The Pogues "The Pogues in Paris: 30th Anniversary Concert at the Olympia" (2012) (live)

The Pogues in Paris: 30th Anniversary Concert at the Olympia (live)
release date: 2012
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5]

[ playlist ]

2-disc live album by The Pogues for this occasion consisting of Andrew Ranken, Darryl Hunt, James Fearnley, Jem Finer, Philip Chevron, Shane MacGowan, Spider Stacy, and Terry Woods. It's nice to hear the old guys play together again, playing some of their finest songs but it's also rather evident that Shane MacGowan hasn't put the alcohol behind him. The album has been released as a triple lp, a double cd, and various releases with a dvd-disc of the concert. I really don't know how to rate this. It's nice to hear and see them play but Shane's performance... - he's a legendary singer and composer, his name will live on, but seeing and listening to his singing is almost pathetic.

The Pogues "Hell's Ditch" (1990)

Hell's Ditch
release date: Nov. 6, 1990
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: Joe Strummer
label: Island Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "The Sunnyside of the Street" (5 / 5) (live in 2012) - 2. "Sayonara" - 3. "The Ghost of a Smile" (4 / 5) - 6. "Summer in Siam" (4 / 5) - 7. "Rain Street" - 10. "House of the Gods" (4 / 5) - 11. "5 Green Queens and Jean"

5th full studio album by The Pogues produced by Joe Strummer who had become more and more engaged in the band's activities and from '91 served as official substitute for MacGowan. I have always liked the album more than is easy to explain. I find it better than Peace and Love (1989) but it's also obvious that it's not on the same level as the two great full albums and the ep from 1985-88. My guess is, Hell's Ditch has a considerable amount of Shane MacGowan's signature (9 out of 13 tracks), which easily lifts the album above average. However, the band struggles just to hang on, as MacGowan's alcohol problems are beyond difficult. Apparently, some tracks were more than difficult to record as he was almost never sober but I think Strummer has done a great job finding that "edgy tone" of theirs, which is not just mainstream pop / rock but also a crossover of pub rock and celtic rock with parts of folk punk. The album is the last to feature founding member, vocalist and primary composer Shane MacGowan, who was permanently sacked from the band after this release as he was unable to help promote the album on the following tour, where Strummer substituted on vocals. MacGowan went on making music and in 1994 he released new material with the full studio album The Snake in his new band Shane MacGowan and The Popes.
[ allmusic.com hands it 3 / 5 stars ]

The Pogues "If I Should Fall From Grace With God" (1988)

If I Should Fall From Grace With God
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 ]

The Pogues "Poguetry in Motion" (1986) (ep)

Poguetry on Motion, ep
release date: Feb. 24, 1986
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Elvis Costello
label: Stiff Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "London Girl" (4 / 5) - 2. "Rainy Night in Soho" (4 / 5) - 3. "The Body of an American" (4 / 5) (live) - 4. "Planxty Noel Hill" (3,5 / 5)

4-track studio ep by The Pogues, released after their breakthrough album Rum Sodomy & the Lash from 1985, and like that these tracks were produced by Elvis Costello. The band has been expanded with guitarist Terry Woods, but it was also the last album to feature founding member Cait O'Riordan who married Costello in may '86. Stylistically, this is close to the two great albums of '85 and '88. A song like "Rainy Night in Soho" sounds much like an early blueprint of the band's famous Christmas song "Fairytale of New York", which would appear on the '86 album. The first three tracks are credited MacGowan and the last instrumental track is credited banjo-player Jem Finer.

The Pogues "Rum, Sodomy & the Lash" (1985)

cd version

Rum, Sodomy & the Lash
release date: Aug. 1985
format: cd
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,33]
producer: Elvis Costello
label: Stiff Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn" (5 / 5) - 2. "The Old Main Drag" (4 / 5) - 3. "Wild Cats of Kilkenny" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "I'm a Man You Don't Meet Everyday" (3,5 / 5) - 5. "A Pair of Brown Eyes" (4,5 / 5) - 6. "Sally MacLennane" (5 / 5) - 7. "Dirty Old Town" (3,5 / 5) - 8. "Jesse James" (3,5 / 5) - 9. "Navigator" (3,5 / 5) - 10. "Billy's Bones" (4 / 5) - 11. "The Gentleman Soldier" (3 / 5) - 12. "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" (4,5 / 5)

2nd studio album by The Pogues following less than a year after the fine debut. By now the band has expanded to a septet with the addition of guitarist Philip Chevron. This is the best combination of folk(lore), celtic rock, and punk rock I have ever come across. If many artists find the follow-up to a promissing debut a hard and difficult move, which has often resulted in poorer albums, The Pogues really got everything right here, as I think it's simply their best ever album. Elvis Costello produced the album and I think, he succeeded pretty good in finding the right combo of Celtic folk tradition and folk punk energy, and then he was perhaps also the right choice for the simple reason that he wasn't a great producer but instead focused on not tampering with what worked so fine. In the end, he made sure to record the music as is - live in the studio without traditional post-production.
Red Roses for Me was interesting and is by no means a bad album but on this one they simply turned up the punk rock element, which was more subdued on the debut paying more attention to folk and celtic rock in a traditional perspective. Shane MacGowan was on top and wrote and sang at the peak of his career also distinguishing this from the debut by having less traditional songs and more tracks composed by MacGowan, who actually had been foreseen as an upcoming author long before making music. Much like the band's music is filled with references to life on the edge, in the shadows, with streams of alcohol and a life at an everlasting party, Shane is infamous for having lived life in the fast lane and soon became notorious for his alcohol abuse as well as his lifestyle with no regrets, or at least that's how it seemed.
This very album remains their manifest and legacy, I think, and it's enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". A 2004 cd-reissue of the album also contains the 4-track ep Poguetry in Motion (1986) as bonus tracks.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com, Sounds 4,5 / 5, Mojo, Q Magazine 5 / 5 stars ]

1985 Favourite releases: 1. Ry Cooder Paris, Texas (OST) - 2. The Smiths Meat Is Murder - 3. The Pogues Rum, Sodomy and the Lash

org. album cover