"Some time ago I bought a double cassette, "Bringing It All Back Home", taken from a BBC TV series which explored the influence of Irish music on modern rock, featuring music from a diverse selection of artists including The Everly Brothers, Elvis Costello, Richard Thompson, Paul Brady and various others from contemporary and traditional fields. One artist on this album immediately stood out, even among this illustrious company - Pierce Turner. He contributed a recording of his song, "All Messed Up". After a few playings, this song began to haunt me and I found I was singing it to myself as I drove along. Nobody I spoke to knew anything of Pierce and I could find no other recordings in the record shops.
Eventually, I searched out Pierce on the internet and found that indeed there was a recording available which I duly ordered from Amazon. Don't expect to immediately fall in love with this album - it creeps up on you! After four decades of listening to rock music here was something slightly familiar but somehow definitely "different". Pierce's music is essentially Irish but entirely devoid of the more obvious celtic clichés. There are traces of his early years as a choir boy, playing in showbands in Ireland (a tough apprenticeship, I would imagine) and all is overlaid with influences from his current home, New York. The recordings are vivid and have the feel of true performance, including one excellent "live" recording, and are beautifully played with passion, energy and flare. (When is someone going to get him to play in England?) The songs appear to spring from spontaneous reaction to real events in his life, written with a poet's command of language, power of expression and compassion. (Perhaps this is where the Irishness comes through.) One ends up feeling privileged to be allowed to share such personal and strongly felt experiences.
Comparisons with other artists are irrelevant. Here is a truly individual and original artist, writing and performing from the heart. It seems that this is a compilation of two previous albums. Can this mean that there is some of this precious material lost in the wilderness? I can't wait for the next one!
One review of Pierce Turner's music suggest that you will fall so deeply in love with this album that you will carry a photograph of it in your wallet, next to your heart. Well, order it now and take time to get to know it - and make some space in your wallet for the photo - you're going to love it!" Amazon review
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