The Pogues - The Ultimate Collection ( 44 Tracks )
|
List Price: Our Price: $12.39 You Save: $12.59 (50%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $7.55 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for The Ultimate Collection ( 44 Tracks )
Free Music Review: FUN CD
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a great CD for all festive occasions. The Pogues are a timeless band and this is a great CD if you are new to these amazing Irish Rockers.Free Music Review: Excellent Beginner's Guide + Live Celebration
Hit: 4 Stars
If there is little or no Pogues in your collection, and there most certainly should be, this could be a great place to start, as disc one gathers all their most influential material; the singles, key album tracks and even a B-side (The Repeal Of The Licensing Laws), while the soul of the band is laid bare on the second disc, the previously unreleased reunion concert that took place over two legendary nights at the Brixton Academy on the lead up to Christmas 2001, with Shane MacGowan back with the band for nearly all the lead vocals (so far as I can tell Spider Stacy takes the lead on Tuesday Morning, Terry Woods sings Young Ned of The Hill, Phil Chevron sings his own Thousands Are Sailing and Lila MacMahon guests with Shane on a rousing Fairytale Of New York), and the band themselves, augmented by the Fiesta Horns, on excellent, sometimes riotous form.
The only obvious omission that I can see is their first single, Dark Streets Of London; however as this is on Red Roses For Me, which you will doubtless be acquiring shortly after playing disc one, this is not a great problem. It would have been an idea, though, to have included the original single as this differed from the album version and is hard to find.
A few notes about which versions have been used where more than one exists: Rainy Night In Soho is the remix that first appeared on the CD release of the Poguetry In Motion EP (the original vinyl mix seems to be unavailable on CD). The Irish Rover, If I Should Fall From Grace With God and A Pair Of Brown Eyes are all the remixed single edits; The Boys From The County Hell is the cleaned-up single version. Only Rainy Night In Soho is duplicated on the expanded editions of the parent albums.
Free Music Review: Another Collection ?
Hit: 4 Stars
Yes, another Pogues collection. But this one includes their live set from their 2001 reunion. The first disc is a collection of most of their most well knows tunes, no real lost gems or anything. Still makes for a great listen, coincidentally this was released just a few weeks before St. Paddy's day. And also to capitalize on their recent reunion in Dec. 04. As of today they're apparently regrouping to play soem shows in Japan too, so this could the first of a few new release from the awesome band.
The second disc is a great live show from 2001. Great energy and excellent sound make this a must for anybody. Shane Macgowans voice isn't a soulful as it once was, but he still puts out 100%, even though any between song banter is a little hard to decipher. The band are in great form though, and I think/hope they will be putting out soem new material in the next few months. 4 starts just because there's nothing new here.
So, crack open a Guinness and turn this mofo up.
Cheers.
Free Music Review: Poor Sound Quality
Hit: 3 Stars
I hate to be the dissenting voice here, but the sound quality on this album just doesn't have the same warmth as that on The Very Best of the Pogues. On the compilation CD, it's overproduced and sounds as though the mixer wanted to emphasize MacGowan's lyrics at the expense of the instruments. The vocals on the studio version of "Young Ned of the Hill," not by MacGowan, are nearly indecipherable.
The live album has its ups and downs. On the first several tracks, one of the stringed instruments has something wrong with its feed and sounds like randomly occurring electronic noise by comparison with the rest of the music. When I first heard the CD, I was so startled that I'd assumed my phone was ringing. Oddly enough, though, on the live album "Young Ned of the Hill" comes out splendidly. "Fairytale of New York" is good, but Kirsty MacColl did it better (not that there's anything that can be done about this). One of my favorites, "If I Should Fall from Grace with God," comes out abysmally.
As for the track choices, I'd have liked to have had the studio version of "Turkish Song of the Damned" added and "Fiesta" or "Summer in Siam" removed, but so be it.
Overall, the album's not bad; the sound quality's just lacking that extra "something" present on The Very Best of the Pogues.