Entertainment Weekly (11/14/97, p.93) - "...wanders even further into the musical woods on her seventh album, singing about 'riding o'er the land' and the 'fountain of forgiveness' to misty, Celtic-renaissance-fair pop. For all her New Age pretensions, though, McKennitt knows a hook when she hears it..."
- Rating: B
Personnel: Loreena McKennitt (vocals, harp, kanoun, accordion, piano, keyboards); Brian Hughes (vocals, acoustic, electric & classical guitars, bouzouki, oud, guitar synthesizer); Donald Quan (vocals, viola, keyboards, tabla, timba, esraj); Stuart Bruce (vocals); Aidan Brennan (acoustic guitar, mandola); Martin Jenkins (mandocello); David Rhodes (electric guitar); Martin Brown (acoustic guitar, mandolin, mandola); Robin Jeffrey (Victorian guitar); Hugh Marsh, Osama (violin); Joana Levine (viola de gamba); Caroline Lavelle, Anne Bourne (cello); Nick Hayley (rebec, lira da Braccio, serangi); Jonathan Reese, Iain King, Andy Brown, Chris Van Kampen (strings); Bob White (tin whistle, shawm); Danny Thompson (acoustic bass); Steve Pigott (keyboards); Nigel Eaton (hurdy gurdy); Manu Katche (drums); Paul Clarvis (snare drum); Steafan Hannigan (bodhran); Rick Lazar, Hossam Ramzy (percussion).
Personnel: Loreena McKennitt (vocals, harp, kanun, accordion, piano, keyboards); Brian Hughes (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, classical guitar, bouzouki, oud, guitar synthesizer); Robin Jeffrey (guitar); Aidan Brennan (acoustic guitar, mandola); Martin Brown (acoustic guitar); David Rhodes (electric guitar); Nigel Eaton (hurdy-gurdy, lira da braccio, rebec); Andy Brown (viola); Anne Bourne, Caroline Lavelle (cello); Danny Thompson (acoustic bass guitar); Manu Katche (drums); Paul Clarvis (snare drum); Hossam Ramzy (percussion); Stuart Bruce.
Recording information: 1997.
Loreena McKennitt began her career as a New Age pop chanteuse, steeped in Celtic folk mysticism and possessed of an airy, ethereal voice. Over the course of her career she has dabbled to varying extremes in the pop format, but she remains true to the spirit of the traditional balladeer on THE BOOK OF SECRETS. With the aid of top-flight musicians like Danny Thompson and David Rhodes, she weaves a web of fanciful, wispy folk-rock that's not afraid to be beautiful as it pulls listeners in with it's comforting hypnotic qualities.
