The Book Of Secrets 20th Anniversary

Very relaxing and moving.

Great CD, fast service and shipping.

Loreena’s voice is angelic and the overall sound is mesmerizing. Great Celtic music!

I bought this to send to a friend, but the jewel case was cracked too badly to send it to her, so I just kept it and played it for myself. I have bought this CD numerous times because it is so good, I wear it out playing it. Speaks for itself. Just buy it and listen and become entranced.

I had this long ago but it got destroyed by a nosy baby(mine) and didn't think I'd ever be able to find it again, BUT here I am reviewing it years later. I had forgotten just how wonderful Loreena's voice was and how she manages to incorporate real stories of real cultures and peoples into her music. Saw her once on tv and she really takes alot of time and genuine effort studying and researching before she just pops another song out there hoping that everybody who's on her band wagon will continue to buy. Her music IS NOT like alot of so called stars today, she is quite a unique individual with such an amazing voice, my husband even likes alot of the music on this and was thrilled I found it here. The Murmmers Dance is soothing and enchanting, while Marco Polo is slightly seductive sounding. Enough so that I have been using it to belly dance. I can't say that I have any complaints of her music and it's not all just one boring style either, it is a little bit of this and that and enough to get you hooked. If you've never heard music varity in an artist you will with this cd and you'll be glad you did. You might even become a Loreena McKennitt junkie. I didn't know she had so many albums til I found this here on Amazon(great work guys!) you opened my eyes. I got this fast and in mint condition and I find that I order so much here cause I haven't had a bad experience and the vendors are great. Thanks to you all!

Wow! Blown away by this recording, a technological masterpiece, in that the music presented sounds like it is being performed (mind you a virtuoso performance) on simple ancient Celtic instruments. In fact a couple of the tracks sound very Middle Eastern inspired or Indian in origin; such as the "Prologue," and "Marco Polo." Yet some of my favorite tracks, "The Mummers' Dance," sound very Celtic in their rhythm and vocalizations. This song was originally inspired by a Mummers' troupe who went aboard a stranded ship in Newfoundland to entertain the crew. This song has it's roots in ancient Celtic rites of Spring coinciding with traditional folk celebrations of May Day in Southern England. The track, "Skellig," for instance, although written in Tuscanny, was inspired by the Irish monks who were credited with the "saving of civilization," in the Dark Ages. Sequestered on the Skellig Islands off the coast of western Ireland these monks kept alive some of the finast examples of sacred literature while making real world comments in the margins of many of these texts. "The Highwayman" is a piece bourne out of Elizabethan legend and one fully expects to have that happy Hollywood ending if following along with the lyrics. Be prepared for several twists and turns! Many more intriguing liner notes explain the songs and lyrical development further. My favorite piece on the recording is, "Dante's Prayer," almost an ancient Celtic lamentation which features lyrics that cry out to an unseen force/lover, to please, "Remember me." What makes this recording so incredible is that Loreena McKennitt has composed all the music and written 98% of all the lyrics! From a different time and age, a view to a rich tapestry of imagery! This is a must have recording for fans of Celtic inspired and World music genre's.

I fell in love with Loreena Mc Kennitt when I first heard "The Visit." (A different album, my first )This wonderful CD didn't disappoint. It weaves a magical spell which draws the listener in and never lets go.My husband heard it on "Hearts of Space " and was hooked. (Thank you, Steven Hill!)He played the CD for me, and I had to have it. It's so good that I can't pick a favorite track.If you like Celtic music or you're looking for something addictive and different , this is for you.Thank you, Ms. McKennitt, for sharing your haunting and ethereal voice with the world.

