You know, I am getting tired of the uncalled for comments. I came on here based on your PM to see if I could help, but your smart ass comments have caused me to have a rethink. So here it is.

You wrote the post. They were not my words, they were your words. Your post seemed to pooh pooh the opinions different than yours. The fact is that you are the one that used the "good enough" term 4 times in as many sentences, and it caught me and several others as problematic, and emblematic of what we see with many performers in this genre. The real pro's would never view their work this way, and would have responded to that being pointed out by clarifying their intent in using them. You are the one who made a declarative pronouncement on a friggin' discussion forum and then whined when someone responded to your own words. Lesson for you, Jim Boy, words have meaning. You must be careful what you write, because context gets lost on a computer monitor at times. Oh, and I don't particularly like your smart assed use of the terms you have used on me. If you don't want your words and ideas critiqued, then don't lay them out there. And while you are at it, lose the attitude. The judgement error was yours, not mine.

In your first response post, Jim Boy, you asked me to judge for myself. Fair enough, here you go. I listened to most of the cuts, and it is a very good selection of songs, and they are well rendered. You seem to be basing your challenge on your talent as a singer. That is legitimate, because you have excellent vocal skills, know the material well and interpret it with a method that tells the story/message with effectiveness and style. Clearly your major influence is Tommy Makem, based on your style of singing, as well as the song selection. You seem to work every bit of what vocal range you have and the end result is good. Instrumentally, your style is very basic with few adornments, but you use it effectively and produce a nice background for your vocals. I do the same, as I am not the best instrumentalist. But the areas where your recordings fall short are the stuff that this thread is about. Clearly you are not using a very good mic, or if you are, you don't know how to balance it for maximum potential in the recording. The effect is that it sounds a bit like you are singing into a box or a tube. Additionally, your instrumental balance is not very good in some cuts, most especially where you are using more than one instrument. For example, in Boolavogue the balance between the squeeze box and the banjo are not done well, and the whole instrumental, IMO, is a bit more subdued that it should be. One doesn't want to overtake the vocal story, but it should not be underwhelmed either. There are some cuts that are fine, but there are plenty of examples where a producer in a studio would have asked you to do them over, and that same producer would have mixed them much better than you did. I make these comments because you asked me to judge for myself, and that is what I am doing. You say it is good enough. Maybe for you, but it wouldn't be for me. A very good effort to be sure, but not good enough for me. It is my opinion (which is what, after all, you asked for) that your "good enough" effort would have been well served with a professional ear put on it.

I would not have made these comments, but for the fact that you asked for them. In fact, I logged on to just praise your work and try to soothe your ire. But when I read your last comment, it became clear to me that I could not let your post stand.

I will say this a last time, then I am done with this inane, ego driven horseshit. I think Jim is a fine performer. I have enjoyed listening to the cuts he posts. My response was simply to HIS choice of words. They fly in the face of one of the most important lessons Rick Fielding taught me. Jim, if you want a friggin' dustup, then let's do it in PM's and let the thread get back to what it is about. I am only posting this because of your last post, and will not respond any further to any comments about anything other than the subject of the thread.

Mick