Dropkick Murphys - Warriors Code (Dig)
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Free Music Notes for Warriors Code (Dig)
Free Music Review: Did they beat the drum slowly...
Hit: 5 Stars
Another excellent release from the Dropkick Murphys! On this album they manage to do it all, from straight-up rockers, to more traditional Celtic-inspired tunes, with even a touch of political commentary thrown in. The standout tunes for me are: "Captain Kelly's Kitchen", "The Green Fields of France", and of course "Tessie". Here's my thoughts on each track:
Your Spirit's Alive - Love the slow, mellow pipe opening that explodes into the full band barrage. Very quick tempo, upbeat song, pure DKM! 4.5/5
The Warrior's Code - Another upbeat, pure DKM rocker, the story of boxer Micky Ward (whose picture is on the cover of the CD) 4/5
Captain Kelly's Kitchen - Probably my favorite song on the CD, love the vocal trade-offs. Traditional rowdy pub song given that special brand of DKM magic! 5/5
The Walking Dead - OK song, not sure about the chorus. 3/5
Sunshine Highway - Love the catchy "pop song" chorus, great instrumentation on this one, radio-friendly DKM. 3.5/5
Wicked Sensitive Crew - DKM shows off their humorous side, pure tongue-in-cheek fun, love the intentionally erroneous reference to Micky dying in Rocky II (two rhymed better then three). 4/5
The Burden - DKM departs from their Celtic-influenced sound on this straight-up rocker. Did I hear keyboards in there? 3/5
Citizen C.I.A. - DKM makes a strong (albeit somewhat tongue-in-cheek) political statement with this one. 4/5
The Green Fields of France - Wow, this is different! Really mellow, traditional funeral dirge sound. DKM makes a real departure from their rocking punk sound to create this masterpiece, love it! 5/5
Take It and Run - Okay rocker, nothing to reall distinguish it from the rest. 3.5/5
I'm Shipping Up To Boston - (Words by Woodie Guthrie) - DKM does a great job filling out the sound on Guthrie's sparse lyrics. Any song about Boston is DKM, right? 4/5
The Auld Triangle - Love the mellow flute/piano beginning, catchy chorus, the pipes return! 4/5
Last Letter Home - Awesome, touching song written for the soldiers serving in Iraq. Check out the liner notes for the story behind this song. 4.5/5
Tessie - Added sound clip of the Sox winning the series last year. Pure classic stuff here. If you're from New England, this song's for you! 5/5
Free Music Review: Much Better
Hit: 5 Stars
To start: I'm not a kid, but I really didn't feel like registering, so I'm sure you guys can let that slide. Anyway...
This album really helps. I loved "Do or Die" for it's fast fighting songs, "The Gang's All Here" for it's great introduction of Al Barr, coupled with several good songs, and "Sing Loud Sing Proud" for it's great drinking ballads. Then "Blackout" hit, and I thought "what the hell man?" This wasn't the Murphy sound I remembered, and had also attracted an enormous fan following based upon that album alone, with no prior knowledge of the former great work the band had done. But despite the mobs of new "fans" and the not to wonderful sound of the album, I stuck with DKM, knowing they would make up for it. And they have.
What you are going to see on these review pages are poorly written reviews about how "Do or Die" was better, and DKM has BETRAYED them, but these are simply people who think they're the entire fanbase, and are selfish enough to think they should have a say about what the band does. I want you to forget them.
But anyway, the album. It's a great mixture of the older sound of the band and some newer stuff, "The Green Fields of France" being a slow-ish song, and one of my favorites from the album, surprisingly enough. If you are a fan of the Murphys, you should certainly pick up this album, especially if you are choosing between it and Blackout. While all in all, this album takes a slight backseat to the older stuff, it's still great, and I'll stick with the band despite their choices.
The rundown of this long-winded interview: Despite what you might hear from certain angry people, this album is great, and the band will stay great, despite the disappointment that was Blackout. Every band is allowed one bad album, and this band recovered very well from theirs.
