It's fun sometimes to hear what a band sounded like "back before." For Celtic-Canadian folk-rockers Spirit of the West, there's a sample of their early sound available on Old Material: 1984-1986.

Yeah, so it's not the most creative of album titles, is it? But the music is good, albeit a far cry from the band's more raucous sound on later recordings.

The bedrock of the band is John Mann (vocals, guitar, bones) and Geoffrey Kelly (vocals, flute, whistles, bodhran). The third member, J. Knutson (vocals, guitar, bass, bouzouki), would be replaced in later albums, by which time the original trio would become a quartet.

Although much of this album is made up of original material, Spirit of the West hadn't quite found its footing or developed its reputation for humor and/or social commentary that would mark later recordings. The music structure is simpler, the instrumentation more acoustic. Five tracks are from a 1984 studio session in Vancouver, and five tracks are from a low-tech live recording at the Vancouver East Cultural Center in 1986. The latter portion includes the traditional drinking tune "General Guinness" and the Richard Thompson song "Time to Ring Some Changes"; otherwise, everything on the album was written by Mann, Kelly and Knutson. "General Guinness," performed with contagious good spirits as an encore to the live show, is the best track on the album. Other personal favorites include "Rocks at Thieves Bay," featuring particularly strong vocals and a fine whistle solo, and the mournful "To a Highlander Unknown," with a notable traditional flute solo at the end. A lively "Doin' Quite Alright" boasts excellent vocal harmonies, bodhran and bones.

Otherwise, there aren't many stand-out tracks here. That's not to say it's a bad album -- it's actually quite fun, particularly during the live set. But Old Material: 1984-1986 is probably going to appeal to devoted Spirit of the West fans more than to casual listeners.