PLANXTY * The Woman I Loved So Well* LP

Andy Irvine has always stated that Planxty were a better group after the break. This is a bold statement to make as the energy sustained through out the first couple of albums is phenomenal and while the albums recorded after the break-including the ironically titled _After The Break_-were indeed musically very challenging they still sound like a band stepping back from the edge. The Woman I Loved So Well takes a good four or five plays to actually see or rather hear what is going on. There is a decisive downbeat feeling in the music and a feeling of separation compared to the unity on their debut or the tightness of The Well Below The Valley which followed. The reels for me are very loose and are rather generic as opposed to the groundbreaking and unique sound that the earlier reels held aided by the fresh passion on the earlier Planxty encounters and the new found excitement that brought with it. "The Woman I Never Forgot" is a timid affair and traditional music by numbers and Planxty were always a band that could reach the levels that no other trad outfit could and that is what made them so special. The impression of a band playing through gritted teeth seems apparent. As if in a hurry to be ...somewhere else, the reels on The Woman I Loved So Well are for the most part forgettable. Planxty were fragmenting again and in such a short space of time and when egos and virtuoso talent like contained within Lunny, Moore, Irvine get together added with the demon drink tempers will surely flare and the medium that is the massive uilleann pipes player the cool headed Liam O'Flynn seems a spectator in all this madness. Drafted in on keyboards is Riverdance maestro Bill Whelan who adds keyboards here and there and his presence may well have been like Billy Presto during those dark Let It Be days and the Beatles demise. Irvine holds the show together as much as he can on this album with his bouzouki playing and beautiful vocals and tale telling talent but the standout moment is the Moore sung "Little Musgrave". Christy Moore uses all his sensitivity to weave this story of deceitful love and vengeful fate, a very emotive and poignant song that is very moving and the main piece on the album where everybody comes together and the music is blended superbly to create an everlasting epic. Definitely one of the Planxty classics.