Collected

COLLECTED contains Mary Black's finest and most accessible early '80s works; it's a fascinating way to witness the primarily traditional singer grow into one of Ireland's best musical interpreters. A perfect example is her signature "Song for Ireland", a love letter to the country and its people.
Two outstanding highlights are "Both Sides the Tweed", which features Robert Burns' poem set to music, performed with impeccable harmonies, feeling, and tone; and the 19th century American composer Stephen C. Foster's "Hard Times", which Black performs with a unique ache that is absolutely stirring. The classic and often recorded "She Moves Through the Fair" is performed with the accompaniment of sitar and pipes, giving the song an eerily romantic flavour. It's impossible not to be moved by the arrangement and Black's inherent understanding of what she is singing. The album ends with "My Youngest Son Came Home Today", a classic anti-war song by Scotland's Eric Bogle, performed as a funeral march with drums and pipes. Black sings in mournful tones with a chilling distance in her voice that creates a strong evocation of mood and feeling that pulls us deeply into her mood. COLLECTED catches Mary Black at her purest.|