Customer Reviews

Peace & Love

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Peace and Love" is the most underrated Pogues album of the MacGowan era, even to Pogues fans. The Pogues flirt with jazz throughout on this release and what most people don't realize is that Shane had embraced acid house rock and was trying to inject into the Pogues musical catalogue. Sure, MacGowan's vocals sound garbled on this release, but that doesn't mean his songwriting gifts have diminished. "White City," is a excellent song about a dog track being torn down. While "Boat Train; a song about traveling from Dublin to London, and "London You're a Lady," Shane's geographical tribute to London, still showed that MacGowan hadn't drank away his talents quite yet. Other songs like "Down All the Days, which pays tribute to Christy Brown, and "Cotton Fields," are all stand out tracks. Shane also showed that he had a knack for rockabilly as well with the overpowering "USA." The problem that most Pogues fans have with this release is the fact that most of it was written by other members of the band. SO WHAT!!!!!! Jem Finer provides the excellent "Misty Morning, Albert Bridge," as well as the jazz instrumental "Gridlock," and the depressing "Tombstone," and "Night Train to Lorca." Philip Chevron steps up to plate once again and provides the beautiful ballad "Lorelei," with backing vocals by Kristy MacColl. Terry Woods provides the excellent traditional numbers of "Young Ned of the Hill and Gartloney Rats." The only real throwaway track on this album is the cheesy irish-calypso track "Blue Heaven," which should have never made its appearance on the album. Overall, "Peace and Love," is not the Pogues best album, but it certainly is a very good one, and better than the follow-up "Hell's Ditch."
The new remastered version contains the traditional reworkings of "The Star of the County Down (vocals by Andrew Ranken), and "The Limerick Rake." Jem Finer's "Train of Love," is a delight, as is MacGowan's tribute to Northern Soul with "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah." However, the best bonus track has to go to Terry Woods/Ron Kavana's "Everyman Is A King," which should have been on the original "Peace and Love" release.

I don't get the harsh reviews this album gets. I think it's every bit as good as Rum, Sodomy and Grace of God. Read Trouser Press's review which I agree with wholeheartedly. White City is a great song. Blue Heaven is a great song. Gartloney Rats is a stomping good song. Train of Love, Everyman Is a King, -- the list goes on. So what's the deal? This is a great album.

The record cover pretty much says it all. This is a bare fisted brawl of a record. The sound of egos & artistic differences duking it out, bloodying noses & blackening eyes. Atleast behind the scenes. Pity it doesn't sound that way.

While The Pogues seemed to want to distance themselves from Irish Music & "experiment", frontman Shane MacGowan stubbornly stuck to his guns. If they only listened to MacGowan. Though an arguement could be made for it being "diverse", truth be told, this is their least cohesive album. In light of their preceeding work, possibly their worst. There's a general malaise on this album. Of being exhausted & not wanting to admit it. But all is not lost, I mean this is The Pogues after all.

With the exception of Jem Finer's "Albert Bridge" & Philip Chevron's "Lorelei", its the MacGowan numbers that by & large hit home, lending the album some much needed glue. Highlights include: "White City", "Down All The Days", "USA" & "London, You're A Lady".

That said, as performers The Pogues seem far more invested than MacGowan. Where "Blue Heaven" sounds like a desperate attempt to cheer things up, "Tombstone" seems to capture the true morale of the band. On the shambling, bender of "Boat Train" MacGowan appears to have summed up his attitude towards the proceedings.

In terms of the bonus tracks, "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" is essential. Full of all the vitality & humor lacking on this record. Elsewhere, "Honky Tonk Women" is an exercise in self parody, perhaps meant to be "ironic" but marks a decided low point in their recording career.

Anyway you cut it, its just not The Pogues at their best. While I wouldn't call it a complete "fall from grace", I suppose its safe to say this is their "hangover" album.

Strangely enough, the mix of world music stew you find on this album works rather well, and at a time when they might have been stumped for new material, this is a better album than most critics will admit.

For one thing, Jem Finer and Andrew Rankin step up on the songwriting duties; "Misty Morning, Albert Bridge" is a classic Pogues tune that even Shane with his worsening voice could not ruin. Kirsty MacColl is back on board with the beautifully soaring "Lorelei". McGowan himself isn't up to par, but still shows some flashes of classic brilliance--"London, You're A Lady" being one of the best.

