Customer Reviews
A welcome live album - By: Geoff Hall, 17 Oct 2008 
I have enjoyed all of Moya Brennan's albums, so it was a welcomed surprise to see this release.
I think Moya's voice sounds slightly fragilein places, but that's not to say she sings poorly, because she actually sings well - it's just not as strong as I anticipated it would be. However, she's a lovely harpist, the band is brilliant, as is the orchestra, conducted by Julie Feeney (who recorded the album "13 Songs"), who should be congratulated for her string arrangements.
"Gone Are The Days" is a wonderful example of Moya, backing singers, band & orchestra as one on a beautiful track - my personal highlight. "Sailing Away", "No One Talks" are also strong contenders for best track,in what is a nice mix of traditional & modern, Clannad & solo, vocal & instrumental tracks -in some ways, it's a shame the album isn't longer, as I'm certainly she has the repertoire of songs to choose from.
However, there is the catastrophic inclusion of "In A Lifetime", where the Bono part is sung by (I think) Fionan De Barra - it just doesn't work for me & is, to my ears, a pretty poor version.
Enough said about that, the rest of the album is excellent & I'm so pleased there is a live albumin her discography.
Allin all, a pretty good album & worth buying, whilst we fans wait for a new solo album.
The First Lady of Celtic Music: Live, Lilting and Luscious - By: B. Smith, 03 Oct 2008 
Moya Brennan's amazing 16 year solo career has seen 7 studio albums interspersed with a plethora of live performances, bringing the magic to her fans all across the world.
Anyone lucky enough to have seen Moya & her charismatic, superbly talented band (including the De Barra brothers & Sinéad Madden) livein concert will no doubt attest to the amazing vocal harmonies & the diversity of sound from a meld of traditional & contemporary instruments.
Heart Strings captures a veracious reproduction of this live sound & brings the Celtic magic into our homes. Backed by the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra for a one-off performance, a special touch is added to the mix for this album.
Whilst the fiddle & the (various) pipes evoke both a heart-wrenching melancholy ('Gone Are the Days') and, at the next moment, an energetic elation ('Alasdair MacColla'), the drums, keyboards & bass kickin to lend a very striking folk-rock sound showing Moya can still pull off a punchy performance reminiscent of the 80s Clannad days.
Of course, the harp is Moya's instrument, backed faithfully by Cormac De Barra- especially prominent on 'Molly Fair'.
My copy of Heart Strings included the encore, 'Harry's Game' which is performed beautifully & delicately as ever. It sounds as fresh as it did on its releasein 1982.
