Track Listing

1. Sick Bed of C�chula�nn
2. Old Main Drag
3. Wild Cats of Kilkenny [Instrumental]
4. I'm a Man You Don't Meet Every Day
5. Pair of Brown Eyes
6. Sally Maclennane
7. Pistol for Paddy Garcia [Instrumental]
8. Dirty Old Town
9. Jesse James
10. Navigator
11. Billy's Bones
12. Gentleman Soldier
13. Band Played Waltzing Matilda

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #377451 in Music
• Released on: 1995-02-07
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import

Album Description
Produced by Elvis Costello, this is the second album by the Pogues, first released in 1985 on MCA in the U.S. on LP and cassette, but never on CD. This WEA/ Stiff edition features all 13 of the tracks found on the American release,including 'Sally MacLennane', 'A Pair Of Brown Eyes', 'The Sick Bed Of Cuchulainn', 'Dirty Old Town', 'The Band Played Waltzing Matilda', 'I'm A Man You Don't Meet Every Day' and 'Wild Cats Of Kilkenny'.

Amazon.com
Produced by Elvis Costello, the Pogues' second album brilliantly courted Irish drinking music with the thornier aspects of punk. Cait O' Riordan would eventually marry the producer and leave the band, but Shane MacGowan always made it his show and here he exploits his barfly voice to full effect. "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" is worthy of Tom Waits, while "A Pair of Brown Eyes" is as sentimental as he gets. The addition of Uillean pipes, fiddle, and horns make this a grand statement about how all music can be filtered down to blood and guts and made to rock. --Rob O'Connor

Customer Reviews

A rare bird: a truly original album
The Pogues and the Mekons proved that punk was more attitude than anything. Just as the Mekons blended punk with country and produced something that was as edgy as anything that had come out before, so the Pogues, playing what on many levels seemed to be traditional Irish folks music. But unlike much Irish music (which I nonetheless love), there is no nostalgia at work here. There is no longing for a largely demised culture here, but traditional forms expressing contemporary experience. Moreover, the Pogues dealt with subject that more traditional Irish bands were have preferred to ignore: prostitution, dissipation (as opposed to mere drunkenness), and hopelessness. From first to last this album proclaims that life ain't pretty.

Although the Pogues were a great band down to every last member, the heart of the band was Shane MacGowan, who managed to convey a down-and-outer just this side of the DT's and death. His vocals drive every song he sings upon, and he is remarkable for the way he can sound utterly dissipated and yet still sing with remarkable emotion. Although he writes many of the album's songs, his finest moments are on songs written by others, such as their version of Ewan MacColl's "Dirty Old Town" and Eric Bogle's "The Band Played Waltzing Maltida." MacColl's version is lovely and only slightly melancholic, sounding almost more like a tin pan alley number than the haunted version that the Pogues would produce. MacGowan doesn't remake Eric Bogle's great anti-war song to the same extent, but the way he passionately tortures every syllable creates one of the most amazingly vocal performances on record. To this day, the Pogues's version of "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" remains my favorite version of that great song, as well as my favorite Shane MacGowan performance.

While MacGowan was the heart and soul of the Pogues, it truly was a great band, and not merely a showcase for MacGowan's remarkable vocal talents. He wasn't the only excellent singer in the band, as the remarkable performance of "I'm a Man You Don't Meet Everyday" by Cait O'Riordan, who ceased playing base for them after this album to marry the album's producer, Elvis Costello. While the Pogues may not match the better traditional bands in their instrumental prowess, they nonetheless stood alone in their depiction of the seamier side of life. And no traditional bad possessed a singer with the demonic passion of Shane MacGowan.

I'm on the fence as to whether this album or IF I SHOULD FALL FROM GRACE WITH GOD is my favorite Pogues album. I listen to both often. This one is a bit rawer and is less polished, and might therefore edge the other one, but then there are no epic masterpieces (except for "The Band Played Waltzing Maltida") on RUM, SODOMY, AND THE LASH to match "Fairytale of New York" or "Thousands are Sailing." I'll close by adding that the title of this album could very well be my favorite in the history of rock. The title, in fact, expresses perfectly the spirit of the album.

Drink to Shane's masterpiece!
Too often, If I should Fall from Grace With God is at the top of many lists of Pogues fans, but their real masterpiece has to be their prior album, an album with a good mix of traditional Irish songs with a dose of the Pogues passion for punk, and some of Shane Macgowan's best originals.

Of Shane's original songs, The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn is a great opener, with the lyrics of a drunken Irishman (like Shane)and raw punk power. Shane gives one of his best vocal performances, speeding his vocal through such lines "And in the Euston Tavern/you screamed it was your shout/but they wouldn't give you service/so you kicked the windows out/they took you out into the street/and kicked you in the brains/so you walked back in through a bolted door and did it all again." Shane tells tales like a classic Irishman, but with the zest of punk rebel.

But the Pogues can be sad, as they weave their way through Shane's "Pair of Brown Eye's" or add spice to Eric Bogle's wartime tale "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" where Shane tells the tale with such sincerity that he presents himself as the showman no one ever believed Shane could be with his reputation.

The Pogues have fun on a couple of songs too. Particularly joyful is the rendition of "The Gentleman Soldier," which with the Pogues having as much fun as they are, sounds more like a Monty Python skit in the making than a tradition Irish song, as Shane rushes his way through the songs two characters with such humor and glee.

Irish music fan, pogues fan, punk fan, or just a music fan will find something on this album that's a celebration of all great things about music.

GUNS A-BLARIN' WHISKEY BEARIN'
This is the Pogues at their guns a-blaring, whiskey bearing best. From the sick bed to the battlefield and back, they put the "ire" back into Ireland with all the blood, guts and glory they can muster. This record perfectly captures the Pogues at the height of their powers.

For sordid woe, you can't top "Old Main Drag". "A Pair Of Brown Eyes" is one of the finest ballads Shane MacGowan has ever penned. Musically, lyrically & vocally he's in fine form here. Blazing instrumentals like "Wild Cats Of Kilkenny" & "Pistol For Paddy Garcia" go to show that The Pogues were far more than a backing band.

In terms of traditional folk, the likes of "Dirty Old Town" & "Gentlemen Soldier" are tossed into the mosh pit and spat out re-invented. The whole thing climaxes with probably the best recorded version of "Waltzing Matilda" since Tom Waits' nod on SMALL CHANGE.

If you're looking for something on par with IF I SHOULD FALL FROM THE GRACE OF GOD, lend an ear to this & their debut, RED ROSES FOR ME. Then it's time to sift through the ragged remains of HELL'S DITCH and PEACE & LOVE. Don't waste your money on the Best Of compilations, get this ROSES and FALL instead.