A Review Of 'The Story'

I posted a long blog about the emotional impact Runrig has had on my life and that of my family, so what do I think of the latest, and last, album?

Overall it's a emotional journey, from start to finish, a more 'classical' sound to Runrig which more harks back to their earlier works compared to more recent albums such as 'Proterra' and 'Everything You See'.

There isn't really any huge 'crowd pleaser' tracks within this album, what I mean is the sort of tracks they'd play at a concert to get the crowd going, every track here is fairly somber and emotional, sure some would sound great live but they're more like the tracks you'd find in the middle of the concert after you've got them geared up with some 'jumping' opening tracks.

Not to say this is a 'boring' album, it really isn't, but it's a different feeling album to most of the past albums, especially those with Bruce Guthro at the helm.

So whats the good and the bad?

The opening track, also the leading single, is 'The Story' and admittedly it's a good solid track, pretty much atypical Runrig, a song blending Gaelic and English together with a solid beat and rhythmic guitars, it deserves to be the single and the leading track.

Second track is 'Onar', very much a 'Bruce' song, despite Mr Guthro having no writing credits on this album, it feels very much penned by him with Calum and Rory adding their usual Gaelic twist to the proceedings, it's another solid track with some unusual twists including a saxophone of all instruments, there's hints to other albums such as 'Big Wheel' in the lyrics.

Next up is 'Rise And Fall', paired up with 'Elegy' on the album, it's a mournful very sombre track, it's very much a tribute to our soldiers and it's deeply moving with its slow pace, marching drums and gentle piano, it's a lovely track which stirs up scenes of fields of poppies, fallen soldiers watching over their comrades from a distant viewpoint, the following track, a instrumental called 'Elegy' pairs up with the track and sustains the images in our heads.

'Every Beating Heart', a fairly simple track with a chorus which is surely intended to get the crowds singing along, it slowly increases with its layers of instruments, again a very 'Bruce' sounding track, pretty much 'classic' sounding Runrig here.

'The Years We Shared' this is probably one of two tracks on this album I'll be playing again and again over the coming weeks, months, years perhaps, this feels like one which they'll belt out live, I get misty eyed when I hear this, everything about this touches me on a emotional level and it almost sums up everything that Runrig means to me.

Now the next track is 'When The Beauty', I apologize in advance but this is by far the weakest track on the album for me, it's possibly one of the weakest songs Runrig have given us in a very long time, there's little good to say about it, it's a long tedious track for me, there's glimmers of great instrumentation here but a 3 minute track shouldn't feel like three times its length, no insult to Rory here, he's got a great singing voice but the almost talking warble here makes this track feel really slow, I might gain a appreciation for this track later but right now, this is the weakest of the whole album.

'18th July', this is the other track which I will most definitely have on repeat, just everything about this track hones into everything that I like about Runrig, the mix of styles, a message in the lyrics, a chorus which just catches in the ear, I had this song on repeat on my commute home, for about 20 minutes all I listened to was this one track and I kept hearing different levels within the sound, each time sounding new and fresh to me, a proper highlight of the album for me.

Next is 'An-Diugh Ghabh Mi Cuairt', 'Today I Took A Walk', it's a steady driving Gaelic song, the writing style of Rory and Calum are present throughout this song and proving my previous point that Rory has a great singing voice, the choir is a wonderful touch to the track, it's a pleasant song, just to have it playing emits such calm and stillness within me.

'The Place Where The Rivers Run', this heavily reminds me of 'Clash Of The Ash' but instead of a shinty team, this is clearly a song about the band themselves, talking about making a 'City Of Lights' and having treasure in 40 years, this is definitely going to be one they're going to play live, I'm sure the concert halls will jump with this one, I mentioned a lack of 'crowd pleasers' in this album, well this one certainly comes very close to being one and who knows, this might be a big crowd pleaser, it does get my foot tapping every time.

And to close we have 'Somewhere', probably the most emotionally powered track in terms of its sound and lyrics, I know I talked about this last post but this track is clearly dedicated to CMDR Laurel Clark who was on the Shuttle Colombia on it's fated mission in 2003, it's a haunting track, within the radio static in the end we hear CMDR Clark herself, talking about her love for Runrig and her family, taken from the 'Wake Up' transmission a few days before the tragedy when they broadcast 'Running To The Light' to the crew of Colombia, she had taken up a Runrig CD up on the shuttle in hopes to show the band a album of theirs had been to space, sadly she would never return home.
When the cleanup was happening, in a field in Texas a lone intact Runrig CD was found, the same one Laurel had taken up with her, it had survived the tragedy, it was later presented to the band, a memento of Laurels wish to show the band her dedication.
As a closer and a tribute this track is humbling and powerful, it makes for a emotional closing track and a fitting end to this album.

