Rum, Sodomy And The Lash

This is a remarkable 5 CD Box Set by The Pogues, at least three quarters of which comprises previously unreleased material while the remainder is made up of decidedly hard-to-find Pogues' rarities, demos and live recordings.

By demonstrating that the spirit of punk could live in traditional Irish folk music, the Pogues were one of the most radical bands of the mid-'80s. Led by Shane MacGowan, whose slurred, incomprehensible voice often disguised the sheer poetry of his songs, the Pogues were undeniably political not only were many of their songs explicitly in favor of working-class liberalism, but the wild, careening sound of their punk-injected folk was implicitly radical. While the band was clearly radical, they also had a wickedly warped sense of humor, which was abundantly clear on their biggest hit, the fractured Christmas carol "Fairy Tale of New York." The group's first three albums Red Roses for Me, Rum Sodomy & the Lash, If I Should Fall From Grace With God were widely praised in both Britain and America, and by 1988 they had earned substantial cult followings in both countries.

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION features 44 tracks by Irish rockers taken from both the studio and their fiery live performances and includes the tracks "Rainy Night In Soho," "Irish Rover," "Fiesta," and Ewan MacColl's "Dirty Old Town."