If I Should Fall From Grace With God

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Wed Feb 02 2022

5

A fat lip. A throbbing head. A full heart. It is observed that the Tibetan people (whose country and culture remains illegally occupied and oppressed by communist China) are among the happiest on earth, despite their circumstances. Their recipe? A constant contemplation of the everpresent reality of death that becomes their catalyst for the enjoyment of every moment, this moment. It’s all gravy, they giggle. Understand? I’ve found the Irish possessing a similar ability to dance in spite of their shackles, but not of the same fruit of active detachment from the illusionary external world of which the eastern religious traditions bring awareness; rather, the Irish find/choose joy in the midst of their active engagement with the muddy world, as well as the spirits that abide in it: whiskey (ponder why, exactly, alcohol has been classically identified as a spirit), followed by a good dust up, and then another whiskey. At some point, a weeping, snot nosed, good cry is in order. And all accompanied with music and song, dance, and fall. Another round of whiskey! There is an intentional and unwaverable attitude of joy in the Pogues’ music and lyrics, despite the worst that life (or the devil and all his fallen angels, sometimes even God himself) can bring. The Irish don’t raise a glass to celebrate poverty and oppression. They toast the Irish spirit, the human spirit, who rages against and endures the worst that life brings. Who fight it tooth and nail. Whose dying words echo the concluding lyrics of this LP- even when the worms be crawling in and around your brain, ‘Be merry, my friends. Be merry.’ Sweet Mary, Jesus, and all the saints, can’t the Pogues wander, musically: from traditional Irish folk music amped up a might with a punk edge. Celtic sounds pared with Latin flare. When did a Turkish song of the damned ever propel a person to dance a jig to salvation? Or singing 'The Rare Old Mountain Dew' in the drunk tank on Christmas Eve ever transfigure into something as earthly-holy as the feeding trough in Bethlehem in which the baby Jesus slumbered? ‘Metropolis’ even introduced this listener, at least, into the genre of Celtic jazz! Lyrics? Where do we begin? I’ve not heard anyone, other than the Pogues, use both the words ‘fuck (ed, ing, er, etc)’ and ‘Jesus’ in the same song (‘Bottle Of Smoke’) and with reverence for the meaning and importance of both. As expected, there’s plenty of love for the immigrant experience and celebration for the promised land of opportunity in America. Irish are certainly among the most grateful immigrants of the freedom and opportunity America provides. But so are Latinos and Africans, for whom the Pogues also sing. This LP, this band, is so much more than only ‘Irish.’ And yet, nothing less, somehow, too. Hey, what do I know? I’m WUI anyway, from my home, on a snow day in Denver (2 feet and rising.) Is it happy hour, yet, across the Alantic, to the east? My great-grandfather, Papa Hall Delaney, was an Irish immigrant and worked on the western U.S. railroad, eventually settling in San Francisco before he died, forcing my great grandmother, Nanny, to move back to Pasadena, Texas, where she lived out her days in a small apartment above the garage in the backyard of my grandparent’s home. At 29, when this LP was released, I was barely even aware of my Irish roots. I was spirited enough, that’s for sure, and too familiar with spirits, but not yet spiritual, Celtic or otherwise, so I didn’t’ know shite. Over the years, I’ve become more than familiar with the best and worst Irish blood can bring: an unfortunate propensity to the overindulgence of alcohol, an exaggerated and sometimes violent reaction to fear and despair, an uneasy alliance with church and society; but, also, a love of hearth and song, a longing for reconciliation and peace with Creator and creation. Caressing the beads of a rosary in morning devotion, after fishing it out of the toilet where it accidentally fell the night before- the Word became (too?) flesh. This is Irish, for me, in a sentence. Better yet, I believe this lyric in ‘Sit Down By The Fire’ kinda says everything one needs to know about the Pogues, this terrific LP, and the Irish and/or Irish-American experience in general: ‘Remember this place. It is damp and its cold. The best place on Earth. But it’s dark and its old. So lie near the wall and cover your head. Good night and God bless. Now fuck off to bed!’ I’ll conclude with Ireland’s greatest and most loved and loathed (and so, soo Irish), writer, Oscar Wilde: ‘We are all in the gutter. Some of us are looking at the stars.’ And raise your glass (and if you don’t already have one full, we’ll wait………………………………………………………………………………………………………….) for this most famous of Irish toasts: May you be in heaven a full half hour before the the devil knows you’re dead. I love ya all- that’s Jesus and the whiskey talking (and so, me…), Mark.

