Name: The Ultimate Collection by The Pogues
Brand: The Pogues
SKU: 825646225460
Price: 9.9 USD
Availability: OnlineOnly
Rating: 3.5 (308 reviews)

COMPILATION Explicit

Volume 1

Volume 2

For those who only know the Pogues from their duet Christmas hit with Kirsty MacColl, "Fairytale of New York," or don't know anything about the Irish group at all, this album is an excellent place to start. Featuring 23 highlights from the group's catalog -- with three tracks from Red Roses for Me, eight from Rum Sodomy & the Lash, five from If I Should Fall from Grace with God, three each from Peace and Love and Hell's Ditch, and just one track from Waiting for Herb, recorded as Shane MacGowan sank deeper into alcoholism -- Ultimate Collection is a fair summary of the band's output over a period of nearly 20 years. They were never a singles band -- in fact, their only Top Ten hits were the aforementioned Christmas single and a duet with the Dubliners on the traditional Irish jig "The Irish Rover" -- but the Pogues nevertheless became one of the most successful traditional Irish folk bands, with their defining points consisting of Shane MacGowan's distinctive slurring vocals and working-class political lyrics. They had released hit collections previously, but both the 1991 albums The Best of the Pogues and The Essential Pogues were condensed 14-track albums, and 2001's The Very Best of the Pogues contained 21 tracks on a single CD. This double CD is a revamped version of the latter album, but also includes a bonus disc featuring a full show recorded at the Brixton Academy in 2001, featuring live versions of many of the tracks featured on disc one. As the years go by, the Christmas hit "Fairytale of New York" appears to get more and more popular, originally peaking at number two in 1987, number three in 2005, number six in 2006, and number four in 2007, as the tale of two sparring aging partners has consistently topped the U.K.'s polls of the nation's favorite Christmas records, and inclusion of this one track does The Ultimate Collection no harm at all.
© Sharon Mawer /TiVo

The Ultimate Collection

Product information

Release options

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 1

1. A Rainy Night in Soho

2. Sally MacLennane

3. The Irish Rover (feat. The Dubliners)

4. Dirty Old Town

5. Fairytale of New York (feat. Kirsty MacColl)

6. Streams of Whiskey

7. If I Should Fall from Grace with God

8. Fiesta

9. The Body of an American

10. Misty Morning, Albert Bridge

11. Repeal of the Licensing Laws

12. Boys from the County Hell

13. The Sunnyside of the Street

14. A Pair of Brown Eyes

15. Summer in Siam

16. The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn

17. London Girl

18. Tuesday Morning

19. White City

20. Hell's Ditch

21. Young Ned of the Hill

22. Thousands Are Sailing

Volume 2

1. Streams of Whiskey

2. If I Should Fall from Grace with God

3. Boys from the County Hell

4. The Broad Majestic Shannon

5. Young Ned of the Hill

6. Turkish Song of the Damned

7. Rainy Night in Soho

8. Tuesday Morning

9. Rain Street

10. A Pair of Brown Eyes

11. Repeal of the Licensing Laws

12. The Old Main Drag

13. Thousands Are Sailing

14. Body of an American

15. Sally MacLennane

16. Lullaby of London

17. Dirty Old Town

18. Bottle of Smoke

19. The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn

20. Fairytale of New York

21. Fiesta

22. The Irish Rover

Technical Specifications