocal passages that transport the listener. They intended to make the music more "rhymic and joyous" on this release (as opposed to some the extended ambience and instrumental passages of their previous release Open Sky). The end result pushes the music to a new level with more punch, strength (and rocking parts!) compared to previous releases. The bass is up in the mix, there are some wonderful orchestral bits, and glorious organ parts in abundance on The Circling Hour (along with the usual amazing guitar, keyboard textures, drums/percussion & various Celtic instruments the band is known for). It is still very much Iona, but a new focus and overall theme celebrating the gift of life lift the music and lyrics to an exciting and fresh place.
A fragment of a fiery sun
There is truly no weak song on The Circling Hour. The album kicks off in grand form with as the day starts with the fantastic "Eymperean Dawn" (what a great title), and then heads into the magical "Children of Time" (featuring a percussive backbeat that carries the song). "Wind Off the Lake" is a memorable tune that might be the all around best song instrumentally-the different instruments swirl into an unforgettable whole, and "The Factory of Magnificent Souls" is an acoustic based folk-rock tune that is somewhat reminiscent of Jethro Tull (with the great vocals of Joanne Hogg!). Closing the CD is the gentle devotional strains of "Fragment of a Fiery Sun"-a song that also serves to tie the album together thematically using words from the aforementioned hymn. And this only scratches the surface, there is so much more to discover on The Circling Hour.
Iona has created deep magic pointing to the Creator on The Circling Hour...and this is my pick for best of 2006 so far. Unique, powerful, dramatic, and devotional...The Circling Hour is all of these things and more.
Visit Iona and hear the music: http://www.iona.uk.com/
Barry Nothstine hosts Soul
Frequency Radio (http://www.soulfrequency.com) a weekly freeform FM radio
show showcasing progressive rock, instrumental rock, power-pop, psychedelic
rock, rock classics, blues, and more—great rock for the ages!