Track Listing

1. For Boston
2. The Legend of Fin MacCumhail
3. Which Side Are You On?
4. The Rocky Road to Dublin
5. Heroes From Our Past
6. Forever
7. The Gauntlet
8. Good Rats
9. The New American Way
10. The Torch
11. The Fortunes of War
12. A Few Good Men
13. Ramble and Roll
14. Caps and Bottles
15. The Wild Rover
16. The Spicey McHaggis Jig

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12836 in Music
• Brand: DROPKICK MURPHYS
• Released on: 2001-02-06
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .18 pounds

Album Details
New Album from the Boston Punk Band which Sees them Touch Folk in a Pogues Style Whilst Still Incorporating their Street Punk Style. The Miraculously Still Alive Ex-pogue Shane Macgowan Guests on the Song 'good Rats'.

Amazon.com
Though possessing a heavy-duty indie history featuring such luminaries as the Pixies, Mission of Burma, and Throwing Muses, Boston is also famed for its booze-sodden Irish exile rock. And the Dropkick Murphys--clearly influenced by the Pogues at their most uproarious--are the cream of the present crop. Yet this is not simple jigging traditionalism. Despite employing bagpipes, mandolins, and tin whistles to add Celtic flavor to their sound, these guys are full-blown punks, harking back to the immediate post-Pistols era of the Angelic Upstarts. The riffs here are fast, heavy, and purposefully uncomplicated. The vocals are an impassioned gabble, usually building to terrace chants, while the lyrics are consumed by the plight of the working class in modern-day America and the need to keep a tight grip on Irish history. The Pogues' Shane MacGowan contributes a garbled but charismatic rap on the racy "Good Rats." The Murphys are also capable of heartfelt acoustic numbers, as evinced by the melancholic and impressively melodic "The Torch." --Amazon.co.uk

Customer Reviews

Boston's Finest Raise Their Glasses Once Again
The Dropkick Murphys have matured like a fine Bushmills on this record, and the results are just as satisfying. Losing none of their punk rock/Oi! fury, but mixing in some classic rock-n-roll, as well as strengthening their Irish folk, this album blends "Do or Die" seemlessly with "The Gang's All Here."

I've already heard "Sing Loud, Sing Proud" described as a perfect cross between Cock Sparrer and the Pogues, and I'd be inclined to agree, but also toss in a healthy dose of Rose Tattoo and/or AC/DC as well, and you have the makings of another classic from the Boston crew.

Opening with the Boston College fight song, the album is heavy on the cover songs. The old folkie/protest "Which Side Are You On?" works wonders (as good as Billy Bragg's version) and the old Irish standbys of "The Rocky Road to Dublin" and "The Wild Rover" get the proper DKM treatment, as do the remakes of "The Legend of Finn MacCumhail" (one of their best, if not THE best, B-sides) and "Caps and Bottles."

Of the originals, I find myself going back to "Heroes From Our Past" most often and feel that is represents all the DKM strengths to a tee: anthemic, grand lyrics, top notch musicianship, and Spicey's bagpipes all make this my favorite track.

Speaking of the Pogues, Shane Mac turns up for "Good Rats", which to me, is the DKM answer to all those old Clancy Brothers/Dubliners tunes they listened to: a light-hearted story about an infested Dublin brewery. Not meant to be taken too terribly seriously, so don't.

"Forever" and "Fortunes of War" touch on deeper subjects like loss of family and friends and come across as excellent as well.

Rose Tattoo and AC/DC (possibly Slade?) rear their heads on "The Gauntlet" and "Ramble and Roll", a rock-n-roll lifestyle-inspired ditty.

Things also get acoustically anthemic for "The Torch" with it's warnings of racism/hate passing from generation to generation and "A Few Good Men" with it's "Sing Loud, Sind Proud" refrain.

The closer, a jig dedicated to the best piper in punk rock, "The Spicey McHaggis Jig" is great as well, a none to PC romp through a night in the life of Spicy.

All in all, a great third effort from the Dropkicks. Only one complaint: Why is the F.U.'s cover on the Japan-only release?

