One of the most successful new age music albums of the early 1990’s was Medwyn Goodall’s Druid. It was in many ways his breakthrough album, proving what the albums In the stillness of a moment (1988) and Kindred Spirits (1988) were just indicating; here was an artist for the future! And the rest is, as they say, history. Now Medwyn Goodall together with Runestone (the Chris Green and Robert Fenner duo) have released Druid II. Here Medwyn Goodall’s many fans have a lot to look forward to, especially the return of the very popular Nine Maidens – the original being one of the finest new age music tracks ever.

Druid was, by the way, the first part of a trilogy where the other two albums were Merlin  and Excalibur – also classics of this artist’s early career. Previously this year Medwyn Goodall returned to his Medicine Woman series, releasing the 4^th installment entitled Medicine Woman IV – The 2012 Prophecy.

I like the way Medwyn Goodall creates sequels; he takes the original sound and redefines it, adding new and different colors and harmonies. It is very fan friendly. The Druid update, to call it that, is a musical déjà vu for the longtime fan; here are our beloved melodies mixes with new ones, all in a new and fresh setting. Especially the last track, the 12 minute long Nine Maidens Chronicles Part 4, is a feast for Druid fans.

There are also four other beautiful tracks here, where the listener can sense the Runestone influence. It is welcome, since it creates more variation in sound. The song The Circle Cast has a very nice buildup, with lots of interesting instruments and intertwining melodies – and awesome rain & storm samples as well.

I will not say that anything is missing here – it is just different from the original Druid album. One thing is of course the awesome analogue synth sound of the original album. That 80-90s muffled synth sound gave this album a detached, otherworldly feel. It is hard to recreate something like this with a DAW/sequencer (if that is a goal at all, creating music with a lower sound quality). Another thing is the lack of vocals (the male voice saying: come dance with us/under high heavens/pray with us/under high heavens – on the original).

Medwyn Goodall and Runestone have delivered a very welcome update of Druid, and in the process given new actuality to one of the finest releases in new age music. The new album does not replace the old one, but that was not likely the plan either.

Sample the album here.