Pogues If I Should Fall From Grace With God CD - Import

IF I SHOULD FALL FROM GRACE WITH GOD marked an apex for the Pogues--with producer Steve Lillywhite at the helm, their neo-traditional Irish songcraft was given a particularly timeless touch without compromising any of the band's trademark intensity. Adding yet another wrinkle of the Irish experience to his profound, intense lyrical oeuvre, Shane MacGowan touches on the Irish in New York, occasionally conjuring up reminders of George M. Cohan (who even gets name-checked here, on "Thousands Are Sailing"). "Metropolis" is a jazzy, brass-fueled instrumental, while the over-the-top sentimentality and swirling strings of "Fairy Tale of New York" made it an instant Christmas classic.

From the irreverent bravado of the opening title track straight through to the jokey, fatalistic closer, "Worms," IF I SHOULD FALL is a rollicking, sometimes brutally honest document, driven hard by the band's inspiringly tight, masterful playing and propelled by the raspy vocal and compelling lyrical attack of MacGowan. "Bottle Of Smoke" is a breakneck thrill ride about a celebratory victory at the horse races, while "Streets Of Sorrow/Birmingham Six" finds Shane in a rare moment of political rant.

Remastered & expanded reissue of 1988 album includes six bonus tracks, 'The Battle March Medley', 'The Irish Rover', 'Mountain Dew', 'Shanne Bradley', 'Sketches Of Spain', & 'South Australia'. Deleted in the U.S., this is their album on Warner featuring their unforgettable collaboration with Kirsty MacColl, 'Fairytale Of New York'. Produced by Steve Lillywhite (U2, Simple Minds, Big Country). Grace flirts with jazz, world music and even norteno--the gloriously romp-y "Fiesta" sounds as if whiskey-parched vocalist Shane MacGowan hooked up with East LA's Los Lobos. Nonetheless, this is still the Pogues, meaning that when the day is done, Grace still feels as if it was born out of the bottom of a pint of Guinness. WSM. 2004.

The remastered edition features six additional tracks.

CD contains 6 bonus tracks.

Engineers: Chris Dickie, Roy Spong, Nick Lacey.

The Pogues: Shane MacGowan (vocals, guitar); Philip Chevron (guitar, mandolin, background vocals); Jem Finer (banjo, mandola, saxophone); Terry Woods (guitar, mandola, tenor banjo, dulcimer, cittern, concertina); Spider Stacy (tin whistle, background vocals); James Fearnley (piano, accordion, mandola, dulcimer, percussion, cello); Darryl Hunt (bass, percussion, background vocals); Andrew Ranken (drums, percussion, harmonica, background vocals).

Additional personnel: Kirsty MacColl (vocals); Ron Kavana (mandolin, tenor banjo, spoons, background vocals); Siobhan Sheahan (harp); Brian Clarke (alto saxophone); Joe Cashman (tenor saxophone); Eli Thompson, Chris Lee (trumpet); Paul Taylor (trombone); Fran Byrne (bodhran); Brian Sheridan, John Lawler, Joe Cashman, Paul Verner, Steve Lillywhite, Frank Murray, Paul Scully (background vocals).

Rolling Stone - 3.5 Stars - Very Good
Uncut (p.158) - 4 stars out of 5 - "There's no doubting the vaulting musical ambition of their third album..."
Magnet (p.88) - "[T]he Pogues' most musically ambitious release....With multi-instrumentalists Jimmy Fearnley and newcomer Terry Woods propelling the [group]..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.123) - 5 stars out of 5 - "[A]n amazingly original, democratically written and ethnically adventurous album..."