Celtic Thunder: Take Me Home

Take Me Home reveals a surprising cross-Atlantic relationship between Irish Celtic tunes and American country music. Uncanny. Replace the bagpipe with a slide guitar and the brogue with a twang, and voila. You end up with a shockingly similar collection of laconic, self-pitying dirges. The worthwhile tunes are the ones that most resemble sprightly Irish jigs. The worst include a dismal cover of “Every Breath You Take.” And “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen.” And “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do.” In fact, anything that sounds neither Celtic nor thundering is grating and awful, which covers nearly all of the 15 tracks.

Rating: * *