And So Piano is very much a solo album. McLeod's piano is accompanied by many layers of his own voice in harmony and chorus with himself. Not only is this announced boldly in the liner notes ("This CD contains only acoustic piano and vocals performed by Kirk McLeod."), but it is also strategically placed just above the designation "Produced by Kirk McLeod."
All but one of the songs on So Piano were also written by McLeod; he reinterprets previous band numbers (including an expanded "Waternish"), as well as adding new tracks. The final cut seems to affirm my opinion of Seven Nations as Cure-like, with a cover of that band's single "Boys Don't Cry." The trouble with this song (as with the rest of the album) is that McLeod has a tendency towards heavy dramatics in his singing and playing. In a band setting, there was always an opportunity for balance with the other instruments, but here there is no such check system: the man is in complete control of everything happening in the studio, and he allows himself to let his dramatic trait run free, to the detriment of the listener.
Which made it all the more surprising that, of these four albums, I kept returning more and more to So Piano. It grew on me, as the phrase goes. This was probably due more to the kind of music than to anything else. One of the reasons for the success of this album musically over the band-oriented material is that McLeod's flawless vocal pitch does not match up well with their grinding rock and roll music. It is much more suited to the melodic piano tunes here than to more boisterous guitar- and drums-based numbers. Even so, the CD still wears out its welcome after three or four tracks. The similarities between the songs become monotonous to someone who thrives on variety.
Seven Nations are a solid Celtic rock band, but there is very little that brings them above the realm of "recommendable"; I can think of several others that are better examples of the genre -- and I don't know that many. To their credit, their version of "Crooked Jack" worms its way into my brain quite often these days, but I do not yearn to hear them further. In fact, my one recommendation lies solely in the band's clean-cut appearance of late: they are the Celtic rock band you can bring home to Mother.
CD1 01. Crooked Jack 02. Under The Milky Way 03. The Conundrum 04. No Reason 05. Whiskey In The Jar 06. Big Dog 07. The Pound A Week Rise 08. The Gravel Walk/Andy Renwick's Ferret/Our Day Will Come/Clumsy Lover 09. Scotland The Brave/Dixie
CD2 01. The High Level 02. Scream 03. God 04. Ye Jacobites By Name/The Rights Of Man 05. Lannigan's Ball 06. Bring Back The Sign!/The Un-Reel 07. Blackleg Miner/Mairi Anne MacInnes 08. Johnny Cope 09. Trip to Jerusalem 10. Campell's Farewell To Redcastle Kirk McLeod: vocals, guitars, keyboards, highland bagpipes Struby: bass guitar, vocals Ashton Geoghagan: drums, percussion Neil Anderson: highland and uillean bagpipes, Scottish smallpipes
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