The Pogues

'The Best of the Pogues' was the sixth album released by The Pogues and marked a watershed for the band. They had sacked founder, principal songwriter and lead singer Shane MacGowan and the album was intended as a end of an era before their projected renascence.

It's the collection Pogues fans never dreamed would be released! This remarkable five CD collection of previously unreleased gems chronicles the bulk of the groups career; from demos recorded in 1983 through to live recordings from 2001 and all the B-sides, rare mixes and out-takes that came in-between. Also featured on this 111 track collection are unreleased soundtrack recordings, alternate versions and live recordings.

The Pogues at The BBC 1984-1985 compiles four different sessions spanning April 1984 to July 1985. Two sessions were broadcast from The John Peel Show, one session was broadcast from The Janice Long Show and one session was from The Auld Triangle Broadcast.

The Pogues were an Irish-British Celtic punk band formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The original name of the band was "Pogue Mahone" (meaning "Kiss My Arse" in Gaelic).

The Pogues - 30 Years (2013) {8CD Box Set Rhino 8256464780}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.81 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 911 Mb
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© 1984-95, 2013 Rhino | 8256464780
Rock / Folk Rock / Celtic Rock / Folk Punk / Alternative / Celtic Punk

This set collects the seven studio albums from 1984′s Red Roses For Me to Pogue Mahone from 1996 and adds a previously unreleased live album The Pogues with Joe Strummer Live In London (recorded in December 1991). There have been Pogues reissues before of course, notably in 2004 when the albums were re-released on CD with bonus tracks. Rhino also issued an Original Album Series collection in 2009 that brought together the five Shane MacGowan albums in the usual card slipcase packaging. So while in some ways 30 Years treads familiar ground, there is still much to recommend it. First off the band were involved in the project, and were keen to have their say. The decision to revert back to ‘just’ the albums and lose the 2004 bonus tracks was theirs, for instance. Another example of the band’s input was the cover design of the box. The literary types amongst you might notice that the typesetting and design is ‘inspired by’ an edition of James Joyce’s landmark work Ulysses.

The Pogues - 30-30 - The Essential Collection (2013) {2CD Rhino 5053105660353}
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© 1984-96, 2013 Rhino / Warner Music | 5053105660353
Rock / Celtic Rock / Folk Punk / Alternative / Celtic Punk

The most comprehensive collection of Pogues material to date, 30:30 - The Essential Collection arrived on the heels of the band's 30th anniversary. Comprised of material culled from 1984 to 1996 and representing each of the group's seven studio albums, the two-disc set offers up a winning mix of bona fide classics ("If I Should Fall from Grace with God," "A Pair of Brown Eyes," the contemporary Christmas standard "Fairytale of New York," and its less yuletide-centric kissing cousin "A Rainy Night in Soho") and fan favorites ("Rain Street," "Boys from the County Hell," "Misty Morning, Albert Bridge") that dutifully encapsulates the best of the band's "lost decade."

"I saw my task… was to capture them in their delapidated glory before some more professional producer f–ked them up," Elvis Costello wrote of his role behind the controls for the Pogues' second album, Rum Sodomy & the Lash. One spin of the album proves that Costello accomplished his mission; this album captures all the sweat, fire, and angry joy that was lost in the thin, disembodied recording of the band's debut, and the Pogues sound stronger and tighter without losing a bit of their edge in the process. Rum Sodomy & the Lash also found Shane MacGowan growing steadily as a songwriter; while the debut had its moments, the blazing and bitter roar of the opening track, "The Sick Bed of Cúchulainn," made it clear MacGowan had fused the intelligent anger of punk and the sly storytelling of Irish folk as no one had before, and the rent boys' serenade of "The Old Main Drag" and the dazzling, drunken character sketch of "A Pair of Brown Eyes" proved there were plenty of directions where he could take his gifts.

31-song set. First performance of The Pogues’ “A Rainy Night in Soho” (written by Shane MacGowan, who passed away in 2023). “Candy’s Room” and “Adam Raised a Cain” return to the set. Three songs from 2020’s Letter To You: “Ghosts,” “Last Man Standing” and “I’ll See You In My Dreams” . “Last Man Standing” features a new arrangement. “I’ll See You In My Dreams” is performed solo acoustic to end the show. One song from 2022’s Only the Strong Survive: “Nightshift” (written by Franne Golde, Dennis Lambert and Walter Orange, popularized by The Commodores). Concert stalwarts like “Because The Night,” “Dancing in the Dark,” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” are performed in tighter, shorter versions. “Thunder Road” is the main-set closer.