It’s often said that The Pogues were the antithesis of the 80s – and it’s certainly true that the Anglo-Irish mob’s fierce Celtic folk-punk music threw that decade’s penchant for synthesisers and glossy pop into very sharp relief. However, their unique approach to their craft meant that The Pogues would stand apart in any era. As Ireland’s Hot Press once put it, the group’s impassioned music and the vivid lyricism of mercurial frontman Shane MacGowan encapsulated “the old Ireland of The Dubliners and the anarchy of the Sex Pistols”. As this run-down of the best Pogues albums reveals, their illustrious catalogue still sounds timeless.
Listen to the best of The Pogues here, and check out the best Pogues albums, below
Best Pogues Albums: The Complete Studio Discography, Ranked And Reviewed
7: ‘Pogue Mahone’ (1996)
The unexpected success of 1993’s Waiting For Herb suggested there really was life for The Pogues following the departure of Shane MacGowan. However, further personnel reshuffles dogged the band, and only four core members – Spider Stacy (tin whistle, vocals), Jem Finer (guitar, banjo, saxophone, vocals), Darryl Hunt (bass, vocals) and Andrew Ranken (drums, percussion, vocals) – remained for their final album, 1996’s Pogue Mahone.
To their credit, the band made considered like-for-like changes, replacing guitarist Phil Chevron with Jamie Clarke, and drafting in two talented multi-instrumentalists in James McNally and David Coulter, for the departing James Fearnley and Terry Woods. The resulting Pogue Mahone more than holds up among the best Pogues albums. Its rowdier tracks (Living In A World Without Her, Tosspint, a sprightly cover of Bob Dylan’s When The Ship Comes In) sizzle with an energy redolent of the band’s debut album, Red Roses For Me, while its most beautiful ballads, Anniversary and the glorious Love You ’Till The End (the latter resurfacing on the soundtrack to the 2007 film PS I Love You) stack up favourably with the very best Pogues songs.
Must hear: Love You Till The End