So, enjoy this album like you would the aged Bushmills: take mass quantities, shoot it down, savor it, and do it all again.

Simply the Best
i know there are still a lot of people who are really bent out of shape that Mike left the band and was replaced by ex-Bruiser front man Al Barr, but if you listen to this album you will see that Al is every bit as good for this band as Mike was. No more of this "they sound too much like the Bruisers" crap i keep hearing, because DKM has gone full circle with their latest. SING LOUD, SING PROUD is closer in style to DO or DIE, by keeping truer to Irish Influence Ruck N Roll, but this one has much greater emphasis on Traditional Irish Folk Sounds. The band even brings in a classic song from their BOYS ON THE DOCKS E.P. called "Caps and Bottles" from way back in the days of Mike.

Some of the best tunes on this one are "Rocky Road to Dublin" the American Working-Class anthem "Heroes Of Our Past" and "The Torch" a beautiful folk tune that goes beyond any of their past work. It reminds of "Far Away Coast" from DO or DIE, in that it is a very personal and beautifully written acoustic song. Other songs to keep your ear on include the humurous "Good Rats" with ex-Pogues singer/songwriter Shane McGowan (is that spelled right?) and a cover of a classic Irish drinking tune "The Wild Rover" which is just as good as "Finnegan's Wake" or "The Fighting 69th."

The album has less of the Thundering Hardcore style sounds THE GANGS ALL HERE had, but still keeps the HC influenced Punk sound alive and kicking with "Fortunes of War," "The Gauntlet," and the big Finale "The Spicy McHaggis Jig" a song about one of DKM's newest additions, Bagpiper Spicy McHaggis.

Even though Rick Barton has retired from the punk rock Road (with DKM at least), the bands two newer guitar players never miss a beat and do a damn good job of picking up where Rick left off. With the additions of Bagpipes on their songs regularly, and with a tin whistle and mandolin to help, the band is much more able to pull that ever-loving Irish Folk sound that inspied them off succesfully. And as long as Ken and Matt are still writing great Irish-Punk songs, this band is going to have quite a future ahead of it.

This is simply the best work that Dropkick Murphys have done to date.

Their best
Grab your scally caps and down a Guinness, cuz those no-good-Irishmen are stirring up all kinds of trouble again (and it sounds amazing!). Sing Loud, Sing Proud! perfectly describes the album: every song either forces you to sing along, or demonstrates enough intensity to make you bang your head against the wall (and most songs are a little of both). Bassist Ken Casey steps up with his Clash-style singing and splits the vocal duties with the deeper, throaty grunts of ex-Bruiser Al Barr. Songs like the pro-union anthem "Which Side Are You On?" set the standard for Casey and Barr alternating vocals, and the results are awesome. Dropkick has always paid great respect to their roots, and continues to honor their ancestors on "Heroes From Our Past." "The Rocky Road to Dublin" is one of two traditional Irish songs, combining Casey's vocals with a great jarring beat and tin whistle. They don't waste any time showing off their hometown pride with the opening track "For Boston," featuring bagpipes over the fastest beat I've ever heard from the band. Even legendary Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan contributed some liquored-up vocals on "Good Rats," the honest-to-god tale of the secret "ingredient" in Guinness beer... rat shit. This album shows a great deal of social awareness by the band, such as retelling the story of slain punk Brian Deneke in "The Fortunes of War." Similarly, "The New American Way" makes a great point about the insane rate at which America locks up its citizens. Furthermore, the lyric sheet revolves around a quote from Martin Luther King about unity - just to remind everyone that oi ain't only for the racists. "Forever" shows a suprisingly sensitive side of the band, with a slow, well-written track about a lost loved one. One of the few acoustic selections is "The Torch," which laments passing down the wrong values to the next generation. Surprisingly enough, the album ends on a screw around song about the bagpipe player screwing around with the larger ladies. The second guitarist, bagpipes, tin whistle, and mandolin are now permanent members of the Boston crew. The melodies are great, the chanting is irresistible, and this is surely among the best stuff the band has put together, so sing loud!