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Fri Sep 10 2021

5

Fuck, thats bordering a 5 So much good energy. Fuck it, it was funny as hell

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Tue Apr 06 2021

2

diddly dee done by the diddly dee masters. 19 songs is far too much diddly dee. my tolerance to diddly dee is about 3 songs, at that point i look for a different pub.

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Mon Feb 22 2021

5

I'm obligated culturally to give this at least three stars, but the extra two stars are for its incredible quality as a piece of music.

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Mon Feb 21 2022

5

I don't like folk music. Therefore this isn't folk music. It must be some obscure subset of punk.

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Wed May 25 2022

5

As a disaffected youth, I got interested in my Irish background and asked for an album of Celtic music for Xmas one year. I got a James Galway album. Now, no disrespect to Mr Galway or the person who gave me that gift, but they can póg mo thóin, especially after I realised that this album could’ve been my Xmas present that year.

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Fri Aug 19 2022

5

I love the Irish and sea shanty vibe, an album to put on for adventures and light-hearted pillaging :)

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Tue Sep 13 2022

5

Celtic instrumentation and themes melded with punk style and enthusiasm? Yes, please!

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Sat Mar 13 2021

5

This is just a completely classic album in every respect, with some absolutely historic songs. It's intensely replayable, and I really liked some of the deep cuts, like South Australia and Thousands are Sailing. Just completely HITS the Irish Diaspora that one. Some weird choices with the Spanish-themed tracks? But I dig it all.

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Sun Jan 31 2021

5

One of my all time favorite albums.

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Mon Apr 05 2021

5

i will always love the pogues, especially in their earlier days. there's hardly a poet out there who measures up to shane, and i hope the music always hits me right in the heart. i still love rum, sodomy & the lash more than this one, but they're both 7-star albums in my book.

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Tue Apr 06 2021

4

Booze-soaked Irish fighting music plus one improbable Christmas smash and one God awful novelty hit.

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Fri Dec 10 2021

4

A poppy, accessible and musically upbeat take on traditional Irish folk. The album incorporates a lot of other styles, but all somehow within an Celtic folk rock framework, which holds it together. A couple of ubiquitous classics - Fairytail of New York and Fiesta. A fun album, but with depth. A triumph. 4.5/5

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Mon Dec 05 2022

4

I'm not a big connoisseur of Celtic music but if I am ever in the mood for the genre, I go to the Pogues. They weave punk in with the folk and more traditional styles so well. 'Fairytale of New York' in particular is probably my favorite Christmas-themed song. In general a very fun, listenable album. Standout Tracks: If I Should Fall from Grace with God, Bottle of Smoke, Fairytale of New York, Fiesta, Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six, Lullaby of London, The Broad Majestic Shannon

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Thu Dec 15 2022

3

When this music lands, it lands woth aplomb. When it misses, it's just kinda a soft flub.

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Sat Jan 30 2021

2

The Folk completely kills all the excitement of the Punk. Pretty boring.

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Tue May 24 2022

2

Don't care much for The Pogues in general and Shane McGowan in particular. Love traditional music, but not in a punk style. I like my traditional music traditional.

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Fri Jul 29 2022

1

I went through a slight Pogues phase when I was maybe 20, and listened to their albums now and again across my 20s. Listening to this album now does not compel me to listen to them more. I found the album dull. Drunken lads doing drunken lad things, battles, male sadness. The Pogues did expose me to the first time to traditional Irish music, and I appreciate that; sometimes today I do listen to traditional Irish music. But I find the Pogues wallow in the music a bit too antic, and often tedious. Not for me.