So altogether 'The Story' is a fine Runrig album, I kinda expected 'more' after 9 years of waiting but what we've got is wonderful and that makes it all the more painful knowing it's their last.

Yes Runrig ain't breaking up yet, they said 'this isn't the end', personally I think it's going to go like this, they'll tour with this album, then it's going to be a big farewell tour and that will be the end.

I don't want it to end, but 'All Things Must Change', and most certainly, this will always be, the story of the life inside of me.

The Years I Shared

"The world changes as we get older, what comes in love must leave in pain"

'The Years We Shared' - Runrig

So The Story has been released, 9 years of waiting has brought us Runrig's final studio album.

And there's perhaps nothing I can do to express my flood of emotions, the ache in my heart, the longing in my very soul, the sadness fills me, I am happy but knowing that this is the end breaks my heart, it's probably the hardest thing to talk about, when something, which must come across as so mundane to many, which means so much to my life is ending, I've said before it's like I'm losing a member of the family.

I know that bands come and go like the passing tides, the never ending cycle of the music industry, but I don't think that many people have bands that mean so much to them as Runrig means to me and my family.

I've talked about this before but I still can't fully truly get across how much this little band from Scotland means to me and my family, every album is a landmark, a milestone, a journey from beginnings to the now, singing in the car, getting the lyrics wrong, listening to them in our darkest times and playing them loud in our brightest.

I've been listening to Runrig for 25 years, I'm 30 this year, so pretty much all my life I've had this band to turn to, from lone late night sessions to singing along to them loudly without a care in this world, crying quietly alone listening to Big Sky, crying in joy singing Every River with my boyfriend.

For every song which has become stained with sadness for me, there's always one which lifts me up, and across 14 albums each one has become a flood of memories on a plastic disc, from early years listening to 'Cutter And The Clan', 'Heartland', 'Searchlight' and 'The Big Wheel' to later years wrought with change 'The Stamping Ground', 'In Search Of Angels' and 'Everything You See'.

The Story has come at a very pivotal point in my own life, after many years in Germany I'm trying to forge a new life and make something of it, but it's been hard going and for every happy bit of joy I get, I seem to get another bit of stress coming to test me once again.

I got the chance to listen to this album a day before it's release on some really expensive equipment in a studio in west London, there wasn't many of us there but it was a closed little group of us just sat there in this room, the format was supposed to be that they'd announce each track as it went on but after the first track, they just let it play, no interruptions, the whole album from start to finish.

I'm sat on a white plastic chair,with a friend who also likes Runrig but not for as long, holding a glass of white wine in my hand, turning my phone to silent, I close my eyes and listen.

The room around me faded away, I become lost within the music, listening to every note, every word, each one taking me to different places, different times, different emotions.

'The Years We Shared' starts playing and I feel a tear running down my cheek, I snatch my hand up to wipe it away, in my shock I nearly spilled my wine, I'm sat there, trying not to let my emotions get to me, not out in public, but in my head it's continuing, I sit and listen to the music.

As 'Somewhere' slowly fades off, I hear a familiar conversation in the radio static, it was from the Shuttle Colombia, days before the tragedy, the day they used Running To The Light to wake the crew, Laurel Clark was on the ship, she was a big Runrig fan and took their cd's up to space in hope to give them back to the band.

After the tragedy struck and the debris was scattered over Texas, in a field they discovered a intact Runrig CD, the very same one which Laurel Clark took up with her on that fated mission, the band got presented the CD back by her husband, so her wish was fulfilled.

To our small group I recited this story since I recognized the audio, I think I moved a few people with it, once again I realized that this little Scottish band has so much meaning and purpose to some people, a trait oft cited to just myself and my family, it made me realize that this band, meant something.

For me it's memories, good and bad, happy and sad, weddings and funerals.

I'll never forget about Runrig, it's part of who I am today, the songs and music flow within my blood, and keep me going, no matter what.

They might be just this little band which nobody knows about, that makes it all the more special.

So as this story comes to an end, it'll be repeated for years to come.