Customer Reviews

Cal Original Soundtrack

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first heard this soundtrack as a child - my father has just returned from a trip to the UK and this movie had just come out. He loved the movie and bought the soundtrack - our whole family has fallen in love with this music. It is beautiful and haunting - it's only too bad that this CD is less well known. There is something about this music that just stays with you. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

How good is this soundtrack by Mark Knopfler? Well, the movie (and it was a good little movie) came and went 19 (!) years ago, yet the CD continues to play over and over again here in my home. It's a beautiful, haunting set of instrumentation and melody, combining Knopfler's outstanding musical talents with his study of traditional Irish music. The result: hours and hours of re-listenable, never-tiring pleasure for your ears.

Even if you've never heard of the film, this is a soundtrack well worth picking up.

I've grown up on this CD, and I like it. A lot.

THE OTHER REVIEWS OF THIS ALBUM ARE ACCURATE. THIS IS A STELLAR
COLLECTION OF SONGS. GREAT MOOD MUSIC THAT IS EASILY ENJOYED BY ANYONE. THE SINGLE NEGATIVE REVIEW OF THIS ALBUM IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE--DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND DISREGARD IT. FOR THOSE WHO REALLY ENJOY THIS ALBUM, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU CHECKOUT CHET ATKINS "SAILS", YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED. IT CONTAINS A BIT MORE "HAPPY" SOUND, BUT THE GENTLE EMOTION AND TOUCH OF THE NYLON STRING GUITAR WORK AND SOFT AMBIENT KEYBOARD FEEL ARE VERY SIMILAR AND VERY PLEASING. LIKE THIS KNOPFLER ALBUM YOU FEEL SO VERY FORTUNATE TO STUMBLE UPON SUCH MEMORABLE AND RELATIVELY UNKNOWN MUSIC. MELODIC AND TRUE. NO HYPE.

There are three very good tracks on this CD featuring Knopfler on guitar. The rest is basic Irish music featuring a traditional Irish type of flute. It is an aquired taste. I found it to be high pitched and annoying. The music works well as the soundtrack of the movie which is love story set in the background of the IRA. But, the story is bleak and depressing, and so is the music. Out of the context of the movie, the music isn't that pleasant to listen to, and would be a real downer for a Sunday brunch or a dinner party. Someone calls it challenging. It is a challenge to sit through it.

If you like the Titanic soundtrack, you would probably appreciate this. As a bonus, you don't have to listen to Celine Dion sing.

This is not Dire Straits but it is certainly Mark Knopfler. Beautiful music that fills you with emotion, somewhat like the music from the Mission, albeit very Irish. One of my favorites.

I've loved Cal since my "former" Irish sister-in-law introduced it to our American family in the mid-80's. She is Bernard MacLaverty's cousin (MacLaverty is Cal's author). I recall stories her mother would tell of Bernard and Mark Knopfler paling around together in Omaha, Northern Ireland. I miss my former sister-in-law ... but remember her every major holiday as it has become our family tradition to listen to Cal.

This Knopfler score has only a bit to do with the action of the film itself, I think - it certainly lacks the drama of the film's action; and yet, it is one of Knopfler's most listenable scores. Although not on a par with his lovely and on-the nose "Local Hero" score, the score for "Cal" still rates as one of Knopfler's best.

Other than the choppiness of some really short songs, this album really wrings good Irish soul. Knopfler himself doesn't appear out front very much (The Long Road being an exception), with Uellian pipes taking center stage most times. It challenges you, especially "Love and Guilt" but yields much. I think The Long Road may be the best song Knopfler has ever written. Yes, better than "Money For Nothing"!

This soundtrack for the film CAL is one of the best I have ever heard.It captures the Irish so well,unlike the film. Think of WAKING NED and you're on the right track.It's only beaten by THE BUTCHER BOY soundtrack