Within a Mile of Home [Import]

So, how good are they? Well, if you like folk metal (or whatever it is they're calling it this week) here's a clue...
I have been a big fan of the Dropkick Murphys for a few years now and haven't had the chance to see them live. I'd give an arm and a leg for the opportunity. My wife said to me the other day (as a wind up it turned out) the DKMs and FM are playing on the same night, how's that for luck? Which would you rather see? FM won hands down.

I found the band through the 'People who bought this also...' bit on this site and thought I'd give one album a go, so bought Drunken Lullabies. That album didn't leave my CD tray until Swagger and Within A Mile turned up a week or so later, waiting for payday as I was. Swagger is a bit hit and miss but there is enough there to justify buying the thing.

So, this album. I'm not going to comment on individual tracks otherwide I'll be here all day. There is not a single track that I do not like or tend to skip and I don't think I can honestly say that's ever happened before in twenty odd years of buying records. So, it gets 5 stars... another first.

While listening to this album you can't help but dance as the band belt their way through every single track at a million miles an hour. The music that Flogging Molly produce is absolutely infectious and will have you singing along for weeks - a truly inspirational, exciting, and fun album that will be entering your CD player at parties for years to come. There are 15 amazing tracks on this album and not a single one of them fails to impress. The fact that the band have mandolin, accordion, fiddle, and whistle really make them truly original and all the more fun to listen to. You will be left wanting more after this album comes to an end as it is just so enjoyable! I think you really have to listen to the album in its entirety to fully appreciate this masterpiece as to take a track out singularly and listen to it on its own would be an injustice to the band and the hard work that they have obviously put in to making this album flow. Obviously all the tracks are good in their own right and every single one of these tracks could easily be a number 1, but I feel that as an album is where they all truly shine.

Flogging Molly in 'Within A Mile From Home' have created a perfect album that you can easily sit there for an hour listening to without doing anything else at the same time as their music alone is enough to keep you fully entertained. There is just so much to gain from this album and take in - on first listen you will not be able to take everything in and no matter how many times you listen to it you will find yourself noticing something you had missed on previous listens and continually be impressed and exposed to new and exciting things. This is the perfect album to get drunk to, but would also be a great one to listen to in a time of unhappiness as it contains a perfect track list to raise your spirits and cheer you right back up again.

This is most certainly one of the best and probably most inspirational Punk Rock bands around at the moment, if not of all time. Every track just seems to sound absolutely perfect and as an album this truly is a fine piece of art. I think that Flogging Molly are one of those bands that occupy a special place in everyone's heart with their fun, enthusiastic, Irish Folk fuelled Punk Rock music.