Fueled by healthy public appetite for traditional melodies and quasi-ethnic roots, the crossover genre continues to flourish with this debut release from Ireland’s Celtic Woman ensemble. The brainchild of Sharon Browne, Dave Kavanaugh (founders of Ireland’s successful Celtic Collections label) and young Riverdance touring company musical director David Downes, CW’s five young women musicians and vocalists offer up an ever pleasant, Eire-savvy fusion of folk, pop and classical influences. Avoiding the intrusive, club-beat/sex kitten window dressing of Bond, the ensemble tackles material that ranges from the expected (spare, lovely covers of "Danny Boy" and "Ave Maria") to more adventurous fare like "Nella Fantasia" (Ennio Morricone’s vocal adaptation of his rapturous theme from The Mission) and Enya’s "Orinoco Flow." Elsewhere, "The Butterfly" offers up fiddle-fueled take on their Riverdance parallels (which also get a workout on the live bonus tracks), if renditions of Downes’ originals like "One World" and "Send Me a Song" and "Someday" from Disney’s animated Hunchback of Notre Dame hew slavishly to the middle of the road -- which largely seems the album’s easy-listening intention. --Jerry McCulley

    爱尔兰的音乐没有(烈日灼身)的强大音压，没有(暴雨将至)的阵阵雷鼓，只有沈醉东风的舒缓旋律，令人百听不厌。这七位歌手是新一代的当红女杰，其中多位曾获得加拿大朱诺奖、葛莱美奖和爱尔兰音乐奖的肯定。她们的歌路涵盖创作型、草根型和实验型，唱腔各具特色，有高亢清亮、有澄澈透明、有低沈婉约、有甘醇诚挚、有清越空灵、有清平慵懒……