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Mon Nov 21 2022

1

Second album by The Pogues on the list, and I'm guessing it won't be the last. From here on out all Pogues albums will be getting a one from me. I'm not big on Irish folk music to begin with, but Shane MacGowan's drunken wailing makes it absolutely insufferable.

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Fri Jul 02 2021

5

Punk roots! Grass roots!

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Wed May 26 2021

5

Lovely album. lots of variety All good

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Tue Feb 02 2021

5

обязательное 5!

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Sat Jan 23 2021

5

yesss

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Sat Jan 23 2021

5

Brilliant

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Fri Feb 26 2021

5

Takes me back to Sunday arvos at Duggan’s. The diversity in the tone of this album make these go up the order of favourite songs, and rustle my inner Irish Jimmies

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Wed Apr 07 2021

5

Very funny!!!

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Sat Mar 13 2021

5

Me encanta este estilo

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Tue May 04 2021

5

On of my all time favourites.

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Sat May 22 2021

5

Een album puur amusement! Maakt vaak niet uit wie de groep is, maar dit genre is gewoon 100% m'n ding

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Tue Apr 13 2021

5

In Manhatten’s desert twilight in the death of afternoon, we stepped hand in hand on Broadway, like the first man on the moon. And a blackbird broke the silence as you whistled it so sweet, and in Brendan Behan’s footsteps I danced up and down the street. Adios!

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Mon Jun 14 2021

5

Fairytale of New York!

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Thu Jul 22 2021

5

Really dig this, I'd heard of the Pogues and I must have heard a song or two in the past since it's very familiar. It's Punk, it's Irish folk, it's Polka, lots of surly vocals and lyrics with a solid accompaniment using all kinds of instruments. Metropolis is almost like an orchestral piece. Definitely adding to my playlist. They cover a lot of ground in this album but it all lands.

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Wed Aug 04 2021

5

August 3, 2021 I really enjoyed this! Again this one fuses two different styles of music I already enjoy. Looking forward to more of this.

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Fri Aug 20 2021

5

This is why I love this album a day thing. This album

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Wed Sep 01 2021

5

Favs: If I Should Fall from Grace with God, Fiesta, Lullaby of London, Sit Down by the Fire, Thousands Are Sailing Mehs: No mehs. Irish rabble-rousing tunes: guts, soul, and dancing. Great fun. Only The Pogues sound like The Pogues.

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Wed Sep 01 2021

5

Excellent album, so good I listened twice back-to-back.

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Thu Sep 09 2021

5

An absolute classic.

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Wed Sep 29 2021

5

Really liked Turkish Song of the Damned Metropolis reminds me of Batman for some reason... The Irish Rover, how can you *not* sing along to this cracker!

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Mon Oct 04 2021

5

Amazing album. Just has all the feels. Good one for vinyl.

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Tue Oct 26 2021

5

Loved it. So energetic!

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Wed Nov 03 2021

5

An absolute riot! So much fun to listen to and a surprising amount of range for a band who might be considered a pissed up, one-trick pony. From the moment the accordion refrain kicks in, leading the title track, we're on a wild ride into either glory or oblivion, and feeling like either one is deserved. Together with the frenetic tempo, and MacGowan's vocals, the overall feel is jubilant yet jaded, triumphant but angry... all at once. A fantastic way to open an album, and I can't see anybody listening and not wanting to either dance on the table or sink a thousand pints. If that doesn't do it, the following 1-2 of "Turkish Song of the Damned" (that amazing outro jig) and "Bottle of Smoke" certainly will. It's all brilliantly orchestrated, with rich instrumentation from accordion, tin-whistles, banjo, mandolin and cello to some unexpected brass in "Metropolis" and "Fiesta". MacGowan's voice is not going to be to everyone's taste, but it's often sweetened by unison accordion lines or backing vocals. It also suits the material perfectly: he's magnetic as a drunken storyteller from the bottom of someone's glass, in equal measure revelling in chaos, sharing his history, lamenting his situation. Nestled in amongst the frantic knees-ups are songs that feel like moments of lucidity, featuring either down-and-out deadbeats or Irish heritage. "Thousands are Sailing", "Streets of Sorrow" and "Lullaby of London" are heartfelt and sincere, weaving their narratives and characters perfectly into the music. I haven't even mentioned the most famous offering, "Fairytale of New York": for all its bitterness, it somehow (deservedly) broke through to become embedded in UK culture as a favourite Christmas song of all time. But here, it's just one of many brilliant character portraits. I was tempted to mark this down because "Worms" is such an odd, left-field closer, but there's so much greatness elsewhere on the record that one duff minute at the end can be forgiven.

