Similar Albums:
- Artist: The Pogues
- Rating:
- Release Date: 1984
- Total Time: 40:12
- Genre: Rock
Review
What set the Pogues apart from any number of other energetic Irish traditional bands was the sheer physical force of their performances, the punky swagger of their personalities, and Shane MacGowan's considerable gifts as a songwriter. Unfortunately, none of these qualities comes through very clearly on their first album, Red Roses for Me. While the Pogues are in good form here, the production (by Stan Brennan) is thin and lacks the body or nuance to capture the finer details of the performances, robbing this recording of the fire the group would display on their later albums. And it's clear that MacGowan had not yet fully matured as a songwriter; there are a handful of superb songs here, such as "Transmetropolitan," "Streams of Whiskey," and "Down in the Ground Where the Dead Men Go," but some of the others suggest MacGowan was still learning how to fit all his ideas into his songs. Red Roses for Me is good and rowdy fun, but on Rum Sodomy & the Lash and If I Should Fall from Grace with God, the Pogues would prove they were capable of a lot more than that. ~ Mark Deming, All Music GuideTracks
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Transmetropolitan (Lyrics) | Shane MacGowan | The Pogues | (4:15) |
| The Battle of Brisbane | Shane MacGowan | The Pogues | (1:49) |
| The Auld Triangle | The Pogues | (4:20) | |
| Waxie's Dargle (Lyrics) | Traditional | The Pogues | (1:53) |
| Boys from the County Hell (Lyrics) | Shane MacGowan | The Pogues | (2:56) |
| Sea Shanty (Lyrics) | Shane MacGowan | The Pogues | (2:24) |
| Dark Streets of London (Lyrics) | Shane MacGowan | The Pogues | (3:33) |
| Streams of Whiskey (Lyrics) | Shane MacGowan | The Pogues | (2:32) |
| Poor Paddy | Traditional | The Pogues | (3:09) |
| Dingle Regatta | Traditional | The Pogues | (2:52) |
| Greenland Whale Fisheries (Lyrics) | Traditional | The Pogues | (2:36) |
| Down in the Ground Where the Deadmen Go | Shane MacGowan | The Pogues | (3:30) |
| Kitty (Lyrics) | Traditional | The Pogues | (4:23) |
