The first on the to-do list is the latest release from Great Big Sea, which I've just purchased within the last week. I've listened to it a good 20 or so times since then. I do a lot of driving, let's put it that way.

Great Big Sea is known as the balladeers from Newfoundland who once crossed the acoustic traditional sounds of their island of rock with pop driven (often raucous) modern melodies. They had, at one time, four members who were as divergently talented as possible (vocally and instrumentally). Alan Doyle, Sean McCann, and Bob Hallett remain, while losing Darryl Power in 2004 and was replaced by Murray Foster (bass). Kris MacFarlane has recently joined as the permanent drummer (they toured since 1992 without one prior to his role). GBS has released many studio albums and three live albums. They're very popular for their ability to modernize old songs, as well as write similarly sounding originals. That was until the release of 2002's "Sea of No Cares." Teaming up with Chris Trapper, the album was the first notoriously pop-driven album they had produced. It was followed up by the even more mainstream "Something Beautiful." But the next album was the entirely acoustic and traditional "The Hard and the Easy" which faired much better than expected and launched a popular live tour. This consequently delivered another live CD/DVD combination to our doorsteps. Now we see Fortune's Favour, the 2008 reprisal of Something Beautiful, forging its way into the waves of our iPods, radios, youtube videos, and music stores.

14 tracks line this somewhat 'hidden' gem. I think the majority of mainstay GBS fans will be turned off to this album at first, no doubt to the often "less folk-more rock" songs available therein. It has three 'traditional songs,' all of which are slower and have a very different sound for the normal shanty recipe GBS is so widely known for. "England," "Banks of Newfoundland," and "Rocks of Merasheen" give this album numerous points to sit back and reminisce the days of yore, sailing conditions, or those you've left behind and miss dearly. All three are sung by the slightly-less lead vocalists, Sean and Bob. Sean wrote "England" (a truth that shocked me actually) and composed possibly the best acoustic song in the history of the band. Alan fronts the very lively rocker-pop tunes the entire way through, like the most useless song they've ever written called "Oh Yeah." DISCLAIMER: I like this song but that fact alone does not merit something musically relevant or influential. It is catchy, but also as shallow as anything I've heard on the radio, with the main lyric in the chorus being "Oh yeah." Either way, it's the most ignorable song they've got in this CD, and with 13 other sturdy numbers, this will be quickly forgotten or used on a Friday afternoon when you don't feel like listening to the more somber and intelligent "Heart of Stone." It has its place though, especially for the pop-rockers out there. "Heart of Stone" is a modern lament and a very pretty one at that. The bagpipes add a very nice spirit to the song, which would otherwise be missing something. "Hard Case" and "Long Lost Love" are my personal favourites, being more folky than the others on the album, and also rather lively without driving too hard. Jeen O'Brien joins the boys for to songs, Hard Case being one. She also pens the chorus to a few numbers as well (which does more than you'd expect to diversify the musical balance).

"Love me Tonight", "Here and Now", and "Dance Dance" are very lively songs that have the same old Alan Doyle sound that has been very evident in all the other GBS albums. It's not growing old however, he still pulls some magic out of the hat at some points. I personally find these three tracks to be great when it's a sunny afternoon, but once again they pale to the greats of yester-year like "Consequence Free," "Ordinary Day," or "Sea of No Cares." It could be that Sean's additional penmanship is not as evident in these songs this go-round. Either way, writing "Dance Dance" on a lot of wine really helped drive this one. Feel good and bouncy to the core, it is sure to have a solid place at the live shows for many more years to come.

"Dream to Live" marks the middle of the album and luckily rescues (along with the help of the Banks of Newfoundland) the utter shock you'll feel after "Oh Yeah." It is, in my opinion, the musical gem of this entire album...well, almost the musical gem. It found its equal in track 2, "Walk on the Moon." Both these songs are great, but "Walk on the Moon's" orchestral undertones and incredible use of numerous members overdubbing of key instruments made this the absolute BEST song, by popular vote, on the entire album. It's in "Moon" that all the stops are pulled and nothing is left undone. "Dream to Live" is great, if "Walk on the Moon' had never existed. Luckily for us, they both come in the same package.

Now, this last song is another Alan sin. It's title? "Straight to Hell" ...and he means it. If you've ever read Tolstoy's "How much land does a man need?" or "The God Delusion," or even read "Dr. Faustus" in Brit Lit class, this song strikes a slightly humourous tone in your heart. Alan's Catholic, so maybe he is headed for hell. I can't tell, but this song seems to suggest that whoever it's about opted for a life of rock and roll in return for his soul. A modernization of Faustus if I ever saw one...and the truth is, I like it a lot. I feel guilty listening, but I'm sure where my destiny lies so I don't feel the application. There's nothing blasphemous about it, so your mothers won't cross themselves when cooking in the kitchen...at least I'm hoping they won't. The melody follows in the footsteps of the 2004 'hit' single "When I Am King."

The album has two hills with a small (very, very small) valley in the middle. I've rated each track individually, then I'll give the album as a whole a rating. 1-10, ten is highest, etc. :

1. "Love Me Tonight" - 7

2."Walk on the Moon" - 10

3. "England" - 9 4. "Here and Now" -7

5. "Long Lost Love" - 9

6. "Oh Yeah" - 6

7. "Banks of Newfoundland" - 8

8. "Dream to Live" - 9

9. "Company of Fools" - 8

10. "Hard Case" - 9

11. "Rocks of Merasheen" - 7

12. "Dance Dance" - 7

13. "Heart of Stone" - 8

14. "Straight to Hell" -9

Entire Album: 8.5/10

The album I downloaded included two bonus tracks: "Wand'ring Ways" and 'Metrobus" which both add a lot of the old GBS sound and style to the end. "Wnad'ring Ways" adds the much needed drinking song, and before listening to it I felt this album needed that ingredient far more than I expected. "Metrobus" is the king of happy songs. Bob probably wrote it while riding a bus half wasted.

It's continuity is like every other GBS album...it jumps from happy to sad, fast to slow, etc. I will warn that I think iTunes has given it "parental warning" but I'm not sure why. There's really nothing to do about this album, it's a feel-good frenzy with a little thinker rock in there at times.

I recommend the album for: those who remember the good days of happy pop, like the "Barenaked Ladies" or 'Chumbawamba". also those who want something different or fresh that you will never hear on the American radio waves. I've heard some classify it as country, but the lyrics are far from country, and even the instruments are played more in a folk-rock fashion than anything. I've heard it mentioned as pop, but there's nothing popular about this album. It's good, but not radio-friendly like "Daughtry" (gags).

Is it celtic? Not this time. Like I said, England is the closest song to a folk-tune, and they've even made that sound like Bob Dylan or even Johnny Cash. The celtic blood has been drained prior to this project's production I'm afraid. Fans of the Chieftains should rather turn to...ironically... "Turn," or maybe "The Hard and the Easy" if you're not really into the pipes.

Congrats, guys, this album surprised even me. Who thought that 15 years later you'd be pumping out more of the originals than the good traditional stuff like "The Hard and the Easy." Glad you didn't compromise this time around. Looking forward to whatever the 2009-2010 years may bring. Hopefully for our sake we'll hear more about the Metrobus...

Slainte!

-- Tim