release date: Jan. 18, 1988
format: vinyl / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,12]
producer: Steve Lillywhite
label: Pogue Mahone / Warner Music Group - nationality: England, UK
Tracklist: 1. "If I Should Fall From Grace With God" (4 / 5) - 2. "Turkish Song of the Damned" (4 / 5) - 3. "Bottle of Smoke" (3,5 / 5) - 4. "Fairytale of New York" (feat. Kirsty MacColl) (5 / 5) - 5. "Metropolis" (4 / 5) - 6. "Thousands Are Sailing" (4 / 5) - *7. "South Australia" (3,5 / 5) - 8. "Fiesta" (5 / 5) - 9. "Medley" ('The Recruiting Sergeant' / 'The Rocky Road to Dublin' / 'The Galway Races') (4 / 5) - 10. "Streets of Sorrow / Birmingham Six" (3,5 / 5) - 11. "Lullaby of London" (4 / 5) - *12. "The Battle March Medley" (2,5 / 5) - 13. "Sit Down by the Fire" (3,5 / 5) - 14. "The Broad Majestic Shannon" (4,5 / 5) - 15. "Worms"
* Bonus track on cd issue
3rd full studio album by The Pogues marks one of the bigger changes in the members list of the band. Founding member, bassist and backing vocalist Cait O'Riordan left the band after marrying Elvis Costello in 1986. On bass she was replaced by Darryl Hunt, but also multi-instrumentalist Terry Woods was a new member. The band's label Stiff Records was no more and the band founded their own label Pogue Mahone but the distribution part was handled by Warner Music Group in Europe and by Island Records in the US, which launched the album with an entirely different cover. The original vinyl album contains 13 tracks of which two are traditionals, 9 are written by Shane MacGowan, one by Jem Finer, and one by new guitarist Phil Chevron. The original cd version contains 15 tracks and a 2004 reissue 19 tracks. The band now consists of eight members. The album is the band's highest ranked album in the UK making it to number #3 on the national album charts, and it contains its best selling single ever: "Fairytale of New York" (written by Shane MacGowan and Jem Finer), which would turn out as a very popular Christmas song. The album is one of the band's best ever, and it's deservedly included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com hands it 4,5 / 5, Mojo and Sounds 5 / 5, NME 10 / 10, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]
