What better way to celebrate St.Patricks day (apart from getting in drunken fights & vomiting green beer) than with The Dropkick Murphy’s latest album, Live On Lansdowne Boston MA.
I thought I would try a different review procedure this time & break it down into different sections, so let me know what you think and any suggestions for improvement.
-Intro-
A little background info on the album, with a brief description on the bands sound style.
For the last nine year Quincy Massachusetts finest, The Dropkick Murphy’s have played to a devoted Boston crowd as part of St. Patrick’s weekend celebrations. This is actually their second live album which is a testament to how solid their live performances really are. This album continues the St.Patricks day tradition with the band’s performance being captured during their seven day stint at the Boston House of Blues in 2009.
The Dropkick Murphy’s Celtic punk rock roots are fully showcased throughout the album with diverse instrumental inclusions such as bagpipes & whistle (Scruffy Wallace), accordion (Tim Brennan), acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin and keyboard (Jeff De Rosa) mixed in with the more traditional rock punch of guitars (James Lynch) & drums (Matt Kelly). Al Bar’s & Ken Casey’s (bass guitar) rough & ready vocals feed off each other with their usual report and lend every song a great sing along quality, perfect for the live setting.
-Quality-
How does the album sound?
I’ve actually seen the Dropkick’s play live about four or five times and the sound quality of these performances has ranged from being loud and clear towards the other end of the scale where the vocals and instruments ended up being mashed together and ended up sounding muddy or drowned out. While I mainly blame this on the different venues I was still a bit skeptical about how the live sound recording would turn out on this album.
I’m happy to report however that the sound quality on Live on Lansdowne is sublime and they’ve managed to perfectly capture the passion & energy these guys are famous for. From the jaunty delivery of the squeeze box solo on The State of Massachusetts to the tight delivery of the vocals thought out (just listen to the little shout of woo on citizen CIA) this really is Dropkick Murphy’s at their best. Before this album I didn’t think the Dropkicks even knew the word subtle so I was surprised to hear that every instrument has been perfectly captured from the bagpipes on Fields of Athenry to the piano on Tessie, all the way down to the whistle on Forever 2009. Even thought this is a live recording it’s one of those rare cases where I’m hard pressed to even say which sounds better, the original or the live version? Either way I can’t find anything to fault with the quality of any of the songs.
-Flow -
Does the album have a consistent track list or is there more filler than killer?
After the opening crowds obligatory chant of “Let’s go Murphy’s” The Dropkicks kick things off in fantastic style with three hits from their last album including Famous For Nothing, the jigtastic (yes I just made up a word) State Of Massachusetts to the anti-war chants of Johhny I hardly knew you. Apart from the requisite thanking of the crew and some baseball chitchat, these guys power through the majority of songs on the set list and keep the banter to a minimum.
The only real lull in the album is found around the 1/2 way point with the repetitive melody and chorus of God Willing, but thankfully the rapid fire delivery of great tracks continues with the sing along classic Caught in a Jar. From there the rest of the album goes from strength to strength with Captain Kelly’s Kitchen all the way to the finale of Shipping up to Boston. This last track is a great finish to the album and I couldn’t really imagine a better ending to proceedings.
-Quantity-
How many tracks on the album are worth a repeat listen?
Where to start? It’s probably easier to pick out the weaker songs from the track list because there are so many solid ones. From the 20 songs on offer only God Willing didn’t really stand out to me and I’m likely to skip it on repeat listens. This would have to be one of the best value collection of songs I’ve heard in a long time and you can’t really go wrong with 19/20 great songs.
-Shiny Pennies-
Are there any highlights or special mentions that make this album memorable?
The live rendition of The Dirty Glass is really nailed on this album by the inclusion of some female guest vocals from Liza Graves. The crowd participation in the vocals section also really helps capture the great live atmosphere of the concert.
Of course it wouldn’t be a live Dropkick Murphy’s set without the inclusion of the fan favourite Kiss Me I’m Shitfaced. This live rendition sounds fantastic and you can literally hear all the women singing into the microphones on stage. This song brought back memories of when I saw them play it live at all their shows and after all isn’t that what a live album is all about?
The final treat on the album is the addition of the The Mighty Mighty Bosstones who feature on Shipping up to Boston. Thanks to The Departed movie and the AFL ads I’m sure most people have probably heard of this song by now, but never has it sounded better. A great way to finish the album and it’ll be sure to be stuck in your head all over again.
-Rusty Pennies-
Are there any major problems or negative aspects to the album?
I’m scratching my head to find anything to fault with this album, but the only small complaint I would make is that it would have been nice if the audience vocals were cranked up a little on a few more of the songs. However having said this some of the last few songs don’t have this problem so maybe it just took a lot of alcohol to finally get the crowd to sing a bit louder at the end.
-Final Verdict-
At the end of the day, does this album belong in your music collection?
If you’re a fan of Dropkick Murphy’s then there’s no doubt you’ll love this album and should instantly pick it up. If you’re new to The Dropkick Murphy’s and like your punk rock spiced with a little Celtic influence then I would suggest getting your hands on what is essentially a definite collection of their greatest songs.
On a side note, this album comes with a full length dvd containing footage of the seven day concert, so do yourself a favour and pick up a physical version of the cd/dvd package.
