Customer Reviews
Not too shabby - By: Marley's Ghost, 01 Nov 2007 
I can understand some folk purists wanting to hate this before they've even heard it, & it could have ended up as a complete dogs breakfast. Yes if they'd given the whole undertaking to Bellowhead it might have been a classic, but on the whole it's not turned out too bad, & there's something to be said for the eclectic nature of the thing.
I'll have nothing said against Baby Gramps, he's a fine guitarist & that's no affectation, he really does sound like Popeye's drunken brother. Surprisingly of the "Big Names" Sting makes the best fist of his effort. I say surprising because he strikes me as the most unlikeable of people. Unsurprisingly Bono misses the point completely, & confirms that he is now completely & utterly up himself.
The most authentic voice however comes from the incomparable Richard Thompson, but there are quite a few enjoyable tracks on here, CD1 needing a lot less skipping than CD2.
A Hearrrrrrrrty Thumbs up for this Beauty - By: N. Edwards, 01 Oct 2007 
Nick Cave, Bryan Ferry, Lou Reed, Jarvis Cocker, Antony Hegarty & Loudon Wainwright - all on two fantastic discs - what could be better (even Sting & Bono are bearable) - add to the mix some of the most lurid, dirty, pox-ridden, scum-sucking, keelhauling, timber-shivering songs of the last two hundred years & top off with John C Reilly & Ralph Steadman to have the perfect barrel of salty seadog entertainment this side of the Sargasso. Johnny Depp can now be forgiven for Pirates of the Caribbean 2.
Put it in a sack and throw it over the side... - By: DanFolk, 07 Sep 2007 
How typical of 'The Big Names' to ruin some great & traditional songs. With the exception of a very few tracks this compilation is awful. Nick Cave croaks alongin 'Fire Down Below', Baby Gramps does not seem to understand the concept of 'tune' when singing 'Cape Cod Girls', And Sting is trying too hard to be a seventeenth century pirate! What a shame... These songs are sung a great deal better by artists from the folk scene... Start with Kate Rusby & some Bellowhead for modern folk including shanteys, not this utter rubbish! If you're already a folkie then don't bother with this... you ears will curl up & drop off!
Don't let the cover and title fool ya' - By: collegemoney, 23 Aug 2007 
The first two tunes give you an idea of the musical gamet being covered here, Baby Gramps ("I gargled with battery acid before I sang this song") followed by Richard Thompson's appealing & ever reliable folk charm. Most of the time, the performances track the former of these paths, with music evocative of the old "Rough Trade" record label. Barbed wire guitars & such; artists like Tom Waits, The Pogues & Tom Russell would have been welcomedin this compilation. I suppose few have ever tried to romanticize the buccaneer life, & surely this material doesn't. The most base & debauched of what one usually associates with pirating is often the focus. Rum & the lash. Not for the faint of heart, & worthy of a warning label about the lyrics which,in places (i. e. the Loudon Wainright tune), are bawdy limeriks set to music. The package is especially misleading to those looking for a "Smithsonian Institute" recording of traditional seafaring material, especially with the cover art, Howard Pyle's "Marooned," one of the most famous paintings on the subject of pirate life, which has graced a fine book or two. Some good tunesin here, to be sure, which may grow on you as an acquired taste. For example, Van Dyke Parks wry "Greenland Whale Fisheries," with the underpinning baritone sax & darkly humorous analysis of the sea captain's value system. Just know what you are getting.
Good stuff - By: Brian, 27 May 2007 I thought this was great. I found it extremely interesting to listen to songs I have never heard, some of which that were 400 years old & sounded as fresh as some punk songs today. There were a few I could have done without the modern versions, but still fun to hear. I think at its best are the acoustic versions, & might have benefited from a bit more angstin the songs that seemed to be the "hoisting" etc songs, but still great additions to a music collection for land lubers. I think Grey Funnel Line is one of the most beautiful songs I have heardin recent years, & Cape Cod Girls seems to capture the spirit of the entire albumin the first few seconds..
