Damien Dempsey, arguably the greatest Irish singer of his generation.

Damien Dempsey - 'The Rocky Road' (Sony/BMG)

'The Rocky Road', a record filled with traditional favourites and other peoples' songs, might be a new departure for Damien Dempsey, but five albums into his career you get the feeling that this is the one he's been gagging to make all his life.

If anyone else was to release this album it would come across as a fraud, but with Damien Dempsey it seems totally fitting. These, after-all, are the songs that the burly Dub was raised on, and he most certainly makes them his own here. 'The Rocky Road' is a rite of passage album for Damo, and one which puts him right up there with the gigantic Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly and Christy Moore.

Dempsey's musical heroes are now his fans too and he is joined on this record by fiddler John Sheahan and banjo-player Barney McKenna from The Dubliners and Sharon Shannon. Damo gives The Dubliners' 'Rocky Road To Dublin' and 'The Foggy Dew', two of the album's many highlights, his own unique and spirited treatment. While his versions of 'The Twang Man', 'Kelly From Killan' and Ewan MacColl's 'Schooldays Over' are equally plucky and toe-tappingly evocative. 'The Rocky Road' is a classic Irish album that you won't be able to stop yourself from getting jiggy with.

(4 out of 5)

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