Originally released independently,
Fare Thee Well Love turned
the Rankin Family into household names in Canada. Although traditional maritime music was something that many Canadians had heard about,
Fare Thee Well Love was one of the first albums to successfully bring the tradition into the homes of people too embarrassed to pick up an
Irish Rovers album. Most of the material is fairly traditional (some of it is even sung in Gaelic), but with more of a skew to the country music crowd than the pop crowd. Oddly enough, some of the album's best moments are those when the sound is colored a bit by keyboards and smoother production, like on the beautiful title track. Four of
the Rankins take turns at vocals, with the women's voices blending crisp and clear. Although it may be a bit too traditional for fans of the more pop-oriented maritime music, it's noteworthy as one of the key albums in Canada's Celtic music resurrection. ~ Sean Carruthers