Record Label: Rhino
Genre: Celtic
Band Link: link
Buy on Amazon.com link

Hell’s Ditch is the last Pogues album with Shane MacGowan. There are always two sides to a story and that’s what happened with the departure of Shane MacGowan from the Pogues. From Shane’s point of view, he left the band because touring was getting to him. The band’s point of view was that they had enough with MacGowan’s exuberated state and lack of attendance for shows. The Pogues went on for 2 albums (Pogue Mahone, Waiting For Herb) without MacGowan with Spider taking lead vocals and Joe Strummer filling in for a little after Shane left. But whatever happened in the past, the band has been back to reunite for various tours around the UK, USA and Japan. Hell’s Ditch is an album that highlights the bands’ ups & downs with an album that steers a bit away from the formulaic Irish rock music. Besides MacGowan singing songs, Peace & Love and Hell’s Ditch sees the other members taking some lead vocals over as well.

Opening “Hells Ditch” is the upbeat and one of my favorite Pogues tunes, “Sunnyside of the Street.” It seems to be like the band has been through a lot and trying to find the fun & the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak to their lives. Of course I could be wrong with that interpretation. Since the Pogues spent a lot of time in Spain, and in various exotic locales, that paid a big part in recording of this album. Many of the songs are Spanish, Latin, and Thai influenced and I like the change. I liked how the band was trying different things and weren’t just making some Celtic rock album.

I’m not sure what the problem is with some of the songs for “Hell’s Ditch,” but they aren’t as good as the previous albums. Though, I do prefer Hell’s Ditch to Peace & Love. The songs that I do like, I think they are some of the best written stuff from MacGowan and the other Pogues members. But I find myself skipping certain tracks to get the good stuff. “Lorca’s Novena” is another classic and has been featured in the movie Grosse Point Blank (the first time I heard that song). The song is about a homosexual Spanish poet who was killed during the Spanish Civil War and his body was never recovered. The opening part of that song is fantastic and has that “death” feel to it. I don’t know how to describe it; you just have to listen to it. For the next song, it took me a long time to like it. “Summer in Siam” is played very simplistic yet beautifully, and once you listen to it enough, you fall in love with the song. I’ve always liked the next track, “Rain Street” because I enjoyed the way the song is played but also enjoy the lyrics as well. Not sure why the Pogues aren’t too fond of this song or most of these songs on this album? “House of the Gods” is a song I really like on this album, but can’t figure out for the life of me why they band has never played it live. It’s one of the more catchier songs on the album. Oh well, I guess they can’t play EVERYTHING. I don’t know what it is about “5 Green Queens and Jean,” but it’s just a nice song to listen to. No other way to describe it, there’s nothing flashy about it. The original album ends with Terry Woods singing “Six To Go.” While others may not like this song, I find it’s a great song to end the album.

Like the rest of the Pogues reissues, this album is remastered and contains a few bonus tracks. Two songs are with the legendary Dubliners, one is written by Spider Stacy & Terry Woods. That song is called “Jack’s Heroes” and it’s an unofficial Irish World Cup anthem. The other is “Whiskey in the Jar,” which is an awesome sped up version of the traditional song. Ronnie Drew and Shane give that great 1-2 punch when they sing songs together. After that is “Bastard Landlord,” which is a song I downloaded on a Pogues site and glad to see it on the reissues. It was a song I really liked out of the rare tracks. Actually, I liked each of these bonus tracks including the updated version of one of MacGowan’s best written songs, “Rainy Night In Soho.” I’m not sure which version I prefer, but this new version of Soho is more polished up and poppier. The older version is a lot sadder, which I like as well. Can’t I like both versions?

Hell’s Ditch has a lot of great songs on it, but there a few I don’t particularly like. That happens with every album I listen to so it’s okay if I don’t like a few Pogues songs. I’ll still listen to them though. If you already own Hell’s Ditch, be sure to sell that one and get this upgraded, remastered album with bonus tracks!

Bottom Line: Not the best Pogues album but there are still plenty of classics on here!
Notable Tracks: Sunnyside of the Street, Ghost and a Smile, Lorca’s Novena, Summer in Siam, Rain Street, House of the Gods, 5 Green Queens and Jean, Rainy Night in Soho
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