THE DUBLINERS
The Best of the Dubliners
(Epic/Legacy)
The Dubliners rank with the Chieftains and U2 as one of Ireland's most widely known bands. Their gritty, cheeky style—free of the too-rah-loo-rah-loo-rah sentimentality that seems to infect most Irish folk bands—has made them a perennial favorite among international audiences ever since their first hit, "Seven Drunken Nights," reached the top five of the British pop charts in 1967. Back then, the Dubliners’ with their scraggy beards and brash impudence, stood in direct opposition to the bland, schmaltzy brand of folk that became popular after Dylan left the scene. Today, they've lost none of their grit. The Best of the Dubliners, their new compilation album, presents sixteen of the finest examples of their commitment to raw, rough-and-tumble Irish folk.

Prominent is "Seven Drunken Nights," an uproarious description of a drunken husband who stumbles home each of seven nights to find more and more evidence of his wife's extramarital adventures. The song once led the bishop of Cork to attempt to ban the group from his see. Yet, rollicking accounts of alcohol and adultery are not the Dubliners' only concerns. They also offer up songs of Ireland's long struggle for independence. Both "Croppy Boy" and "The Rising of the Moon," for example, are serious, tuneful reflections upon the failed Wexford rebellion of 1798.

During their forty-year span, the Dubliners have excited audiences with their blazing brand of Irish folk. They've also blazed a path for many other Irish performers, such as the Pogues, with whom they hit number one in 1987 with "The Irish Rover." In all that time the Dubliners have been uncompromisingly and unflinchingly faithful to a fiercely independent musical vision that's all their own. Scott Hoffman [buy it]

For fans of: the Chieftains and other Irish folk bands, the Pogues, U2