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Wed Nov 10 2021

5

YESSSSSS! The title track sets up this celtic rock masterpiece. Turkish Song of the Damned is a thundering folk piece. Fairy Tale of New York is a ballad of a drunk sung by a drunk. Like quite honestly, his voice is sooooooo bad. Fiesta is a lot of fun. Worms is a great closer.

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Mon Nov 29 2021

5

have to listen more of this :)

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Mon Dec 06 2021

5

Loved it!

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Fri Dec 31 2021

5

This was very very good. And even though it contains the accursed fairytale, it also has a version of the Irish Rover with the Dubliners. Fiesta isn't bad either.

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Sat Feb 19 2022

5

Just perfect in its execution against its aims. "It was Christmas Eve in the drunk take" is an all-time opening line -- in song or literature. Who knew the Irish lads could do Turkish and Spanish and Aussie so well? (Well, we knew the Aussie a bit.) Just not a wrong foot placed here, in spite of the legendary sloppiness. Great fun besides. Only quibble would be the relative lack of singalong "smash hits" here vs other records which lacked the consistent ambience or pervasive depth of this one.

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Mon Feb 21 2022

5

The differnt style, the crazed lyrics and the urgency make this a solid album. But what I enjoyed was that it was fun all the songs were bangers.

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Mon Mar 07 2022

5

Makes me wanna learn Scottish dancing lol

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Sat Mar 26 2022

5

idk yet

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Mon Apr 04 2022

5

🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜🟧🟧🟧🟧 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜🟧🟧🟧🟧 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜🟧🟧🟧🟧 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜🟧🟧🟧🟧 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜🟧🟧🟧🟧 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜🟧🟧🟧🟧

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Tue Apr 12 2022

5

Really cool Irish folk/punk music mashup. Some really memorable interesting music here. The lead singer can be very mumbly at times, but this is probably the progenitor of stuff like Bedouin Soundclash, Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, Gogol Bordello, etc.

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Mon Apr 18 2022

5

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Thu Apr 21 2022

5

Great album - feel like I have known it all my life. A defining album of its era

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Thu Apr 28 2022

5

Loved it

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Mon May 02 2022

5

Awesome stuff! I don't think I'd heard this Pogues album before, but I think I like it even more than "Rum Sodomy & The Lash"! The addition of Spanish and Turkish influences really does good things... Fave track - "Thousands Are Sailing", maybe, though I'm sure more listens would offer other favourites to choose from!

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Wed May 25 2022

5

Folk-Punk now there's a Genre and these lads are the pinnacle of this particular scene. Such an influential band, mixing the storytelling of Irish Folk music with the energy of the Clash. some lovely songs here with Shane at his imperious best as the main vocalist. Love "Bottle Of Smoke" "Turkish Song Of The Damned" and of course the classic "Fairytale of New York" with one of my personal favourite female vocalist Kirsty MacColl. Great album rightfully on the list in my opinion.

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Sun Jul 10 2022

5

This is really something else, joyful, unabashed, and gets you up and dancing. I hadn't considered the brilliance of The Pogues as well, like most people I'd overdosed on that bloody Christmas song. But this is a real brilliant musical education. Fab many times over.

