Best of the Chieftains
The tracks onThe Best of the Chieftainsare drawn fromThe Chieftains 7,The Chieftains 8, andBoil the Breakfast  Early--three of the band's recordings from the late 1970s. This was the  period when former Bothy Band and Planxty flautist Matt Molloy and  vocalist/bodhran player Kevin Cunniffe joined up and finally fulfilled Paddy  Maloney's vision of what the band should sound like. It also marks the last time  the Chieftains recorded pure, unadulterated traditional Irish music. Not long  after making these albums, the band set off on a new career that has included  numerous movie and TV soundtracks, collaborations with pop stars of various  stripes, and guest appearances with symphony orchestras. Although some purists  decry the band's later attempts at crossover, the near perfection of tracks such  as the exquisitely performed suite of dance tunes "Chase Around the Windmill"  show that the Chieftains had taken the old tunes about as far as they could go.  The group may have gone on to make better-selling records, but they never topped  the traditional grace and charm of the songs onThe Best of the  Chieftains.--Michael Simmons