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The Ultimate Collection

The Pogues - The Ultimate Collection Audio CD

A fair review of the The Pogues "The Ultimate Collection" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Pogues reviews here, or go back to the The Pogues tabs.

Band: The Pogues
Title: The Ultimate Collection
Rating:

Release Date: 2007-05-03
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Rainy Night in Soho 2: Sally MacLennane 3: Irish Rover 4: Dirty Old Town 5: Fairytale of New York - Kirsty MacColl, , The Pogues 6: Streams of Whiskey 7: If I Should Fall from Grace with God 8: Fiesta 9: Body of an American 10: Misty Morning, Albert Bridge 11: Repeal of the Licensing Laws 12: Boys from the County Hell 13: Sunnyside of the Street 14: Pair of Brown Eyes 15: Summer in Siam 16: Sickbed of Cuchula�nn 17: London Girl 18: Tuesday Morning 19: White City 20: Hell's Ditch 21: Young Ned of the Hill 22: Thousands Are Sailing 23: Streams of Whiskey [Live][*] 24: If I Should Fall from Grace with God [Live][*] 25: Boys from the County Hell [Live][*] 26: Broad Majestic Shannon [Live][*] 27: Young Ned of the Hill [Live][*] 28: Turkish Song of the Damned [Live][*] 29: Rainy Night in Soho [Live][*] 30: Tuesday Morning [Live][*] 31: Rain Street [Live][*] 32: Pair of Brown Eyes [Live][*] 33: Repeal of the Licensing Laws [Live][*] 34: Old Main Drag [Live][*] 35: Thousands Are Sailing [Live][*] 36: Body of an American [Live][*] 37: Sally MacLennane [Live][*] 38: Lullaby of London [Live][*] 39: Dirty Old Town [Live][*] 40: Bottle of Smoke [Live][*] 41: Sickbed of Cuchula�nn [Live][*] 42: Fairytale of New York [Live][*] 43: Fiesta [Live][*] 44: Irish Rover [Live][*]

This is the One to Get
You not only get the accomplished studio versions of some of their greatest hits, but you get the raw, rowdy versions from a live show. If you are a Pogues fan, or you have just found out about them and want to check them out, this is the CD to get. And, man, are the Pogues a great band to see life. Saw them in DC and NY this March and they were great as ever. The band is as tight as it gets and Shane, bless his heart, still does the job in his boozy, wobbly way. Get the CD and see them when you can.

Ultimate Collection Disc 3?
I already have all the disc 1 tracks on other Pogues CDs, but this collection was still worth it if only for the live CD. A great collection here. But having so many of their great studio recordings in one place on disc 1 is pretty convenient. I do have to agree with a previous review that the studio tracks on disc 1 are not really perfect sound quality. The same tracks on the remastered studio albums sound slightly brighter and better listened to side-by-side.

Of course, The Pogues had enough great songs that this collection could have had another CD of their studio stuff. So I recorded my own Ultimate Collection Disc 3 CD from tracks I have on their remastered, extended studio CDs. This combined with the collection disc 1 & 2 mean I rarely feel the need to dig out their other CDs. Here's the studio tracks I included on my "Ultimate Collection Disc 3":

Auld Triangle
Band Played Waltzing Matilda, The [long version]
Bottle Of Smoke
Broad Majestic Shannon, The
Danny Boy
Dark Streets of London
Down All The Days
I'm A Man You Don't Meet Every Day
Johnny Come Lately [Steve Earle]
Lorelei
Lullaby Of London
Navigator
Old Main Drag, The
Parting Glass, The
Rain Street
Recruiting Sergeant, Rocky Road To Dublin, Galway Races
Sea Shanty
Star Of The County Down
Streets Of Sorrow, Birmingham Six
Turkish Song Of The Damned
Whiskey in the Jar
Wild Rover, The

.

Poor Sound Quality
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. 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. 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.

Great collection from one of the best Irish groups around...
Both are very good engineering and the pair is worth the price. This is a two-disk set comprised of a greatest hits volume and a live CD.

If you saw "PS I love you" you heard the best song of this collection, "Fairytale of New York" was played at the wake and not released on the soundtrack of the movie. Kirsty MacColl is simply an amazing singer and this is one of the best of a wonderful set of songs from both the 'best' and the live' CDs. I'd normally gripe about a repeat, but how can you?

"The Irish Rover" with the Dubliners is another highlight of the live set. The recording was made at Brixton Academy and that's one live set I wish I could have attended! Great engineering, too, for a live CD.

.

One Band Two Versions
Much of their new work is hard-edged, gritty but very honest. First, this is a very good Irish band doing both standards and newer songs. They are a very talented group with a voice that you do not want to ignore. This CD is an excellent example of their best work providing two different but similar versions of songs. This duplication is one of the strongest reasons to purchase this set, CD 1 is the studio version, CD 2 is a live performance. You instantly understand the value of having the two songs in one set as you hear the differences in presentation.

On CD 1, The Irish Rover is performed with The Dubliners. This is almost worth the price of the set, being one of the best and most rousing renditions of this song. Fairytale of New York, featuring Kristy MacColl, is one of the bands best songs. The CD two versions are not equal to but are still worth hearing. The rest of the duplicated songs will showcase their talents as a live band, giving you the feel of being there.

The Clancy Brothers, The Irish Rovers, The Dubliners, The Chieftains and The Coors have all drawn on and contributed to the music of Ireland. These contributions have produced an electric lively interesting sound. The Pogues are building on this heritage and expanding the sound. This is a band with something to say and is worth hearing! They have a sound that is a combination of Irish music and punk rock that attracts and beguiles.
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You can see a complete list of all The Pogues discography, or go back to the The Pogues tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.