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Mon Aug 15 2022

5

A joyous album when compared to Rum Sodomy and Lash. Some of the bands best work and such an interesting mix of many different styles of music. Now I am off to do a jig

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Mon Aug 22 2022

5

Like with a lot of these bands, I’ve heard of the Pogues but never heard anything by them. Upon first listen, I really dig them. I love Madness and I can clearly see they were influenced by this band, and I love when dark lyrics are put on a happy and upbeat background. I grew up listening to polkas and this takes me back there in a way. These songs really rock and I want to add them to my playlist, but I’m hesitating because I feel like this music doesn’t belong to me? Like I’m somehow not allowed to listen to this because I’m not an Irishman during the trouble. Unlike the other albums I’ve listened to so far, this band and album have carved out a distinct place in history and I’m really not sure it still holds up today, but still great to listen to for the history and the pure fun of the album. Shane’s screams between refrains are really delightful. His voice in general adds a very unique razor blade edge to the otherwise vanilla instrumentation. Everyone is obviously very talented and it comes through in their music. Thoroughly good album that I’ll be returning to. The last album generated for me was Let it Be by the Replacements, made for 16 year old rebels. This album is for those rebels, now 20 and entering adulthood still with their rebel spirits. My favorites: If I Should Fall From Grace with God, Turkish Song of the Damned, Birmingham Six, Sit Down By the Fire

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Sun Aug 28 2022

5

How can you go wrong with classic Irish folk/early Irish punk? Wonderful album, start to finish.

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Wed Sep 07 2022

5

I gave up drinking a few months ago. For the last 20 years, I’ve gone hard on the piss – I don’t have the full-time alcoholic gene, but I fall very easily into a pattern of spending all my spare time either drunk or hungover. As a result, giving up alcohol at 38 has left a vacuum in my day-to-day life where lots of things just aren’t the same anymore. If I Should Fall from Grace with God is one of those albums that’s basically perfect on every front. The songs are incredibly well written – IMO the worst song on it is the hit single – and the band manages to sound both sloppy and tight at the same time, which is a huge achievement. MacGowan’s more of a wordsmith than a lyricist. It runs the full gamut of working-class existence, from working a shitty job, to having a punt, to going on a cheap holiday… drinking yourself stupid the entire time. It somehow celebrates its own misery. I can’t explain it any better than that, but it makes Springsteen seem like a 3rd-grader by comparison. To tie these points together: my entire adult life I’ve idolised this album and Shane MacGowan. More accurately, The Pogues have been the house band to a life spent mostly sozzled. It’s one of the few times you can feel genuinely good about being a stinking-drunk piece of shit. “I’m not a wastrel! I have the soul of a poet!” and so on. I don’t have many “oh my god, I wish I could crack a beer right now” moments, but hearing this album for the first time since going clean sorta brang one on. It didn’t worry me; mostly it simply drove home just how legitimately excellent the album is. But it is also a bittersweet thought: despite what they tell you, not EVERYTHING improves when you give up drinking. 5/5.

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Thu Sep 22 2022

5

From my viewpoint this is the best Pogues release. It it stylistically varied, yet cohesive. In many ways adventurous as they move way beyond the Irish folk/punk mix of their first two discs. It is hard not to fall under Shane MacGowan's irascible charm A very happy album about troubled times and bleakness. Plus, one of the greatest Christmas songs of all time.

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Sat Sep 24 2022

5

The best part of this, program, for lack of a better word is that it reminds us all to revisit favorite albums that were important during a certain time and in a certain place. This is just such an album. for me And what a great album. The Pogues best in my opinion. All great songs that allow the memories to come flooding back, (Streets of Sorrow / The Birmingham 6, literally brought me to tears). And other songs, like Turkish Song of the Damned, Bottle of Smoke, If I Should Fall From Grace and of course the iconic Christmas tale of wretched characters that is Fairytale of New York, simply one of the greatest songs ever written. So yes this is an easy 5 star album for me, but I am admittedly biased. As an aside it led me to play other forgotten and underrated Pogues albums like the way underpreciated Peace and Love, I encorage you to check it out if you are new to The Pogues and enjoyed If I Should Fall From Grace (but only after Rum Sodomy and the Lash)

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Fri Sep 30 2022

5

just wow... come in knowing nothing u hear will be the tone of the album other than it is a cultural mesh of fun 🤣

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Tue Oct 04 2022

5

Great album, I will listen many times

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Mon Oct 10 2022

5

So many good songs on this album. Shane at his best (the band always was).

