Dreamer
Classified Forum Moderator
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The Pogues
"Hells Ditch"
1990, 2004
Rhino
Rock/Punk/Celtic
**********
I recently picked up the new "remastered & expanded" release of the Pogues' "Hells Ditch", and boy-o-boy, doe this disc rock! I'm a HUGE Pogues fan, and have always liked their stuff, but didn't own the original release of this album. I spotted this new "remastered" version (with 7 bonus tracks!) in a Sam Goody yesterday, and grabbed it. Believe me, if you are a Pogues fan, you will have no regrets.
If you're not familiar with the Pogues, imagine that the Sex Pistols, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, and the Chieftans all got together and fathered an angry but VERY talented octet. That's the Pogues...
Anyway, this album has all sorts of attitude, with that driving Irish anger that fuelled the Pogues original rise to fame. This is the last record they made with front-man Shane MacGowan, and although some of their "middle" albums were a little unfocused and lackluster, this one brings back that beautiful Joyceian Celtic angst that burned like a shot of potcheen in the first 2 Pogues discs. And the digital remastering work on this new re-release is very good--you can hear all those slippery frets, frantic breaths between stanzas, and even much of that ubiquitous stage chatter that Irish musicians of all sorts seem to believe is integral to their genre.
In short, if you like the Pogues, get this disc. If you're not familiar with the Pogues, get it anyway--you may find you like them.
If you're not a Pogues fan, den wha da 'ell's wrang wit ya...
--Richard
The Pogues
"Hells Ditch"
1990, 2004
Rhino
Rock/Punk/Celtic
**********
I recently picked up the new "remastered & expanded" release of the Pogues' "Hells Ditch", and boy-o-boy, doe this disc rock! I'm a HUGE Pogues fan, and have always liked their stuff, but didn't own the original release of this album. I spotted this new "remastered" version (with 7 bonus tracks!) in a Sam Goody yesterday, and grabbed it. Believe me, if you are a Pogues fan, you will have no regrets.
If you're not familiar with the Pogues, imagine that the Sex Pistols, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, and the Chieftans all got together and fathered an angry but VERY talented octet. That's the Pogues...
Anyway, this album has all sorts of attitude, with that driving Irish anger that fuelled the Pogues original rise to fame. This is the last record they made with front-man Shane MacGowan, and although some of their "middle" albums were a little unfocused and lackluster, this one brings back that beautiful Joyceian Celtic angst that burned like a shot of potcheen in the first 2 Pogues discs. And the digital remastering work on this new re-release is very good--you can hear all those slippery frets, frantic breaths between stanzas, and even much of that ubiquitous stage chatter that Irish musicians of all sorts seem to believe is integral to their genre.
In short, if you like the Pogues, get this disc. If you're not familiar with the Pogues, get it anyway--you may find you like them.
If you're not a Pogues fan, den wha da 'ell's wrang wit ya...
--Richard
