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[miko2]

miertam asked me for a list of bands that were similar to Celtic rock acts Tempest and Boiled In Lead. To be honest, there aren't many that are very similar that are nearly as good as those two, but anyway... I figured if I was making a list I should post it on LJ:


I'm not going to bother trying to link any of this, it's just a bunch of stuff off the top of my head. miertam said that metal was fair game and that he especially liked ballads. Anyway, here's everything I could come up with, although I'm sure I'm missing some stuff:

FOLK-ROCK

Steeleye Span Legendary English folk/rock band. I like all their stuff. My favorite ballad of theirs is probably King Henry, but they've done a whole ton of 'em. Thomas the Rhymer, Seven Hundred Elves, Little Sir Hugh, Boys of Bedlam, The Blacksmith, The Wee Wee Man, Cold Haily Windy Night. They do a very long, very good cover of Tam Lin as well. Lots of stuff on iTunes.

Fairport Convention Another legendary English folk/rock band, that leans more to modern compositions with a folkish feel. Their Leige and Lief album was the first to ever mix rock music with old folk tunes. For ballads, you can't go wrong with Tam Lin or Matty Groves, both taken from that album.

The Albion Band Another legendary English folk/rock band that went through many incarnations. Some of their stuff is really good. Great ballads: The Murder of Maria Marten and Hanged I Shall Be. (Only the first is available on iTunes).

Pentangle Yet another legendary English folk/rock band, they leaned much more towards Jazz though. Check out The Trees They Do Grow High, or The Cruel Sister.

Lindisfarne I have a live version of Lady Elanore that absolutely rocks. I got it off a compilation cd of great English folk/rock. They have stuff on iTunes, including the live version of this song I like and a studio version that sounds similar. (I have yet another version on one of their other discs that I didn't like as much).

New Celeste Also from my compilation cd of great English folk/rock, these guys do a brilliant cover of Johnny (very old folk song, same tune as what is more familiarly known in the US as "When Johnny Comes Marching Home"). That's not on iTunes but some of their other stuff is.

Malicorne This is a French band, but they are in my mind the French equivelant of England's Steeleye Span -- folk rock band that's been around for many years and has exquisite harmonies. Check out La Conduite, La Mule, Viva La Lune, all on iTunes.

Figgy Duff A seminal Celtic folk rock band from Newfoundland, which directly inspired many other celtic folk and folk/rock acts from that area, including Rawlins Cross and Great Big Sea For ballads, you absolutely can't go wrong with A Sailor Courted A Farmer's Daughter, it's beautiful, but not to be found on iTunes. None of their cds are. However, the song Henry Martin is available, from the Due South soundtrack. This is a good ballad as well.

Rawlin's Cross A great celtic rock band from Newfoundland. I have several of their cds. Most of their stuff is original compositions. Favorite songs: Reel 'n' Roll, Chessboard Dancer, Open Road.

Oyster Band Great celtic rock, I have 8 or 10 of their cds. They mostly do original compositions. My favorite song of theirs is When I'm Up I Can't Get Down, but I have a lot of their stuff that I like. They also did a collaboration with June Tabor that is fantastic. I think if you search on "Oyster Band" you just get the June Tabor collaboration, but if you search on "Oysterband" you should find some of their other stuff. They do a nice cover of Hal An Tow as well.

Cordelia's Dad An American folk-rock outfit. They're even spottier than Boiled in Lead, but I still really like some of their stuff. They do more American folk than celtic folk, but great stuff still. Luckily they're on iTunes. Listen to their garage-punk cover of Johnny Has Gone For A Soldier, or Delia, a good murder ballad. Also check out Idumea, a New England hymn about death set to punk rock.

Flogging Molly Modern anthemic Irish Celtic punk band. Kind of like The Pogues in spirit, but harder and with a better singer. I like The Queen Anne's Revenge and Salty Dog, both great pirate songs, but they do a lot of good stuff. Devil's Dance Floor is very good. I also like Screaming at the Wailing Wall, a Irish hellfire rant against recent politics.

