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Under their original name of Clan Na Gael, the Orlando-based Seven Nations (led by Kirk McLeod) solely played traditional Celtic tunes. But soon, after realizing that (1) no one could spell "Clan Na Gael" and (2) about seven other groups used the same moniker, the band decided on a name change. Wanting to evoke more than just the Scottish/Irish portion of their Celtic influences, they decided upon Seven Nations, which encompasses all of the Celtic territories of Scotland, Ireland, Brittany, Wales, Cornwall, Galicia, and the Isle of Man. This name change period also saw the addition of a drummer, amending their "Celtic" label to also include "Rock."
Big Dog represents these changes' fruition. Seven Nati
ons still play traditional tunes, but they also begin to play originals, principally by McLeod and "antipypr" Neil Anderson. Big Dog also sees the band setting themselves apart from their ilk by performing a cover of "Under the Milky Way," a 1980s hit by The Church. The use of Anderson's bagpipes in place of a rock guitar solo is an innovation that simply has to be heard to be fully appreciated.
Even with songwriting chores added to their repertory of skills, Seven Nations' song talent still lies primarily in choice. Trad songs like "Blackleg Miner" and "Crooked Jack" are definitely among the highlights on an album with few. The main drawback of the album is its sound; tinny at worst, the production seems to show a band that lacks confidence, something that is present in spades on their live Road Kill releases. One could possibly assume that the studio atmosphere led to a stifling of the creative influence, because, despite its solid musicianship, Big Dog comes off as a rather stale affair.
It isn't until the dual Road Kill releases that Seven Nations real
ly comes to life. A change of drummers may have been an ingredient in this rejuvenation, as the reluctant sticking of Nick Watson is replaced by the eager pounding of Ashton Geoghagan, who adds real rock power -- as well as some impressive solos -- to the undercarriage of the songs, something that was missing in their studio counterparts. Most importantly, though, there is a sense of fun on these two albums, with the stage banter and band laughter enhancing an already energetic pair of CDs. The songs benefit from being let loose from the studio confines and allowed to breathe free.
The live atmosphere, unfortunately, also allows a lot of what is wrong with Seven Nations' w
ork to come to light. The level of pretense is sometimes overwhelming. Often it only shows up in little things -- like McLeod counting off "one, two, three, four" in Spanish at the beginning of a song, the band wearing kilts onstage, or Anderson affecting an Irish accent. But then at other times -- like Anderson's moody narration that opens their live rendition of "Whiskey in the Jar" -- it all but ruins the rest of the song. Piper Anderson's chops seem very impressive on first listen, but after a few repeats, he appears to have a limited number of tricks up his sleeve. Anderson left the band shortly after the release of these two albums to work on solo projects.
With a continual change of bandmates (only bassist Struby has remained throughout each inception), Seven Nations has been akin to a Kirk McLeod solo project -- in the same way that The Cure is very much Robert Smith's band with other members for ease of production -- so it was no surprise when McLeod announced the release of a solo album. The surprise was that it was going to contain only solo piano works with voice. Apparently, McLeod's occasional solo piano interludes scattered throughout the Seven Nations oeuvre (e.g., "The Selling of Waternish" on Big Dog) had been fan favorites -- although not mine.
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
