Band : Chris de Burgh
Album title : Moonfleet & Other Stories
Label : Ferryman Productions – Edel Records
Distributor : V2
Release date : 15/11/2010
Release : CD

I'm afraid I would have to start this review by admitting that I've never bought any album by this Argentina born British/ Irish Pop singer-songwriter/ guitarist/ keyboardist, although I realized pretty quickly after reading the Wikipedia page on this artist, that I've come across some of his music (couldn't get around the 1986 hit “The Lady In Red” if I wanted to, and that...I would never even care for, because it is one gréat love ballad!) more than often over the years.

Chris de Burgh's musical career (his real name's Christopher John Davison) started effectively in 1974, when he signed a long-lasting contract with A & M Records, which ended in 2004 after he founded his own label Ferryman Productions (released by German label Edel Records). Over the years, his albums (18 studio albums, 5 live albums and 9 compilations) have sold over 40 million copies. A funny thing is his early albums failed to chart in the UK or US, whereas they did well in European and South-American countries. That changed with the 1992 album The Getaway, which featured the eerie song “Don't Pay the Ferryman”, and charted in both UK (#30) and US (#43). The follow-up album (1984's Man On The Line) did even better in the UK (#11) and went to #1 in Germany and Switzerland, but only made #69 in the US. The 1986 album Into The Light (with the delightful “Lady In Red”) established Chris as a top Pop artist, the album charting at #1 in Ireland, to #2 in Germany and the UK, and even to #25 in the US...and 1988's Flying Colours fared even better, getting #1 charting in both the UK, Ireland, and Germany. US sales suddenly fell back drastically, because Chris' label became fairly inactive in North America around that period.

During the '90s (and the world-wide onset of the Grunge scene) de Burgh's popularity slightly waned, but he retained a loyal following, which secured chart positions for each and every one of his regularly released albums. Okay, by now you may be wondering about Chris' stage name? That would be because you don't know that he was born from British diplomat Colonel Charles Davison and Irish secretary Maeve Emily de Burgh. After roaming the earth from one diplomatic post to another, the Davison family eventually settled in the Wexford County, Ireland at the 12th century Bargy Castle which was bought by Chris' maternal grandfather, General Sir Eric de Burgh, holder of a KCB, DSO, OBE, and a former Chief of the General Staff of the British Indian Army, and descendant from a distinguished Irish/ Norman family. In other words, there's Nobility here...hence the “small” letter in “de” Burgh! When Chris started his stage career, he simply took on his mother's maiden name.

Right, so now on to Moonfleet And Other Stories, which surprised me in a very positive way! You see, the bulk of the album is taken in by a musical adaptation of this great 19th Century (it was first published in 1898) novel (set in the 18th Century, it's about smugglery, a treasure hunt, to-the-death friendship, and most importantly, about love and loss – I took that from the info sheet, for my own comfort, as it would take too long to read the book again first) by J. Meade Faulkner. I read the book, of course, but this short summary (which lasts 50 minutes) with its movie soundtrackish mood sure gave me the urge to read it all over again! And yes, “soundtrack” in this case means there's quite a bit of “classical” sounds involved (for a large part introduced by keyboards), but more than once Chris surprised me with his an excellent display of his abilities on the electric guitar. The story itself comes in one big musical piece, undisturbed by awkward mute moments to separate the 18 passages in the piece, and alternating neo-classical tracks with guitar-driven ones (one might even speak of occasional Classic Rock tunes), or with more Folk-geared tracks. At three intervals Chris even incorporates the main melody of the “What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor” classic into the whole. Lodged between “Moonfleet Overture” (a majestic sounding 5-minute orchestral instrumental) and “Moonfleet Finale” (closing track of the piece) there's also 5 short passages with narrative (upon music, to stay in the mood) helping along the tale, the songs themselves elucidating on certain details. As mentioned in the info sheet we got along with our download promo copy, it took de Burgh quite some trouble to condense the story and put the music together into a 50-minute piece...but the result was surely worth the challenge! I mean, even if this does nót turn into a huge, or even a moderate success, this album will stand out from de Burgh's catalog from now on!

As hinted at in the album's title, there's other stories set to music here (actually, the album is to be seen as a two-part one, with “Moonfleet” the first, and the “other stories” being the second), as mentioned in the info sheet: “Leonardo Da Vinci...” (that would be the song “Why Mona Lisa Smiled”)”..., the disappearance of childhood innocence...” (possibly “The Nightingale”)”..., a short story by Oscar Wilde, a guardian angel...” (hum...”Everywhere I Go”, for sure?) “..., a war-time tale of “what happened next”...” (hum...One Life, One Love”?) “...and, most topically and perhaps most emotionally, a statement about an atrocity in Iran during 2009...” (that would be the album closing “People Of The World”, I guess). To give his fans an insight into the album, half-minutes samples of all songs were posted at (www.) cdeb.com (check out the “Music” section for samples available from other albums – my network-protected pc wouldn't give me the links, but yours might)...and you can listen to a complete version of one of the “other stories” at (www.) myspace.com/chrisdeburghthelegend (obviously a fan site, and it also contains full versions of Chris' hit songs “Don't Pay The Ferryman” and “A Spaceman Came Travelling”).

Nice album...and definitely one I'll listen to again, chance prevailing. Also, next time I come across anything by this guy in the second hand store, I know I'll take home a worthy spend for my money! Oh...before I forget: Chris will be touring on this album, and thus far three legs of the Moonfleet Tour have been ascertained. The first runs from March 25 to April 21, and will be concentrating on Germany, with a one-off gig in Holland (at Amsterdam's HMH on April 13) before an ending of the tour in the UK and Ireland (Dublin). Second leg is from May 16 to May 26, starts in Poland, than moves to 4 dates in Russia, and ends with one more gig in the UK, and a second one in Dublin. Third leg runs from September 15 to October 12, and continues the German tour, but also has a stop in Oostende (that's in Belgium – no idea about the venue though), and the 4 last dates are again in the UK.

92/100

Tony.