Donal Hinely

This has little to do with
his CD “Giants” but it was so darn unique I had to include it.

“Giants” was recorded in
Nashville, where Donal now calls home. 
This is a CD that gets better the further you go into the recording--but
I thought that was the opposite way you do things.  The title track, which kicks off the album, is a kind of update
of the old Dion song “Abraham,
Martin and John” or Billy Joel’s “We
Didn’t Start the Fire
.”  I like
“Abraham, Martin and John,” hate “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” and feel lukewarm
about the song “Giants.” 




Track two is “Before Music
Was a Product,” a rocking number that revs up the CD for me.  The next cut, “Road to Ruin,” is a cool
ballad, nicely written and performed. Following that is “Shock and Awe,” the U.S.’s
name for the first hours of the invasion of Iraq.  (Here’s a write-up

from CBS news on “Shock and Awe” in case you’ve forgotten.)  Donal cleverly uses the imagery for
self-reflection, in addition to criticizing the Iraq war where “innocents” are
“sent to die for reasons yet to be revealed.” 
I might have named the CD “Shock and Awe.” 




Best tracks on the CD, in
addition to “Shock and Awe,” include the rocking “You and Me” (maybe the hit
single, if there were such things for folksingers these days); the thoughtful
and melodic “Bubble,” which has a string arrangement reminiscent of the
Beatles’ “Yesterday”; “Louisville,” whose horn recalls the Kinks’ work in the
mid-1960s--and the chord changes do too; and “The One,” which has Donal
strumming the ukulele with an interesting string arrangement and a surprisingly
harsh-sounding guitar solo that I enjoyed (I’m a metal head at heart).  Somebody was thinking outside of the box
during this recording session! 

 

I’m giving “Giants” three
bottle caps.  A slow starter, but worth
the wait.