Free Music Review: DKM turns in best effort to date
Hit: 5 Stars
I have been a Murphys fan for years and I couldn't wait to buy this disc when it came out. I had Blackout and Live on St. Patrick's Day already and I wanted to add to my collection. So I drove up to Kmart and bought it in the middle of a thunderstorm, popped it in the player and started listening. However, between the sound of the defogger, the rain, and the wipers, I pretty much missed the CD. When I got home, I was less than happy with what I had heard, I thought that the album sucked and that I had just wasted 13 hard-earned dollars. So I set it aside for a week. Then I was taking a roadtrip, so I decided to pop it in again and give the album another shot (in better weather, mind you).
That's where that story ends and this one begins...
This album is awesome, what more can I say? The opener was hard-hitting, as was the second track. Notable is "Green Fields of France." This is a great slow song, even if they didn't write it and the emotional impact of it is intense. In contrast lies "Last Letter Home" of similar subject matter, but more personal, tragic and triumphant, defiance in the face of death. "Auld Triangle" is deeply affecting as well, a great traditional tune brought up to speed. And even though the album ends best with "Last Letter Home's" scalding closing guitars (and a listen of it should definitely finish with this song), tacking "Tessie" on to the end was more than appropriate, for God sakes, the Sox won! A DKM album without reference to hometown sports would be sacrelige!
In summation, a great album, their best, solid all around, deeply affecting and also a rollicking good time. Highly recommended.
Free Music Review: Summer's Knockout Punch
Hit: 5 Stars
Just when I thought the summer was a musical dud--Gimmicky Dual Discs and over-hyped bands of mediocrity- THE MURPHY'S DELIVER!!!
Blackout was the best album of that year to me-Great songs, great power chords, clever, meaningful lyrics, Blackout put the band not just at the top of Punk or Irish Punk, but right in there with just a plain and simple great album of all time.
The Warrior's Code is just as good and, heck, I just got it, it might even be better. There's something incredibly special about this band that trancends genres. Like the late Joe Strummer and Rancid, the Murphy's not only embrace Punk, but elevate it to its truest art. They wrap a punk ethic around richly textured power guitar hooks, bagpipes, now some piano-, and snarly perfect vocals-- You put that all together and you have something worth listening to finally this summer.
There's also always a healthy dose of humor and irony in their lyrics (Wicked Sensitive Crew) and they don't disappoint if you want to know where they're coming from politically (its what Punk is all about!).
The first 4 songs burn in their Punk Ethic and then they get almost straight up rock and roll with Sunshine Highway- which is a great song. The Green Fields of France is the only "slow" song on the album but it is also one of the best they have ever recorded (But they didn't write it...). Even the bonus Track Tessie will blow you away.
The Dropkick Murphy's are not only a great Punk band, but one of America's greatest bands period.
Free Music Review: They just keep getting better
Hit: 5 Stars
listen, i first heard dkm on a punk compilation probably seven or eight years ago, and i immediately took to them. being of irish heratige, i felt that connection in the pit of my gut and i've always really liked them. all their albums are good, although i didn't really like "the gangs all here" as much as the other ones cause it didn't have enough irish sounding stuff on it. "blackout" was really good but my favorite will probably always be "sing loud, sing proud". i hiked across ireland last summer and pretty much listened to nothing but dkm, and it felt right. ANYway, this album made me smile within the first thirty seconds, and had me pumping my fists and singing along and jumping around like a loon. whenever i hear bagpipes i get all warm inside and feel nostalgic for ireland. it's one of those things i can't properly describe to anyone, it's just there in my heart, and this album definately made me feel that way. they are totally growing as musicians and songwriters with each new album, and i couldn't be happier for them. they just keep getting better. and the end result of that is "the warriors code". i want to say it's perfect, but i know in a couple of years they'll blow my mind once again.
basically, these guys are the absolute bomb, and if you don't like their music, i feel sorry for you. damn sorry.