Reviews
Artist: Brian McNeill
Album: The Road Never Questions (The Best Of Brian McNeill Volume 1)
Label: Greentrax
Tracks: 18
Website:http://www.brianmcneill.co.uk
In a world where an artist can have a 'best of' on the back of a single album and a couple of remix singles, it has become something of a cheapened commodity, which is a shame as there are artists that really have a back catalogue worthy of a 'best of', Brian McNeill is just such a musician.
I guess the main purpose of a 'best of' is to introduce new listeners to an artist, people that may have heard only a smattering of tracks from an artist and are a little bit daunted about exploring an extensive back catalogue to find a starting point. The key is finding the balance of an album that does that and at the same time does the artist justice. The track selection on this album really does achieve both goals.
"The Road Never Questions - The Best Of Brian McNeill Volume 1" suggests that this is just the start of a Brian McNeill retrospective, which has got to be a good thing as a single eighteen track volume is never going to be enough to cover his career as both a solo musician, singer, founder of the Battlefield band, writer(song and book), Clan Alba, Feats Of Fiddles, the extensive list goes on. It wasn't for nothing Fatea named Brian as our first ever Lifetime Achievement winner.
The very first song on the album, really gives a fantastic sketch of the man, one that gets further fleshed out as the album progresses, "The Condolences Set". Don't be fooled by the name, it's one of the most uplifting instrumental tracks you'll come across. It's the detail that's the real devil here, "Condolences to Mr. Major, Mr. Portillo And Mr. Rifkind On The Sad Events Of The First Of May, 1997" which tells you that Brian McNeill is a man that is not afraid to where his colours on his sleeve and allow it to influence his music.
One of the great things about "The Road Never Questions" is that Brian doesn't either, Brian reflects his thoughts and beliefs, if he feels passionate about something it becomes part of his writing, his canon of work, he doesn't ask what people want, he believes in what he does, something that permeates right through the album. It's what makes the album so easy to access.
A lot of Brian's music reflects Scottish history, his songs, both self penned and selected from songwriting sources and that naturally features an awful lot of travel, both to the East and West, with both having albums dedicated to those travels.
The result is an album that has so much to deliver, Brian is both a man of the people and a man from the people. "The Road Never Questions" is an album that is primarily traditional music, but traditional music that has been shaped and directed through the instruments and mind of Brian McNeill.
If you have yet to discover the man, this is an opportunity to correct that. If you're already a fan, then this really is an abridged version of his career, the reference source that will reunite you with this particular part of your record collection.
Neil King