Customer Reviews
For Fans Only - By: ozcanuck, 01 Aug 2008 
I love the Pogues but there's a reason most of this stuff was never released. There's a few great tracks on here but I doubt I'll listen to most of it ever again. This is certainly for fans only.
A must! - By: Pierce Cooney, 21 Jun 2008 
This was orginally concieved as a teasure chest by Phil Chevon! And thats exactly what it is!
The Very Good, The Very Bad and The Very Ugly. - By: Ian Wood, Author of 'Here's 2 Absent Fathers', 13 Jun 2008 Their is a timein the career of most bands whom started playing over twenty five years ago when a desire for product means that the archive is dusted down for a set of demos & outtakes which generally detract from rather than add to the majesty of the band. Not so here, this is no Curates Egg but rather a Treasure Trove of material.
Neither `Red Roses for Me' nor `Rum, Sodomy & the Lash' yielded any outtakes but most of the vocal tracks are represented here with either demo, radio session or live versions. The `Pogetryin Motion' e.p. had had a further song, `Do you Believein Magic?' which although you can see why it wouldn't displace any of the songs that made the final cut is still a great addition to any Pogues album. Also from these early sessions are three demos for `Fairytale of New York' which shows us itin various stages of its ragged glory before the final classic was to emerge.
The full Pogues contribution to the `Sid & Nancy' soundtrack is contained here & although most of it is score both the single & demo versions of `Haunted' & songs, `Glued Up & Speeding' & `Hot Dogs', neither of which made the soundtrack album, make this collection a must have for all Pogues fans. The `Straight to Hell' soundtrack is left to the recent expanded re-issue (except for the un-used version of `The Good, The Bad & The Ugly' which is marred by what appears to be a drum machine & some samples from the Sergio Leone classic) but other soundtrack contributions `Garbo', the un-used `Something Wild' & the Pogues backing Joe Strummer on `Afro-Cuban Be-Bop' are again must have recordings.
That the Pogues recording of `Maggie May' is included here justifies the price of admission alone & the other outtakes from `If I should Fall from Grace with God', `The Kerry Polka', `NW3', `Driving Through the City', `The Balinalee' & `Nicaragua Libre' although not good enough to grace that album could have replaced the bulk of `Peace & Love' which never made the grade.
The return to form album `Hell's Ditch' had so many great outtakes it beggars belief that the band sacked Shane when they could have made him a Dennis Wilson figure whom didn't tour with them. The original demos for `The Donegal Express', `Victoria' & `Aisling' which eventually appeared on Shane's solo LP `The Snake' are here but also other gems such as `Eve of Destruction', `The Travelling People', `The Last of McGee', `The Black Dogs Ditch', `Murder' & `Pinned Down' are so good you can't believe anyone would want to change this set up.
Other pieces of note are the band backing Steve Earle & Kirsty MacColl on their records & the band touring with Joe Strummer & playing The Clash classics `London Calling' & `I Fought the Law' as well as their own `Turkish Song of the Damned'. The demo's for the two albums & a projected third they made after the departure of Shane MacGowan are as bad as you probably imagine but at least 4/5th's of this collection is fantastic.
So should anyone tell you this collection isn't worth listening to just look themin the eye & say ... Pogue Mahone.
