If I Should Fall from Grace with God [Extra tracks]

The Pogues music has been categorized in the past as Punk/Folk, which I think is a bit harsh, they're not Punk! they have just brought folk music in line with the modern world and have made the music appealing to all generations.

This album displays the excellent writing skills of Shane MacGowan & Jem Finer and the musical talents of the band and is in my opinion the best collection of the Pogues music on one album.

The lyrics of most of the tracks are printed in the booklet, read along as you listen, it's a real eye opener, and a lot of fun!

The Pogues really found their feet on this record without losing a drop of the alcohol-induced rawness that made them one of the few real live bands of the eighties. The opening (title)track has Shane singing of God and death in a way that makes you want to waste all your money and shout 'fuck you', with a tune that gets in your head and stays there. The 'Turkish Song of the Damned' is full of spectral imagery, a tale of dead sailors and a wailing old woman. The Pogues give it a taste of the East but end with a rousing, punk-injected Irish jig, All this, apparently inspired by a German fan mispronouncing 'The Turkey Song' by The Damned.

'Bottle of smoke' flies along with all the pace of a Cheltenham gold cup winner. A day at the races pissed up and pissed off until it romps home at twenty-fucking-five to one. Marvellous.

Next comes 'Fairy Tale of New York'; drugs, booze and broken hearts in an Irish-American Christmas card, guaranteed to make you laugh and cry at the same time, possibly the best Christmas song ever written.

Beautifully written by Phil Chevron, 'Thousands Are sailing' tells of the Irish leaving for America full of hope and fear. It's about leaving the place you love and the loneliness of a man far away from home. MacGowan's emotive rendition makes this the highlight of the album.

'Fiesta' is a shambolic extravaganza of a tune: MacGowan, 90mph in pidgin Spanish. To quote the man himself, "It's just about a bunch of wankers going to Spain in the Summer".

'Medley' starts with Terry Woods dueting with MacGowan on 'The Recruiting Sergeant', making yet another traditional song their own. Throwing themselves head-first into the instrumental 'Rocky Road To Dublin' and rounding it all off with Shane not stopping for breath on 'Galway Races'.

On 'Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six'. Woods's lament builds into MacGowan's ballad of justice and brutality, 2 songs that manage to capture a fearful (close to home)reality.

'Lullaby of London' is a song that gives you butterfly guts whenever you hear it. Yet another MacGowan original, poetic and beautiful. 'Sit Down By The Fire' is a rampant jig about the telling of ghost stories to your kids, with the vintage refrain 'Goodnight and God bless, now fuck off to bed'.

'The Broad Majestic Shannon' is a song of Shane's lost Tipperary childhood and happy times now gone forever, and virtually rounds off an album of beautifully written songs, some played to touch your heart, others to kick you squarely in the bollocks, but none are forgettable. The final track 'Worms' has Andrew Rankine sounding like he's singing from the bottom of a well. It sums up the dark yet comic side of the album and, indeed, the band.