Phoenyx Former folk-rock band with Heather Alexander in it. Impossible to find, but has some very good stuff.

Uffington Horse Recent folk-rock band with Heather Alexander in it. They covered some of the Phoenyx songs, such as Black Unicorn, Up In The Loft, Yo Ho! (a great pirate song though I will always prefer the Phoenyx version).

The Duhks Folk-rock outfit from Canada, that does a little bit of everything -- Celtic, country, bluegrass, zydeco, gospel. It all sounds very modern though. Mists of Down Below is a great tune.

Mad Pudding A Celtic rock band from BC, I have three of their cds picked up at Folklife. Some great stuff. I especially like their cover of The Dewey Dells of Yarrow, very beautiful, and their original tune Dirt & Stone. And oh my goodness, they're actually on iTunes. You should download Dewey Dells of Yarrow now! It's an awesome version of a great Celtic folk ballad!

The Clumsy Lovers I don't know much about them but they're supposed to be another Canadian folk rock band. You can listen to them on their web site, and hey, they have stuff on iTunes. I'm actually surprised at how many of these bands are on iTunes.

Seven Nations I have one of their cds, it's not bad. They're a Scottish folk rock act, and they're available on iTunes as well. I tend to lump them into the same category as Wolfstone, a little too commercial or stadium rock for my liking I guess, but I only have the one cd to go by.

The Saw Doctors An Irish rock band with a folkish sound, I really like them. Original compositions, but good stuff. Nothing on iTunes though.

The Paperboys I think they're local. A very good celtic rock band. Mostly original material. Their stuff is on iTunes... and look, they do a cover of All Along the Watchtower. They're similar to Oysterband really.

The Young Dubliners Similar to The Paperboys (at least it seems to me). They do my all-time favorite cover of Rocky Road to Dublin (and it's available on iTunes), but mostly they do original material.

Horslips Legendary Irish folk/rock group. Most of their stuff is from the 1970's, and of what I've heard, their album The Tain is probably the best. Some of their other stuff isn't all that good.

Spirit of the West Another Canadian celtic folk/rock group, I never really liked very much of what they did. Home for a Rest, available on iTunes, is a good song.

The Pogues I've always loved the Pogues. Shane MacGowan's voice takes some getting used to, but he's a brilliant poet. They did two cds after Shane left that I didn't like at all. Lots of their stuff on iTunes though.

Shane MacGowan & The Popes Shane only did one cd with the Popes, but they went on to make several more without him. I love Church of the Holy Spook, but I have one of their post-MacGowan cds and I don't like it at all. The Snake is on iTunes and that's where Church of the Holy Spook comes from.

The Men They Couldn't Hang Kind of like the Pogues, I have a couple of their cds and one of them is really good. They're on iTunes... just not Silvertown, the cd I like. But I'm sure some of their other stuff is good too.

The Dropkick Murphy's A very popular Irish folk/rock group in the traditon of the Pogues. I only have one of theirs and it's okay, but I didn't really see why they are so popular. They're on iTunes.

The Real McKenzies Canadian Scottish bagpipe punk rock. They wear kilts and leather jackets and get drunk and sing about Nessie. They make me laugh. ^_^ Yes, my favorite song of theirs is Nessie, but other stuff is also good. They're on iTunes!

The Walkabouts Seattle-based folk/rock band, a lot of their stuff is more countryish, but their early stuff had more of an American folk feel.

The Waterboys Irish rock with folk influences. Fisherman's Blues is a nice tune.

Jethro Tull Tull did three cds that have strong folk influences: Songs from the Wood, Heavy Horses, and Stormwatch. Those are also my favorites of their stuff.

Laura Love Singer/songwriter from the Seattle area who mixes celtic, funk, appalachia, and rock. Most of what's on iTunes is much newer than the stuff I have of hers, but check out Aha Me Riddle I Day, that sounds a newer version of one of her very old songs that I love. Same for Bang Bang.

