release date: Feb. 27, 1996
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]
producer: Steve Brown, Stephen Hague
label: WEA Corp. / - nationality: England, UK
7th full studio album by The Pogues. After the last album with founding member Shane MacGowan, Hell's Ditch (1990), the band continued playing with Joe Strummer as a mere temporary substitute, but for the next album Waiting for Herb (1993), Strummer was no longer part of the band. Instead, tin whistle and harmonica player Spider Stacy [aka Peter Stacy] and multi-instrumentalist Terry Woods took over the singing parts, and the album was made up of songs composed by almost all members of the band. I don't have that album on any media, as I find it of little interest and below average. For this, the band has found back to some of the music that gave them their most positive reputation by playing celtic rock, and the title ('Pogue Mahone' is Gaelic for 'Kiss my arse') was actually the name of the band before settling on the shorter version. It's not music to traditionals but still, in that spirit, and that's the most interesting part. I don't find the single songs on level with any of the best by The Pogues with MacGowan but I do think that they regained some of their former status with this album. Founding member guitarist James Fearnley, as well as guitarists Terry Woods and Philip Ranken had all left the band and 3 new band members: David Coulter on guitar, James McNally on guitar and accordion and whistle, and Jamie Clarke on guitar was new replacements in the band. So the only remaining founding members left are Spider Stacy, now on vocals only, and Jem Finer on banjo and guitars. After this, also Jem Finer left the band, and the album remains the last studio album by The Pogues but the band was kept alive as a concerts playing band with a new members list from time to time. 2001 saw many of the former band members re-unite for a Christmas tour, which meant that Shane MacGowan, James Fearley, Andrew Ranken, Terry Woods, and Phillip Chevron were all back together, and they have stayed together, although, MacGowan is often heavily under the influence of alcohol and other drugs.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]
