My 100 Favourite Albums (In No Particular Order) #3

The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God (1988).

I was already a huge fan of the Pogues when i heard the new single that they released at Christmas 1987 - Fairytale of New York. To say that it blew me away on first hearing is a massive understatement. I rushed out to buy it on vinyl from Sullivans Records (great independent shop, still going in Gorseinon) and being genuinely suprised that it was an original composition. Admitedly Shane MacGowan had showed a huge amount of songwriting promise on the previous releases but "Fairytale" was a huge leap forward.
So when the album was released i was filled with anticipation - would it reach or indeed my expectations? In a word, Yes. Oh Yes, indeed. From the very start of opening and title track "If I should Fall From Grace With God" the album starts with gusto and drive. An interview with Joe Strummer on the live Pogues video that came out a while later had him admitting that playing of the songs live wasn't enough - you want to sing them as well - and you can't help singing along to the faster Pogues numbers on this album. "Turkish Song Of The Damned" follows with some great work by Terry Woods and then the raucous and swear-laden "Bottle Of Smoke". The album slows down for the magnificent "Fairytale of New York", the jazzy instrumental "Metropolis" before reaching its second peak on Philip Chevron's "Thousands Are Sailing". This is a perfect example of the strengths of the Pogues songwriting - as well as the genius MacGowan, you had three other excellent songwriters in the band - Jem Finer, Terry Woods and Philip Chevron. "Thousands" is my favourite Chevron composition, the only fault is in its production - the live version is much better, maybe its the crowd's singing and reaction but on record its too reserved. So, that's the end of side 1, reminding me i used to listen to this on my walkman, turning the tape over for side 2 and..... "Fiesta". "Fiesta" is fun, that's it....fun. Brass section going bananas, Shane singing nonsence in Spanish, its a great mid set song that leads onto "Medley", three Irish folk songs joined together (Recruiting Sergeant, The Rocky Road to Dublin and The Galway Races). The next high point for me is "Streets OfSorrow/Birmingham Six". I can remember the Pogues playing this song on Friday Night Live and when they reached Birmingham Six part they went to an advertisment. I didn't realise at the time the song had a media ban. Obviously the song had a happy ending when the Birmingham Six were released in 1991 - with the court case proving that the police had fabricated the truth and supressed evidence which caused the six to be jailed in 1975. Next on the album are the two lullabies for children "Lullaby Of London" and "Sit Down By The Fire". The first one is a beautiful song that lulls you into a sense of false security before the second ends with the curt message "Goodnight, God Bless, now fuck off to bed"! The last song proper is high point no.4, "The Broad Majestic Shannon". I just love this song, the music is perfectly executed by a band at the very peak of their powers, but the last verse lyrics are what moves me every time "So I walked as day was dawning, Where small birds sang and leaves were falling, Where we once watched the row boats landing, By the broad majestic Shannon". Its songs like this containing lyrics like these that keep me hoping Shane can recover his muse and do it again. In an interview Nick Cave said that Shane has pieces of paper all scrunched up in a pile in his house, all containing lyrics. Great lyrics. Poetry. Back to the album which ends with "Worms". A throwaway track sang by drummer Andrew Ranken which ends with the line "Be merry my friends, be merry", which could be the mantra for the Pogues philosophy of life. The Pogues made four albums after this (two with Shane and two without) and never hit the same consistency again.