Track Listing

1. The Sunnyside of the Street
2. Sayonara
3. Ghost of a Smile
4. Hell's Ditch
5. Lorca's Novena
6. Summer in Siam
7. Rain Street
8. Rainbow Man
9. Wake of the Mudusa
10. House of the Gods
11. Five Green Queens & Jean
12. Maidrín Rua
13. Six to Go
14. Whiskey In The Jar (Bonus Track)
15. Bastard Landlord (Bonus Track)
16. Infinity (Bonus Track)
17. Curse Of Love (Bonus Track)
18. Squid Out Of Water (Bonus Track)
19. Jack’s Heroes (Bonus Track)
20. Rainy Night In Soho (Bonus Track)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11147 in Music
• Released on: 2004-12-13
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording remastered, Extra tracks

Customer Reviews

Sunnyside of a Deadend Street
After the disappointment of `Peace and Love' everyone was hoping for a return to form for The Pogues and particularly song smith Shane MacGowan on this their fifth album. Enlisting Joe Strummer of The Clash fame as the producer was reported in the press to be coaxing the best performances from MacGowan in years. Also reported was that MacGowan's writers block had cleared up and we anticipated a real return to form.

The album starts unbelievably brightly with the fantastic `The Sunnyside of the Street' and continues apace through `Sayonara' and `The Ghost of a Smile'. Things slow down with `Hell's Ditch' and `Lorca's Novena' a brace of very dark compositions which highlight to power of MacGowan's craft. The closing track of side one is MacGowan's mantra `Summer in Siam' which was released as a single and is very highly thought of in Pogues circles, I have to say I think it's rubbish.

Side two starts even brighter than side one with `Rain Street' which is undoubtedly my favourite Pogues song of all time and a definite contender for my favourite song of all time. This is followed by `Rainbow Man' which together with the other Terry Woods composition on the album `Six to Go' are completely dispensable. `The Wake of the Medusa' is Jem Finer's contribution to the writing and Spider Stacy contribution to the vocals, fits well into the Pogues cannon and thematic and style wise similar to `Hell's Ditch' and `Lorca's Novena' on side one. Apart from the obligatory traditional instrumental `Maidrin Rua' it's all over except for the last two MacGowan songs `House of the Gods' and `Five Green Queens and Jean' which although possibly not his greatest songs are amiable enough.

Possibly not a complete return to the form of `Red Roses for Me', `Rum, Sodomy and the Lash' and `If I Should Fall From Grace with God' but still a great album. However Shane MacGowan's decision not to tour the album caused it to not be a huge commercial success and led to The Pogues sacking him, possibly the worst case of career suicide ever.

Heaven
This is one of my favourite Pogues/Macgowan productions. Any album which has 'Summer in Siam' has got to be owned. The album didn't receieve any sparkling reviews, so now time has passed by i think it's marvellous frame should be picked up, dusted off, shown to a stool and given a large drink. It deserves it.

Great underrated album
I have all the Pogues albums and this is simply my favourite. It depends how you like your Pogues - if you like them rough, rowdy and catchy, go for an earlier album. Although I like the rowdy stuff (and there is still plenty of it on this album), for me the genius of the Pogues is the amazing melodies and lyrics that Shane can suddenly hit you with and completely disarm you.

For me, this is the melodic and lyrical high point, with Shane finding new inspiration (and even contentment) in the Far East. The genius of the album is that there is a Far Eastern dreamlike quality but it isn't at all contrived - Shane has just absorbed it effortlessly. For me the album shows a whole different side to the band.