CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Just Look Them Straight in the Eye and Say...Pogue Mahone

by: The Pogues

Release Date July 01, 2008
For fans of the Pogues this is a no brainer, packed with previously unreleased material that will satisfy years of craving more from the band. Some below have complained that the set contains too much filler. For me this is like manna from heaven- great new tunes, several interesting covers (Do you believe in magic ) and good instrumentals. Well worth the wait.

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

If I Should Fall from Grace with God

by: The Pogues

Release Date September 19, 2006
I played Fairytale of New York when I was breaking up with Dona 20 years ago; it made the "it's not you, it's me" sound plausible. The Pogues never were this good again, and I did like Hells Ditch and some of their other stuff, but this is their best. Every song is good. A couple were in the movie Straight to Hell, which was a lost classic. Angsty, sweaty and sweet. A classic.

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Rum Sodomy & the Lash

by: The Pogues

Release Date September 19, 2006
What can be said about the Pogues? One of the greatest song writing bands in history. Shane is a genius and somewhat of a drinker I hear. I think I'll get a beer...

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

The Very Best of The Pogues

by: The Pogues

Release Date April 11, 2001
The Pogues ROCK! 'Nuff Said. BUY THIS ALBUM FOR SOME ROCKIN" CELTIC FOLK!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!


Gonzo

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Red Roses for Me

by: The Pogues

Release Date September 19, 2006
Oft overshadowed by the glories of Rum, Sodomy & Fall From Grace, the Pogues' debut captures the band at their most gritty and raucous. With originals like "Streams Of Whiskey" & "Dark Steets of London", frontman Shane MacGowan not only established himself as a formidable songwriter but a man with a mission: to bring Irish Music kicking & screaming into the 20th Century. As for traditionals, they didn't tip their hat & pay their respects so much as assault--whipping any sense of nostalgia into a pulp to get to the heart of the song.

I'd say their version of "The Auld Triangle" remains definitive, leaving the Clancy Brothers choking in the dust. The same goes for "Kitty". Its beauty offset even more by the reckless abandon that surrounds ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

The Ultimate Collection

by: The Pogues

Release Date March 14, 2005
This is a two-disk set comprised of a greatest hits volume and a live CD. Both are very good engineering and the pair is worth the price.

If you saw "PS I love you" you heard the best song of this collection, "Fairytale of New York" was played at the wake and not released on the soundtrack of the movie. Kirsty MacColl is simply an amazing singer and this is one of the best of a wonderful set of songs from both the 'best' and the live' CDs. I'd normally gripe about a repeat, but how can you?

"The Irish Rover" with the Dubliners is another highlight of the live set. The recording was made at Brixton Academy and that's one live set I wish I could have attended! Great engineering, too, for a live CD.

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Hell's Ditch

by: The Pogues

Release Date September 19, 2006
While more cohesive than PEACE & LOVE, this one is truely the last gasp. Or final straw. Like PEACE, this is the sound of making 2 different albums on one. The Pogues do their best to hold the fort, but only seem to tag along with MacGowan's increasingly garbled whims. Or vice versa. Perhaps it's a little of both.

Though he seems to have almost abdicated vocally, its MacGowan's songwriting that keeps this record on its feet. "Sunny Side Of The Street" & "Ghost Of A Smile" are great pop songs, marred only by MacGowan's slurred delivery. It seems not even the presence of producer, Joe Strummer could keep him interested. Throughout the album (any chemical issues aside) he sounds like his heart isn't in it.

Elsewhere, the title track & the ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Peace and Love

by: The Pogues

Release Date September 19, 2006
The record cover pretty much says it all. This is a bare fisted brawl of a record. The sound of egos & artistic differences duking it out, bloodying noses & blackening eyes. Atleast behind the scenes. Pity it doesn't sound that way.

While The Pogues seemed to want to distance themselves from Irish Music & "experiment", frontman Shane MacGowan stubbornly stuck to his guns. If they only listened to MacGowan. Though an arguement could be made for it being "diverse", truth be told, this is their least cohesive album. In light of their preceeding work, possibly their worst. There's a general malaise on this album. Of being exhausted & not wanting to admit it. But all is not lost, I mean this is The Pogues after all.

With the exception of ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Rum Sodomy & the Lash

by: The Pogues

Release Date September 29, 1998
Ah the Thatcher years! Ah, The Pogues, and to think they've reunited, and even more implausible, that Shane is not only alive but still performing. When I last saw him a few years ago on a telly doc. his incoherence shockingly expressed a man in tragic disarray. He defies Rock's archetypal mythology of doomed premature deaths of its incandescent heores. As a friend, known to me for his Punk affiliations rather than his sobriety, confided, The Pogues were a group he avoided at the height of their powers in the London pub scene. They were just too loud. Songs from 'Rum, Sodomy and the Lash' are what he would have heard. Even in the sanctity of your home, its raucous, committed sound, its unique blend of existential angst and Folkish romance, will shake the fabric of walls and ear ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Pogue Mahone

by: The Pogues

Release Date February 27, 1996
There are a few attention-getting tracks on the album, but most of it left me merely absent-mindedly toe-tapping. I was thinking of re-selling it, but then sat down and listened while reading the lyrics: there are near a half dozen strong songs (1,3,6,10,13) plus two outstanding tracks (5,8). Most lyrics are by band members (and Spider sings them understandably), but an extreme case is "When the Ship Comes In": unremarkable music made dramatic by Bob Dylan lyrics.

So not as strong as other Pogues albums, but it's no slacker, especially if you usually pay strong attention to lyrics, and consider passing otherwise.