The Jazz, fusion, and samba beats might jar a few listeners, but it's a pretty cohesive album that slips under your skin in no time at all. Well worth owning, and far better than the follow-up "Hell's Ditch".

The Pogues are still one of the only bands I've formes a personal relationship with (the kind whose songs pop into your head during important time sin your life) and this album is the third reason why, ranking just after "Rum..." and "...Grace with God" (both five star classics).

Here, a few bona-fide classics (USA, Down All the Days, Night Train to Lorca) are surrounded by some well-played but uninspired tracks that occasionally veer toward the insipid (My Blue Heaven, Cotton Fields).

Face it, The Pogues aren't exciting without Shane Mcgowan at the helm. Here, while they sound awful nice, the others that step to the mic seem to adopt a sort of pompous tone. I'll take drunken slobberiness before pomposity any day.

Whne McGowan uses his by now-deepening gurgle to good effect, in slow cadence, or in tandem with someone else, the band smokes. When he relinquishes it and passes out on the couch, the album loses steam (notable exception: Lorelei).

Still, certain powerful emotions (sadness, anger, fear, longing) are the themes that still drive what these guys were doing. When they pull it off, they created the best Irish-inflected-rock I've ever heard.

I'm a great Pogues fan and love pretty much all their stuff (except that latest green-on-black album), but this is the first of our worn-out cassettes I'm looking to replace on CD. We have every album on tape, and after 12 or so years of frequent playing and undergoing harsh conditions (they are always in the car, and therefore often in sunshine, in LA), the sound quality is getting to be miserable. I love Lorelei, Gartloney Rats, Cotton Fields, and have an odd fondness for Blue Heaven, but almost every track is a goodie as far as I'm concerned. This might also be a good way to ease someone into Poguedom if they've only ever listened to happy-happy pop before.

I got this because my grandson recommended it. For my generation (I'm 89), it was interesting, and worthwhile to learn what tha gernation likes to listen to, but for me, not my first choice of music.

I listened to the Pogues when I was in college back in the late 80s; although I liked their CDs a lot, the explosion of World Music kinda dissuaded me from listening to them again for almost a decade.

I recently found "If I Should Fall from Grace with God" and "Hell's Ditch" and began to listen to them continuously for several weeks before I ordered "Peace and Love" from amazon, wanting to hear more of their stuff.

The Pogues really were a great band -- I'm not that much an afficinado to understand why McGowan left -- but I enjoy these 3 CDs for qualities which, to me, are absent in most of the music today: the diversity of their writing, the vibrancy of their musicanship, their gusto, and the emotional impact (like a bombshell) some of their best songs have. On this CD, I find myself drawn into their worlds with songs like "Gridlock", "Down All the Days", "Lorelei", "Cotton Fields" and "Blue Heaven".

"If I Should Fall from Grace with God" is probably their best album and one which would merit 4 **** stars from me -- but "Peace and Love" is up with 3.

So those sneaky record company people have repressed the Pogues albumns and attached extra songs. "Peace and Love" contains the hardest to get of the bonus material. The classic "Rake of Limerick" makes this disc desirable by itself. "Everyman is King" is a cold-war era warning about the destructive Soviet-American rivalry.
The albumn was good without the bonus stuff. Now it has moved up to be my most played Pogues cd after "Rum, Sodomy and the Lash"

This is the fourth album of for the Pogues and their worst. I'm not saying this album is bad but if you're going to buy your first Pogues CD buy one of the first three. There are some excellent songs on this album: White City, Misty Morning/Albert Bridge, Boat Train...but it doesn't have the consistency of the previous CD's. Another thing is that Shane's voice is bad on this one. I heard it was because of the constant touring and probably the chain smoking helped too. Steve Lillywhite had to mix other members vocals to get a solid vocal (which he later regretted). At this time there was a big division in the band and you can tell this by their music. Shane's songs are sparse, from what history says is that Shane was deep in to Acid house music and every drug that goes with it and more. When he was at the studio he was barely coherent and unable to sing most of the times. The rest of the band seems to be taking another direction which was more musical and fusion based.
The added songs keep it from being a three. If they would've cut out the duds and used the extra songs on this album in place of them this would be a way better album.