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Wed Oct 12 2022

5

Again a no brainer. One of the best collections of music by a truly inspired band. Shane's ability to create memorable melodies is other worldly.

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Tue Oct 25 2022

5

I do love this record.

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Wed Oct 26 2022

5

Fun, snarky, upbeat and cynical. Heartbreaking euphoric anthems.

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Wed Oct 26 2022

5

Such a unique sound to it , I love it

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Wed Nov 02 2022

5

Ovo i rum sodomy and lash su mi najdraži pougesi

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Fri Nov 11 2022

5

I think this has most of the Pogues songs i know on it. A really good time.

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Sat Nov 12 2022

5

The album that made me first fall in love with The Pogues. Shane MacGowan sounds drunk through half the songs, and he probably was. But it works. Such a great mixture of Celtic music and punk long before The Dropkick Murphy's was a thing. I like 'em both, but The Pogues will always top that list. Listened to this one a ton back in the day, and it was wonderful to revisit an old favourite

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Tue Nov 15 2022

5

Irish magic!

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Wed Nov 16 2022

5

I’m about 50 albums In and this is my second Pogues album. Based on those odds I have about another 18 Pogues albums to listen too, which I’m excited for. The first album I thought was going to be gimmicky but I was blown away at the sincere and awesome attempt at Irish Punk Rock. This album was the same, but different. I feel like it didn’t have the highs and lows of the first album but it was just such a greatly constructed passionate album. It’s clear they have a live for the style of music and it sold me. Nothing was half assed. I’m a fan and look forward to however many more Pogues albums managed to make the list

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Thu Nov 17 2022

5

An outstanding album, full of vigour and snarl and joy. The songwriting is extraordinary, real emotion, full of pathos and fully realised stories. Fairy Tale of New York has not lost its lustre after all these years and Bottle of Smoke is one of the great songs: an inveterate gambler celebrates his bet coming in, a fifty to the wife, fivers for the kids, everything is right, everyone else is wrong and this is my last ever bet even though the listener knows this to be untrue. Brilliant storytelling.

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Thu Jul 28 2022

5

Just fantastic! I bought this album when it came out and although I don’t listen to it very often now I still absolutely love it. It ranges from the political ‘ Birmingham Six’ to the almost Shakespearean, epic treatise on mortality - ‘Worms’, the words of which I still recite at people. ‘Fairytale of New York’ is still the best Christmas song ever. The lyrics and arrangements and beautiful musicianship make this an absolute classic. Rousing!

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Tue Nov 22 2022

5

I'd checked out the pogues a big cuz big name in certain circles but didn't realize how dope they were. This was probably my favorite unfamiliar album I've done on this thing. 5 stars is an exaggeration but nobody reads this anyway...

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Wed Nov 30 2022

5

Finally, my time has come, an Irish band. I honestly think Fairytale of New York might be the only reason this album is on this list. This kind of music is reserved for being played live in pubs in my mind. Not a sit and listen on Spotify type of album. But that doesn't make it any less fun to listen to. 5 Stars for being Irish.

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Wed Dec 07 2022

5

Punk-folk celta. Vinilo.

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Tue Dec 20 2022

5

Super album…

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Sat Dec 24 2022

5

When folk, punk and whisky came together, something brilliant happened. It starts with the rousing title track, after which the musical journey continues through various landscapes. A modern version of the Irish traditional The Broad Majestic Shannon is effortlessly alternated with the dreamy Lullaby of London and the uptempo carnavalesque Fiesta, which again is very different from the melancholy of (Christmas) single Fairytale of New York, in which the late Kirsty MacColl sings. An absolute masterpiece

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Sat Dec 31 2022

5

Amazing. I just love this sound. The raw energy and attitude of punk paired with the universally understood melodies and chords of Celtic music. Have the accordion and flute paired with fast drumming is so engaging, and the most punk thing about the band is their ability to slow down and play a ballad as well. I love this sound and it makes me nostalgic to a place I have no connection to!