What I really want to say about this remarkable artist, cannot be expressed in words. Its like trying to describe the taste of a perfect mango, you have to experience it - to KNOW.I do know that listening to Loreena and her "Highwaymen" accompanists, is like entering into another world. Her's is the music and words of our ancestors, the deeds, loves, sorrows and joys of living on this planet in another time, in the celtic spirit, carried on the wings of divine music.She is Canadian, but she sings these verses like she's a Celtic angel, sent to us to help us remember where we came from, and how far we've traveled. Buy this or any of her works if you yearn for an escape from the present, live in another time, in a place, when we were free and owed allegience to no king, only to the heartbeat of Nature, the rhythm of existance.Last night I put track 8, Dante's prayer, on repeat, so I could stay in the trance it invokes for a long time. Do you know what its like to be truly moved by an artist? Moved to tears, to joy, to a state of emotional surrender? Do the same with track 3, Skellig. I swear, I could feel the rocks under my old sandels, and the weariness of the journey from the rocky shores of Ireland to the fields of Romanie, stopping along the way to hear the bells - who call all to mass.This music will make you appreciate a good set of head phones again, like the Sony MDR7502's. Find the time to hear this music, its transforming.

Loreena's best album which gained high success by the single 'The Mummer's Dance' in 1997. During her early albums, she had rediscovered her Celtic ancestry, but she became well-known by 'The Visit' in 1991 which was a starting point to adapt the folk music of other nations. On 'The Mask and Mirror' she immersed into Spanish and Arabic music, however, the balance between the 'Old Ways' and ' newly discovered Eastern sound can be heard on 'The Book of Secrets' in the best way.This is the album which collects the pathways of McKennitt she took up to the record sessions. The timeless, ethereal sound which is rich in native instruments is beautiful; each song has got its own deepness.'Prologue' is a nice, slow instrumental with strong percussion and it opens the music material in a nice way. The second track, 'The Mummers' Dance' is a crossover between Arabic and Celtic music. It is about an old Celtic spring tradition, however, it sounds timeless due to the variability of instruments. The pure Irish song is 'Skelling, enriched with Tin Whistle, based on the thoughts of a monk who prepares to die. This is the best one on the record.On 'Marco Polo' she returns to the Arabic sound, however, besides the Sufi melody, she moves toward to the Inner Asian and Far East sound as well. The Alfred Noyes' poem 'The Highwayman' is an epic ballad. Comparing to the earlier adapted poems like 'The Lady of Shalott' and 'The Bonny Swans', it more uptempo and steps out of the 'living tapestry' method to be more exciting and eerie.The album moves on with another with another, ornate instrumental piece 'La Serenissima' inspired by the Renaissance Venice and it floats towards the timeless, floating 'Night-Ride Across the Caucasus' whose 'horse-trapping' percussion and Loreena's rich voice turns it to one of the best songs she has ever recorded. The closure, 'Dante's Prayer' was born during a journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway. During this, she was reading 'The Divine Comedy' and these impressions created her most epic ballad, which is enriched with an Easter song by an Orthodox choir.Overall, this is the songstress' best and deepest album so far and her most ambitious project as well. I own the tape from 1997, the US and the remastered compact discs and the vinyl, which sound warm and richly. The remastering process must have gone well, so another great audiophile album was born.

Wish I'd discovered this cd years ago! This cd is not representative of the music I normally purchase, but I came across the song The Mummers Dance by chance and decided to buy the cd on the basis of that one song. The lead vocals and harmonies by Loreena are wonderful. Song selection is good, interesting themes with fine instrumentation throughout.

Loreena McKennitt has come along way both musically and as far as travelling the world is concerned. Inclined somewhat to take herself a little seriously she has nontheless justified herself and her seemingly endless travelling with this album.Her most complete and rounded album to date follows her musical and intellectual travelling into the world of the early Celt and the medevial. She succeeds admirably producing a rounded, complete sound that compliments her crystal voice. Her references include poetry, legend and history and she fits the music to the sound gracefully.This is an album for relaxing to and letting oneself drift away from the real world and into the admittedly somewhat fanciful world of history, fantasy and magick.

This CD is a little treasure, The Mummers dance and Skelig are both tracks that I immediately connected to and wanted to listen to again and again. The tracks on the rest of the CD are good and grow on you each time you listen to it and it is well worth re listening too as before long it become one of my favourite CD's. The mix of Celtic and alternative world sound flows from one track to the next and I find it easy to become lost in the music when listening to this CD. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I only recently discovered Loreena McKennitt's work and am enjoying about six of her albums on pretty much constant rotation. As others have stated before, her albums can, and often do, have repeated sound tracks from other albums so it's worth doing a little research before purchasing. However, I would gladly pay the price for this album just to listen Loreena's redition of the poem, "The Highwayman".