Customer Reviews

State of Grace

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

 

 

Other than The Briggs new album that came out in June, I've been kinda bored with music this summer- until now. The Street Dogs have never disappointed me live or recorded, and with their newest record they still haven't.

I've given State of Grace only two listens thus far and for the most part it effing rocks. Mean Fist, Kevin J. O'Toole, Elizabeth, Two Angry Kids, Guns, and State of Grace are stand-outs to me.

My personal favorite has to be their cover of The Skids song Into the Valley. I like old punk and in this case, I like it even better when the Street Dogs cover it. Plus this song will be fun to chant along with at their shows, so it scores bonus points with me.

My only gripe is that it is, as someone else mentioned, too short. Oh well, I'll get over it.

After listening to this album nearly 40 times, it is still one of my favorites. That doesn't happen often. Frequently, with any album, I can only listen to it for so long before it grows stale. It is very cathartic, an emotional venting, it seems, of lead singer Mike McColgan and the social ills he sees. As for comments that seem to insinuate that this album is some sort of left-ist tirade, give me a break. There's one song that's anti-guns. I don't burn flags, have a trust fund, or am dead set against banning fire arms, but I am a father who works two jobs who would rather not have his kids killed by an idiot with a hand gun. And that's what makes this album epic, it speaks to me in away that most albums don't.

This cd is pretty good. If your a Street Dogs fan then you'll like this one as much as the others. The only problem with it is...ITS TOO SHORT! Its only about 30mins long. Thats kind of a bummer to me. I think if it had two or three more songs that were a bit longer towards the beginning then this effort would rival Fading American Dream.

Other than the slight letdown of Back to the World, the Street Dogs have maintained an awfully high standard of working-class street punk. This album might be their best yet.

It's probably cliche at this point to compare the Street Dogs to the Dropkick Murphys, but I think it's worthwhile. Both bands started off with a style that necessitated variety -- if they had made "Do or Die" or "Savin Hill" over and over again (as great as they are), it would have gotten old quick. Dropkick has fought that staleness by evolving into a completely different band, with melodies and fiddles and the occasional soulful piano ballad. The Street Dogs have also added variety, but they've mostly just spruced up the original sound. You'll hear a whiff of a bagpipe and some unique duets -- just enough to keep it fresh, but it's still the band you love. The added spice, and the brilliant bite of "Guns," make "State of Grace" the highlight of the Street Dogs' library.

The album errs on the short side, and the back half is stronger than the first, but if your only complaints are that its ordered badly and leaves you wanting more... that's pretty good. Highly recommended.

This is a very good CD by a very good band. I will admit as others have mentioned it comes in a bit short in length at around 30 minutes, but this album packs a powerful punch in those 30 some minutes and tackles such issues as family, social injustice and politics.

State of Grace is their fourth album, released in 2008. How does it measure up to their other three albums? Here goes my attempt on breaking it down.

Mean Fist - a good, hard charging rock song that kicks off the album in rousing style. 9/10

Kevin J. O'Toole -- A tribute to a relative who helped inspire Mike to become a firefighter. Yet another excellent tribute that the Dogs always seem to do well on.
A very good song and one of their best on the album. 10/10

Into the Valley -- A Skids remake that really rocks 9/10

Rebel Song -- one for the punks and hard rocking youth. 8/10

The General's Boombox -- just might be the best tribute song to Joe Strummer I have ever heard. You can really tell how much he inspired the Dogs. 10/10

Elizabeth -- a nice change of pace duet song about a family matriarch. 8/10

Two Angry Kids -- a very personal song about Mike's relationship growing up in North Quincy with Dropkick Murphy's frontman Ken Casey 9/10

Guns -- an anti-gun song that isn't one of their most memorable musically 7/10

San Patricios -- this just might be the first song ever written about Irish and Mexican unity. I liked the "Spanish bridge" toward the end. 8/10

State of Grace -- another personal song from Mike, it really isn't too catchy but it does have a different sound. 7/10

Free -- very good song. It is rather mellow with a nice acoustic guitar and harmonica but it is one of their very best mellow songs they have done. 10/10

All in all, a very good album where the Street Dogs ventured into a few diifferent territories and sounds. It is one of the more personal albums they have done with a little more mature sound to it. A lot of people have never heard of this band, but I am looking forward to hearing a lot more from this band in the future!

this cd show improvment in the energy and drive department althought pretty simular to DO OR DIE style but still different.they realy need to throw some knock out punches and show hey we're not just the ex-singer of dropkick new band they're the street dogs.they are different but they need to kick down the door type of tunes to make a real statement(not political but musical)they are really good punk rock but most people want to be floored by a bands power and a songs strength.

This is another great release by the Street Dogs. The more that I listen to this album the more it is growing on me. Some of the top tracks are Kevin J . O'Tolle, 2 Angry Kids, Elizabeth, The General's Boombox, and Free.

I would give this 3.5 starts but it only allows full numbers. This album is pretty good. IMHO, not on the level of "Back To The World" or "Fading American Dream", but definitely up there with "Savin Hill". The first half of the album is its weakness as the first five tracks are either ok or not so good. But once the track "Elizabeth" shows up, the album is a five star! The final five or six tracks are very killer! If you like the Street Dogs previous work, you will dig this record.

UPDATE! I had to come back and say how wrong I was in my early review of this album. After listening to it over and over I realized that the whole thing is excellent and all killer, no filler. I will now only review after listening a few times. This is one of my favorite albums of all time!

If you protest soldiers funerals, don a kafia, have a trust fund, burn the flag on a regular basis or loathe the second amendment, this album is for you. If you liked early Dropkick Murphys or liked the songs "Back to the World" or "Don't Preach to me", fair warning, this album might not be your cup of coffee. This definitley won't be going back with me to the FOB.