Distinguished by its use of stringed instruments, pipes and fiddles, Celtic music incorporates the folk music of Ireland and Scotland with influences from areas as remote as Wales and Cornwall. Pertaining to regions of Great Britain situated outside England, Celtic music is a term that covers traditional folk and contemporary Celtic rhythms, which often combines the instrumentation of the genre with New Age ambiance and spirituality.

Foster and Allen have been refining their Celtic stylings since the mid-1970s, garnering international acclaim and success in both the commercial and worldbeat charts. Tony Allen, born and raised in Mount Temple, Ireland, had been playing professional guitar since 1968, while Mick Foster, a native of County Kildare, had been playing the piano accordion since his teens. In 1996, the single After All These Years created their debut in the United States. To date, the Irish duo have sold over 18 million units worldwide.

Partners In Rhyme also includes an intimate live performance from singer/songwriter Isla Grant. Although this review concentrates on the Foster and Allen segment featured on this disc, the criticism of both the video and audio also applies to Isla Grant Sings.

Partners In Rhyme Track Listing / Running Time: 47:27

1. Partners In Rhyme
2. Putting On The Style
3. Blueberry Hill
4. Among the Wicklow Hills
5. Heartbeat
6. The Queen of the Fair
7. Born To Be With You
8. Lovely Leitrim
9. Cottage In the Country
10. Dwyer’s/Dawd’s No. 9
11. Far Away A Light Is Burning
12. The Galway Hornpipes / Sean Ryan's Hornpipes
13. Foster & Allen Interview

Isla Grant Sings Track Listing / Running Time: 50:26

1. Over The Years
2. What’s A Girl To Do?
3. Mother’s Chair
4. Lovely Lough Conn
5. Love Me Tonight
6. How Great Thou Art
7. The Little Shirt My Mother Made Me
8. Mother
9. Cottage In The Country
10. Only Yesterday
11. A Single Yellow Rose
12. Listen To The Children
13. Like You Always Could Do
14. Will You Walk With Me

Partners In Rhyme is presented in a 4:3 screen aspect ratio, and is not anamorphic.

Visually, this transfer from Warner Vision is a travesty which should have not even warranted mention of a release. Although there are no evident MPEG artefacts, nearly every frame of this presentation is subjected to copious amounts of either aliasing, moiré, or grain. Excessive use of edge enhancement is rife in some instances, and, more incredibly, there are brief moments - blink and you will surely miss them - of linear blips appearing on screen.

These anomalies would seem to validate the argument that Partners In Rhyme is transfered directly from VHS.

To matters worse, Partners In Rhyme is not a live presentation. Instead, it attempts to adopt a MTV video mentality - using Allen’s inept direction and ridiculously over-zealous actors to create an emotional link between the visuals and songs. I have no doubt that their intentions were sincere, but the result is a production which degenerates into a cheesy and ham-fisted effort. In their sporadic appearances, both Foster and Allen seem justifiably embarrassed.

In comparison to the video, the audio is of higher standard. Presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, there is no apparent low-level noise and vocals, harmonies, and instrumentation are very clear. There is no sound drop or evidence of audio distortion.

There are no extras, unless one includes the Isla Grant Sings feature.

The presentation of Partners In Rhyme is nothing short of atrocious, with a picture quality that would have been acceptable for VHS, but not DVD. If you are a Foster and Allen fan, do not - under any circumstances - purchase this disc. Either obtain a copy of their latest CD release, or wait until Warner Vision decide to produce a title that is worthy of public consumption.