With All Due Respect, The Irish Sessions
Cut from the same cloth as bands like Great Big Sea, Black 47, and the Pogues, the Young Dubliners put some rock 'n' roll in their Irish ditties. Here on its sixth album, the L.A.-based band looks back to the old country, mostly reinterpreting some of the Emerald Isle's greatest songs. Pogues fans will recognize such classics as "If I Should Fail To Fall From The Grace Of God" and "Pair Of Brown Eyes," and there are two Dubliners songs too, but the rest are traditionals as well as one original and one song adapted from a Patrick Kavanagh poem. Likely best enjoyed in the company of friends, this album is prime fodder for night of drinking in the pub thanks to the sing along choruses and big crunchy guitar parts. It's a fair piece from the tradition, but this band manages to keep the communal aspect of Irish music intact, and that means this tribute hits just the right note. –-Tad Hendrickson