Burach A Scottish band who mixes Celtic folk rock with bluegrass, so you may or may not like them for that, but their first cd is especially good. It's also the only one not on iTunes, but check out Sleep of the Dead, I like that song.

Runrig I've always liked Runrig, a Scottish band that plays their own unique brand of folk-influenced rock. Their early stuff is what I like best though, with much of it heavily folk influenced and/or sung in Scots Gaelic. Their later stuff was usually in English and had less folk influence. Early albums include Recovery and The Highland Connection, and those are on iTunes. Check out their cover of Loch Lomand, or songs Tir An Airm, Breaking the Chains, An Toll Dubh, What Time.

Wolfstone I'm not really a big fan of Wolfstone, another Scottish folk/rock band. To me they're sort of arena rock with folk influences stapled on. Other people like them a lot though. They're on iTunes.

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SCANDINAVIAN FOLK-ROCK

Hoven Droven A very, very good Swedish folk rock group. Mostly instrumental. Take a listen to Slentbjenn (Slope Bear). Great stuff. They're on iTunes.

Garmarna Another big Swedish folk/rock group. Favorite songs: Gamen (Vulture). Varulven (werewolf). Klevabergselden (Kleveberg's Fire). They're on iTunes.

Hedningarna Another cool Scandinavian folk/rock group, part Swedish, part Finnish. They're more electronica/dance oriented, but very good. Hoglorfen is a great electronica folk dance tune, but also check out Mita Mina (Why Do I Sing) for them at their most acoustic.

Varttina One of my favorites, a brilliant Finnish folk/rock act. Aijo (not the live version) is a fun song. Vihma, Kiiriminna, Outona omilla mailla, Katarina, Tumala are some of my many favorites.

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FOLK-METAL

Korpiklaani Probably my vote for the best folk-metal band I've heard. They're from Finland. Favorite tracks: Wooden Pints, Spirit of the Forest, Midsummer Night, Under the Sun, Rise, Fields of Fire.

Cruachan Irish folk-metal, very well done. They only have one cd on iTunes and it's a new one I don't have yet.

Fintroll Finnish folk death metal, or polka-death-metal no kidding. Sung in Swedish. "Hoedown music for trolls" is what they like to call it. Not for the faint of heart. ^_^ Also not on iTunes.

Ensiferum Ensiferum is not a folk-metal band, they are a viking metal with stronger than normal folkish influences. They're very good. But viking metal is not really folk metal, per se. Not on iTunes apparently.

Battlelore I'm not really sure what to call this band. They do a sort of goth metal, folk metal, viking metal, power metal thing that is all centered on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. I call it Tolkien Metal. They're quite good. Favorite songs: Forked Height, House of Heroes, Journey to Undying Lands, Buccaneer's Inn, Sword's Song, Swordmaster.

Elvenking A power metal band from Italy that plays a heavily Celtic-folk influenced brand of metal. This is not folk-metal as Korpiklaani or Cruachan play it though, this is just power metal with some folk song structures, mostly metal songs built on reel-like melodies and riffs with fantasy-inspired lyrics. I actually like this band a lot, even though I've only downloaded two of their tracks so far -- Neverending Night and Moonchariot. Well worth a listen.

Wuthering Heights Very similar to Elvenking, basically power metal with folk and fantasy influences, but no actual folk instruments or actual folk music. My favorite songs of theirs are Tree and Land of Olden Glory. Oh, I just noticed they have a new cd out! Cool!

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GERMAN MEDIEVAL ROCK

In Germany folk music is generally still associated with the Nazis, but there is a thriving genre called Medieval Rock that mixes modern rock with ancient music, melody, and instruments. Here's a few bands in that genre:

Faun I own Renaissance by Faun. It almost reminds me of a German Enya or Clannad.

Corvus Corax I don't own anything of theirs just yet (well, I just downloaded a track to listen to).

Adaro Not available on iTunes, but they're supposed to be one of the best medieval rock bands.

Subway to Sally The hard rock/metal version of German Medieval Rock, sort of the German counterpart to Flogging Molly I think. I don't own anything of their yet, but I probably will in the future. ^_^