The Pogues - Red Roses for Me

1ST DAY OF MARCH

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 it.

Lyrically & musically, MacGowan was on the top of his game. And would remain so for 2 more albums. "Boys From Country Hell" remains one of my all time favorites. The same goes for "Down In The Ground". Instrumentals like "Repeal" go to show that the rest of the band were no joke.

To put it into perspective, this just about blew away everything else I was listening to in the 80's. It made my Smiths records cower in fear. They bee-yatch slapped REM. Justly gave the finger to Goth acts like Bauhaus & The Cure while being more death obsessed than either. If they had a showdown with post London Calling Clash, The Pogues would have outdrew them at the time of this release. It was a breath of fresh, foul air.

Far from a novelty act, they had a knack for making old songs sound new & new ones old. Listening to it again some 19 years later, Red Roses still doesn't sound dated. Truely the sound of a bunch of drunken pirates setting their ship on fire. Their pistol blarin' best next to RUM SODOMY & THE LASH. After that, they FELL FROM GRACE & PEACE & LOVE dumped them off into HELL'S DITCH. From which they never recovered. May 20, 2008

Another Great Pogues CD

Between this , If I Should Fall From Grace, and Rum Sodomy and The Lash the Pogues produced a spectacular body of work. All 3 CDs are great in their own way. On Red Roses For Me the band combines traditional Irish tunes with their own unique sound and Shane MacGowen never sounded any better than he does here. Great lyrics and fabulous music. You can't miss here. August 12, 2007

The Pogues RULE!

I really like the way The Pogues combine a classic Irish sound with their own style. These are great songs for partying and gambling, and in general just being festive. May 15, 2007

Four Roses

Grab yourself a pint of four roses --don't walk-- run for the roses--the Pogues best discs are back in print with this great remastered re-release--and raise a frosty mug with me to this delightful brew. January 20, 2007

FIVE KILLER TUNES WORTH THE PRICE OF THE ALBUM; A BLESSING FROM IRISH HEAVEN

I moved from one double wide to another one across the street and never got to opening all of my literature boxes, until late at night a wee leprachaun, no wait, it was the voice of Shane MacGowan or whatever croaking about the Leaving of Liverpool and forcing me to open up all these boxes and put everything away and find me once again to hold you in your lonesome exile.

Not only do you get two great old tunes made big by Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers, here done rowdy like they ought, but you get That Auld Triangle, about back when the British Empire controlled their surplus Irish colonial population under the blessing of that devil Malthus by stealing all of their food and claiming famine (there was plenty of food in Ireland at that time all going to London), or transporting everyone to Australia and the penal colonies, or jailing all the men for ridiculous charges like wearing green or refusing to get evicted from their own lands and homes as if they were Palestinians.

But do not get me started. Listen over and over to the Auld Triangle.
And cheer up with the Leaving of Liverpool, especially that wild shout after One More Time is called. This is music, man. Hear it now.

And of course Down underground deserves to be heard a few times, although the creepy sound effects grow wearisome.

And then play the Clancy Brother songs and remember the tears of your old dad. I just wish A Parting Glass was on this collection so I didn't have to pull out the other disk! I guess that's what some folks use their iPod for, but hey . . .

A great comfort in exile or any time. What else has been recorded this late; what else is there to listen to? Def Leperd? Dear god!

That Auld Triangle is calling me even now.

I met Spider while filming ALex Cox's Walker in NIcaragua twenty years ago, and did not realize then who he was. Otherwise I'd have begged him to play that Triangle on the tin whistle he ever carried with him, and one which he shines so clearly and truly on this album.

By the way, the title comes from Dublin playwright Sean O'Casey. Check him out, too. January 3, 2007

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