Overall Rating
90/ 100 Pennies
I thought I would try a different review procedure this time & break it down into different sections, so let me know what you think and any suggestions for improvement.
-Intro-
A little background info on the album, with a brief description on the bands sound style.
For the last nine year Quincy Massachusetts finest, The Dropkick Murphy’s have played to a devoted Boston crowd as part of St. Patrick’s weekend celebrations. This is actually their 2nd live album, which is tantamount to how solid their live performances really are. Apart from Pearl Jam I can’t think of any many other bands with 2 live albums to their name. This album continues the tradition with the band’s performance being captured during their 7 day stint at the Boston House of Blues.
The Dropkick Murphy’s Celtic punk rock roots are fully showcased throughout the album with diverse instrumental additions such as bagpipes & whistle (Scruffy Wallace), accordion (Tim Brennan), acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin and keyboard (Jeff De Rosa) mixed in with the more traditional rock punch of guitars (James Lynch) & drums (Matt Kelly). Al Bar’s & Ken Casey’s (bass guitar) rough & ready vocals feed off each other with their usual report and lend every song a great sing along quality, perfect for the live setting.
-Quality-
How does the album sound?
I’ve actually seen the Dropkick’s play live about four or five times and the sound quality of these performances has ranged from loud and clear to muddy drowned out vocals and instruments all mashed together. While I mainly blame this on the different venues I was still a bit skeptical about how the live sound recording would turn out on this album.
I’m happy to report however that the sound quality on Live on Lansdowne is sublime and they’ve managed to perfectly capture the passion & energy these guys are famous for. From the jaunty delivery of the squeeze box solo on The State of Massachusetts to the tight delivery of the vocals thought out (just listen to the little shout of woo on citizen CIA) this really is Dropkick Murphy’s at their best. Before this album I didn’t think the Dropkicks even knew the word subtle so I was surprised to hear that every instrument has been perfectly captured from the bagpipes on Fields of Athenry to the piano on Tessie, all the way down to the whistle on Forever 2009. Even thought this is a live recording it’s one of those rare cases where I’m hard pressed to even say which sounds better, the original or the live version? Either way I can’t find anything to fault with the quality of any of the songs.
-Quantity-
How many tracks on the album are worth a repeat listen?
Where to start? It’s probably easier to pick out the weaker songs from the track list because there are so many solid ones. From the 20 songs on offer only God Willing didn’t really stand out to me and I’m likely to skip it on repeat listens. This would have to be one of the best value collection of songs I’ve heard in a long time and you can’t really go wrong with 19/20 great songs.
-Flow -
Does the album have a consistent track list or is there more filler than killer?
After the opening crowds obligatory chant of “Let’s go Murphy’s” The Dropkicks kick things off in fantastic style with three hits from their last album including Famous For Nothing, the jigtastic (yes I just made up a word) State Of Massachusetts to the anti-war chants of Johhny I hardly knew you. Apart from the requisite thanking of the crew and some baseball chitchat, these guys power through the majority of songs on the set list and keep the banter to a minimum.
The only real lull in the album is found around the 1/2 way point with the repetitive melody and chorus of God Willing, but thankfully the rapid fire delivery of great tracks continues with the sing along classic Caught in a Jar. From there the rest of the album goes from strength to strength with Captain Kelly’s Kitchen all the way to the finale of Shipping up to Boston. This last track is a great finish to the album and I couldn’t really imagine a better ending to proceedings.
-Shiny Pennies-
Are there any highlights or special mentions that make this album memorable?
The live rendition of The Dirty Glass is really nailed on this album by the inclusion of some female guest vocals from Liza Graves. The crowd participation in the vocals section also really helps capture the great live atmosphere to the album.
Of course it wouldn’t be a live Dropkick Murphy’s set without the inclusion of the fan favourite Kiss Me I’m Shitfaced. This live rendition sounds fantastic and you can literally hear all the women singing into the microphones on stage. This song brought back memories of when I saw them play it live at all their shows and after all isn’t that what a live album is all about?
The final treat on the album is the addition of the The Mighty Mighty Bosstones who feature on Shipping up to Boston. Thanks to The Departed movie and the AFL ads I’m sure most people have probably heard of this song by now, but never has it sounded better. A great way to finish the album and it’ll be sure to be stuck in your head all over again.
-Rusty Pennies-
Are there any major problems or negative aspects to the album?
I’m scratching my head to find anything to fault with this album, but the only small complaint I would make is that it would have been nice if the audience vocals were cranked up a little on a few more of the songs. However having said this some of the last few songs don’t have this problem so maybe it just took a lot of alcohol to finally get the crowd to sing a bit louder at the end.
-Final Verdict-
At the end of the day, does this album belong in your music collection?
If you’re a fan of Dropkick Murphy’s then there’s no doubt you’ll love this album and should instantly pick it up. If you’re new to The Dropkick Murphy’s and like your punk rock spiced with a little Celtic influence then I would suggest getting your hands on what is essentially a definite collection of their greatest songs.
On a side note, this album comes with a full length dvd containing footage of the seven day concert, so do yourself a favour and pick up a physical version of the cd/dvd package.
Overall Rating
90/ 100 Pennies
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