Wanted to let you know I received your CD and how nice it was to open it and excited I was to hear it!! Thank you!! It was cool to actually hold it in my hand and when my kids asked what it was, saying “It’s Mike’s CD.” had a nice ring to it!!
As the years have passed, I can tell, by listening to this compilation, where your strengths lie and what music inspires you, I will admit though, I did miss the lyrics which brings me to one of the songs… Rooster Revel.. Ha. I read your blog on it (good work too) and when I first heard the tune (before I even read the blog), I knew I had heard it somewhere… and I was singing along.. “You smother me.. with your lo–ove… you smother me, and I like it”.. Ha.
The fun songs (Rooster Revel) are totally unmistakably fun and the serious songs (Sorrow’s Tide) are solemn and reflective. Some (like Siochain le Dia) bring back memories like I’ve heard the song before and it is a returning and welcome friend.. an odd feeling given I’ve probably never heard it before!!! The intricacies within the songs were obviously sewn with care and arranged with meaning. The ones I already knew (like Ah! Freedom) were re-created well and were nice to hear again! Then there’s classic Mike stuff which defies explanation (like Sugar Bomb!!). It’s cool but I wonder what you are saying in the song – or is that you? Did you write it while you had a massive sugar intake thus the title? Ha… And the sample – where is that from? Makes me wanna listen and listen again!!! More Than Conquerors gives me a stately movie theater feel and fits nicely within its boundaries. Need a video for that one… Ha. And thanks to “Winter’s Kaleidoscope” for that haunting melody line you can’t ever remove from your head.. 
Good job Bro! … and I like it!!! I hope you do well with it and look forward to #2, or “Too” or “To…” or whatever – maybe even “Dos”..
by Chris Sallee