Streams of Whiskey [Live, Original recording remastered]

Pogues | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 13, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live, Original recording remastered
• Label: Castle Us
• ASIN: B000066EXV
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #200,401 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This one's for the trash heap, September 1, 2002

By 

Kim Grinder "kgrinder" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Streams of Whiskey (Audio CD)

This is the first time I've ever thrown away a CD. The sound quality is so poor it's painful to listen to these great songs. The music is little more than a series of rhythm beats; all the sublety of the melodies are lost. And McGowan's vocals are pretty much incomprehensible. This recording should never have been allowed to be released.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Whiskey" or the Reunion album?, April 24, 2006

By 

Grunt Hog (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Streams of Whiskey (Audio CD)

Recorded at a gig in Leysin, Switzerland on July 12, 1991, this album originally circulated as a bootleg known as "Live on Rain Street" before it was reissued as an "official" album release in 2002. The band members themselves have protested its release, and request that you instead purchase the live CD from their 2001 reunion performance at the Brixton Academy, available as Disc 2 of the Pogues Ultimate Collection.

Amazon reviewers of the 2001 reunion show have praised that disc, while reviewers on this page have been quite harsh to "Streams of Whiskey." Which is the better disc? Are the harsh reviews of this album justified?

For my money this is by far the better disc. It is an absolute gem of a performance that has been unjustly maligned, while the 2001 reunion show has been a little over-hyped. The fact is, The Pogues were an untouchable live act from their inception in 1984 through to their parting with Shane MacGowan later in 1991. While it's nice to see the older, chubbier Pogues get together again and relive past glories, the reunion show simply doesn't capture the band during its 1984-1991 peak. "Streams of Whiskey," despite its sometimes questionable sound quality, does. That makes it essential listening to any Pogues fan and an important document of what this band sounded like while they were still riding that wave where it seemed they could do no wrong.

As for the sound quality: yes, the recording on the 2001 reunion show is much better, while this one seems unprofessionally recorded and sloppily mixed at times. But the messy quality does not detract from the excellent performance the band puts on, and really, what is more important?. I'd rather have a poorly recorded excellent performance any day than a well-recorded lousy performance. Besides, the sound quality isn't *that* bad; critics make much too big a deal over this.

Ignore the naysayers, and indeed the band themselves, you owe it to yourself to get this disc. I put off getting it for a long time because of the bad reviews, but once I heard it I felt foolish for shying away from such a great disc. It's The Pogues in their prime, and you can't go wrong with that.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the best, but captures the Pogues energy live, September 17, 2002

By 

Chris Simmons (Ft Campbell, KY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Streams of Whiskey (Audio CD)

Okay, so its not the best recording ever, kind of like a really good bootleg, but it does capture the live energy of a Pogues show. So what if you can't make out what Shane is saying?? You never can. But you cannot deny his lyrical genius, or the Pogues musicianship. Captured here are some of the Pogues best. Sayonara blares from the speakers, sounding as if there are a lot more musicians than are really in the band. The Pogues sound is full. If you are worried about the sound quality, then you are really left buying a bootleg (Live on Rain Street, etc.), unless you opt for Shane with the Popes and get Across the Broad Atlantic. If you are a devoted fan, get this. If you are trying to get your first feel for the band, get a studio album, preferably If I Should Fall From Grace with God.