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Mon Jan 23 2023

5

This album may as well be part of my DNA… loved it as a kid, love it just the same now.

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Wed Jan 25 2023

5

This was brilliant from start to finish. The biggest downside was listening to one of the most famous Christmas songs in March. I honestly enjoyed every song but 'Thousands are Sailing' was a stand out. The opening song just gets the juices flowing. I nearly ran to Pogue Mahones Bar in town to order a Guinness. I will gladly return to this album many times

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Wed Sep 21 2022

5

A classic. Title track, Turkish Song, Fairytale, and Lullaby of London are all phenomenal. The expanded edition is a little long, but all of the extra songs are good (especially those Dubliners collabs). Worms was weird. As a whole, this is unique, brash, confident, energetic, and gorgeous. May not be for everyone but definitely a record everyone should listen to.

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Sat Mar 11 2023

5

So, my only real experience with The Pogues up to this point has been Fairytale of New York, which I think is one of the greatest Christmas songs. However, seeing that on here I wasn't sure if the rest of the album would be like that too, and I could have seen myself getting a bit bored with a whole album of that sort of thing. I was pleasantly mistaken! This proved to be a wonderful Celtic punk album with plenty of that Irish folk flair but also with a bit of Turkish and Spanish influence in a few songs. It was rocky enough to keep me hooked, but that wonderful Celtic folk instrumentation paired with Shane McGowan's gruff voice makes me want to find a cozy village pub with a warm fire, have a couple of drinks and simply celebrate my place in this big scary world. This was a really pleasant album that I liked a lot more than I was initially expecting. Favourite: Bottle of Smoke

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Thu Mar 16 2023

5

classic

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Fri Mar 17 2023

5

Inte fullt lika bra som Rum, sodomy and the lash men tillräckligt bra för toppbetyg.

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Tue Apr 04 2023

5

Bloody Banger. Love it. Love the Pogues. Live Laugh Pogues. Fiesta gets me going, heart racing, bloody pumping.

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Tue Apr 11 2023

5

Two words: Irish punk. I love it. Mountain Dew is my favorite track, it’s just fun.

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Wed May 03 2023

5

LP

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Fri May 05 2023

5

Celtic jazz? Spanish guitar?? Christmas ballads!? All cemented together via drinking-fighting Irish belters??? "Be merry, my friends. Be merry". It's bloody hard to be anything else listening to this. Top craic

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Sun May 07 2023

5

So many great songs here. Not much to say except that it's an easy 5.

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Thu May 11 2023

5

I have always loved this album for years, but hadn't listened to it straight through for a long time - maybe a decade? It is even better than I remembered! Great songwriting, amazing instrumentation, and is distinctive enough you'd never confuse it for anything else ... overall, it just oozes talent. Need to listen to this one more! 5/5

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Sat May 20 2023

5

This is a great album. I've been a fan of it for years and getting it here was a treat after having to endure The Libertines yesterday. Every track is enjoyable, the title track is infectious (it was even in a Subaru commercial some years ago) and Fairy Tale of New York is the best Christmas song ever (fight me). There's simply nothing that I don't like about this album.

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Tue May 23 2023

5

I just always find Celtic Punk scratches all the right itches, and this is no exception. I'd say I particularly enjoy that sometimes the Celtic and Punk Elements are not evenly balanced, which brings a welcome diversity of sound.

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Tue May 23 2023

5

My only gripe with the last album is that it got a bit too samey; I guess they listened, because this was an extravagant, varied masterpiece.

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Thu May 25 2023

5

If I'm being brutally honest, this isn't quite as good of an album as Rum Sodomy & The Lash. But... it has Fairytale of New York on it... So five stars it is!

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Tue May 30 2023

5

wow

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