Dropkick Murphys - The Meanest of Times Review

Dropkick Murphys The Meanest of Times

full review

Tracklist:
1. Famous For Nothing
2. God Willing
3. The State Of Massachusetts
4. Tomorrow's Industry
5. Echo's On "A" Street
6. Vices And Virtues
7. Surrender
8. Flannigans Ball
9. I'll Begin Again
10. Fairmount Hill
11. Loyal To No-One
12. Shattered
13. Rude Awakenings
14. Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya
15. Never Forget
16. Jailbreak (Bonus Track)

Ranking: #116 for 2007

user rating

3.8
excellent

Chart.

other reviews

SAvaGE888 (4)
The meanest of times showcases the passion and energy these Celtic punk rockers are capable of produ...

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On 10 Lists

4.0
excellent

someguest USER (5 Reviews)

2007-09-26 | 35 comments | 12,817 views

Summary: Overall this seems to be yet another very strong effort from the Dropkick Murphys. The production on the album is excellent, you can pick out every instrument from the constant stream of sound.

5 of 6 thought this review was well written

Celtic punk has always been an interested genre to me. Blending in the rebellious yelling with the instruments of old such as the mandolin creates a mood that is hard to find anywhere else. It makes you want to destroy corporate America and it’s democratic schemes and find peace at the exact same time. That is probably why many find it very easy to enjoy an album put together by the Dropkick Murphys. They manage to look at both the good and bad of life, something that many punk bands over the years have not been able to do.

People usually know what to expect when they purchase a Dropkick Murphys album. The opening track Famous for Nothing starts off the album on the rebellious note telling of kids who do what they want regardless of the way they were raised. The drums keep the pace of the song going well with a rapid beat throughout and the bagpipes in the background keep the melody in place. The song does its job by telling you what to expect throughout the entire album. God Willing is quite an emotional song about friends that pass away over the years. “Laura so sweet and Kenny right in his sleep, they didn’t make it, they didn’t make it” really seems to sum it well by telling the listener no one can escape death and that’s it’s nothing more than a fact of life. The guitar in the song repeats three or four chords for most of the song, but here again the bagpipes are what really keep the song flowing together almost perfectly. After the second verse of the song there is a hard hitting guitar passage that leads into another reciting of the songs’ chorus. Definitely one of the album highlights.

The State of Massachusetts starts out with an interesting passage of what seems to be the playing of the mandolin. After the first twelve seconds of the song the bass, guitar, and drums join the assault to create the Dropkick Murphy’s first single off of the new album. I was surprised to find that even an accordion was thrown in for good measure around the 1:20 mark. The song itself is about how drugs destroy people and their families. It also manages to make use of the tin whistle, which believe it or not, completely fits the tempo and mood of the song. Tomorrow’s Industry is a straight forward punk song. Simple chords, fast drums, and lyrics that talk of how the modern worker is treated poorly on the job. Throw in a solo with two or three sweeps and you have the punk song everyone knows. You’ve probably heard this song before from a different band but for some reason it never grows old or tired. Surrender opens up with some pretty interesting guitar work. There also seems to be some audible bass, something that is not really common on this album. Some people will probably skip over this track to get to (F)lannigan’s Ball. It’s a song that takes place at a party and is just about having a good time with the people you know. There are some vocal guests that really make the track feel like an Irish folk song. Bagpipes explode into the song when the chorus is song by all three vocalists. The lyrics are quite funny at times, “Boy oh boy now this was a rumble, myself took a lick from Mean Ricky Green, but I soon replied to that fine introduction, and gave him a terrible kick in the spleen.” If you love drunks and fighting, this song’s for you. Great track.

I’ll Begin Again has the most catchy guitar work on the album. It almost sounds like a flashback to a Dead Kennedys song to me. The lyrics focus on someone who has to start life over after years in jail for a crime they did not commit. All the sounds really blend well together, but the guitar stands out a great deal. The dual guitars are what make this track almost perfect. The track is short, coming in at about two minutes and thirty seconds. Fairmount Hill is a song about one leaving Boston to travel to California during the gold rush. It happens to be Dropkick Murphys take on the song “Spancil Hill” which concerns the same topic. The opening verse starts with an acoustic guitar passage with the second verse combining both guitar and banjo. The lyrics tell a great story that is not only well written but is easy to follow. There are lyrical twists such as “see I used to crash at his mother’s house” that even throws some laughs in. Another song that you’ll want to listen to over and over again. Loyal To No One starts off with an eerie entrance that sounds as if it was recorded on the shore of the east coast. When the instruments begin, the usual elements of the average punk song are combined with the banjo and accordion. Then the bagpipes are thrown into the mix when the chorus kicks in. Musically this is probably the most complicated song on the album, combining all those instruments to create a sound that flows and sounds good together. The song is about a man that cares about no one but himself and won’t admit how he completely wasted his life. Basically a song letting people know that bitterness can control and ruin your life.

Shattered really sums up the way I feel about society today. It tells of world rulers who fight for oil, anorexic chicks that get all the attention on the news, and athletes that believe skills come from the use of steroids. It’s easily the fastest song on the album. Popping this into your car while driving down the road might cause some excessive speeding. There’s nothing you can do to stop the adrenaline rush you receive listening to it. While instrumentally it doesn’t stick out, it isn’t really needed, since that clearly isn’t the point of the song. Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya is the best track on the album. It is another take on a traditional Irish anti-war and anti-recruiting song of the same name. The song tells of how someone has been sent off to war and struggles to return back home. The atmosphere that comes with the song is great, you can almost picture someone running in a battlefield when the line “where are the legs with which you run” is repeated over and over. Instrumentally the song is fairly similar to Fairmount Hill combining all the elements that make Dropkick Murphys the Dropkick Murphys.

Overall this seems to be yet another very strong effort from the Dropkick Murphys. The production on the album is excellent, you can pick out every instrument from the constant stream of sound. While some of the tracks could be ruled filler, there is not one track that you will want to skip past. This 40-minute, 15 track album, won’t disappoint any fans of the genre and it might even bring some new fans into it.

Recommended Tracks: God Willing, (F)lannigan’s Ball, I’ll Begin Again, Fairmount Hill, Loyal To No One, Shattered, Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya.

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