Which Irish band is the best?

[Nickster]

I'm in my Irish folk-y/punk-y music phase and just can't decide which is the best.

[Nickster]

1. and NO, freaking U2 doesn't count! n/t

[jobycom]

2. Neither do the Pogues! nt

[Nickster]

4. Ouch....just ouch.....

[dolo amber]

5. And I for one applaud you

:patriot:

[underpants]

31. Big Country

with their famous song "Big Country" from their album "Big Country"

oh wait that is Scottish

[datasuspect]

40. that was a cool song

[ZombieNixon]

3. So my two favorite types of music are punk rock and Irish folk music...

and you ask me to fucking decide!!!!?!??! :grr:

Murphys are the only ones I've seen live, so I'll vote them.

[Nickster]

6. Ever hear Gogol Bordello? Not Irish, Russian actually, but along the

same lines musically speaking. Can't stop listening to them lately either.

[jobycom]

7. I haven't, but I've seen them in a movie!

Lead singer is a decent actor. Actually, I heard them briefly, they were on the soundtrack.

[dolo amber]

11. Ukranian, just ftr

;)

[Nickster]

14. Pffftttt. Heh heh.

[ZombieNixon]

15. I've heard of them.

Heard some sound clips...I'd be interested to hear more, too...

[Nickster]

21. Here's the amazon link

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000A2H812/sr=8-1/qid=1156529587/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-5412958-9760008?ie=UTF8

[ghostsofgiants]

42. I recommend the songs "Oh No", "Immigrant Punk", and "Illumination"

Awesome band.

[MrCoffee]

8. The Chieftans

[Nickster]

9. I'll have to give them a spin. I'm sure I've heard them, but they aren't

right up there on my radar.

[MrCoffee]

13. Check out "The Long Black Veil"

It's them with a bunch of different singers doing some great covers. Mick Jagger singing the title track, Sinead O'Connor's "The Foggy Dew" is great, but Tom Jones singing "The Tennessee Waltz" is worth the cost of admission alone.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000003FRH/102-6709806-0139342?v=glance&n=5174

I only put the amazon link so you could hear some.

[Katina]

16. Long Black Veil is a fantastic album

I'm no fan of Tom Jones, but I even like that version of Tennessee Waltz.

[Nickster]

18. Thanks, sounds pretty good. I'll have to get myself a copy now. n/t

[deadparrot]

20. Brings back memories.

My parents were always big St. Patty's Day fans, even though we were more German than Irish. They still play the Cheftains every March 17th. I've even stolen their Christmas album for my dorm room during the holidays. :hi:

[DrDan]

47. yes - the Chieftans

Saw them 2 years ago - what a great time

[KFC]

10. Stiff Little Fingers

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

12. The Cranberries

[SteppingRazor]

19. What is folk-y or punk-y about The Cranberries? n/t

[WCGreen]

35. Pretty much all their songs are folk based and

Melodically and with her voice...

Also, they did several anti war songs which, at the time, was pretty punk....

[SteppingRazor]

17. The Pogues are the best, no doubt...

The Chieftains are folky with none of thepunk bits you want. Flogging Molly isn't even Irish, nor is Dropkick Murphys -- though both of them do the sound brilliantly. But The Pogues came first and the Pogues have Shane Fucking MacGowan. They win for that alone.

[Nickster]

22. Wasn't MacGowan the crazy one who went on his own? n/t

[SteppingRazor]

30. MacGowan WAS the Pogues. The band's nothing without him...

he was the singer/songwriter -- and one of the most brilliant songwriters of his era, IMHO. For working-man, hard-scrabble lyrics, he's up there with Bruce Springsteen. Also one of the greatest drinkers in the history of the world. Toward the end of his tenure with The Pogues, they had to strap him to the microphone stand so he wouldn't fall over -- is that rock-and-fucking-roll or what?

Both Flogging Molly and The Murphs are great, but all you have to do is hear MacGowan croon "And the Band Played Walzting Matilda" -- perhaps the saddest song ever in the history of music -- and you'll forget those guys. Add in the more upbeat stuff like Sally MacLeannane, and you can't lose. I particularly recommend 1985's Rum, Sodomy and the Lash, which includes both of the aforementioned tunes, but 1987's If I Should Fall from Grace with God is equally classic.

[derby378]

63. That doesn't change the fact that The Pogues are techincally a UK band

Sorry, man...

[Katina]

23. If you are going folky/punky..it's Flogging Molly

if you are going more traditional or looking for a band with a broader range of styles, then it's definately the Chieftains. They go from tradition western Irish music, to jigs, to modern Irish and have performed with so many artists from around the world, it's amazing.
I had the chance to see them live..they were awesome.

[Nickster]

26. I enjoy the traditional very much, but I gravitate more to the punk-y

fusion sound.

[Fenris]

24. No question. The Pogues.

[ceile]

25. SLF! But where are the Waterboys?

Possibly one of the best bands ever!

[MorningGlow]

39. Seconding the Waterboys!

They're fantastic--saw them in Boston back in...um...'89 maybe.

[ceile]

41. I'm jealous...

never had the opportunity.

[Throd]

27. Therapy?

[Nickster]

28. Is that a suggestion for me or a band name? lmao

[ceile]

32. Forgot about them.

What was the album... "Bubblegum"?

[Throd]

37. I liked the "Nurse" album

"So Much For The 10 Year Plan" is a good compliation too.

[underpants]

29. U2?

:shrug:

:evilgrin::spank:

[Fenris]

33. Also sadly missing from this poll: Thin Lizzy

[Nickster]

34. GASP! OMG! How the heck did I forget them!

[WCGreen]

36. Not Valid without U2....

Say what you want about Bono and the Boys right now but when they started they were punk, raw and angry...

The Irish version of The Who....

[Nickster]

38. You swayed me with your Cranberries discussion......but I'm afraid

U2 is not going to make it.:-)

[MrCoffee]

43. The Cranberries suck with their tanks and their guns and their bombs

[jmowreader]

44. I like The Corrs somewhat

It's just nice pleasant music to listen to.

Unfortunately for them, none of their songs seem to be about civil wars, having to work 28 hours a day at the mill after paying the owner for permission to come to work, or the potato famine, so they can't be a REAL Irish band.

[LSK]

45. THE CORRS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Radical Activist]

46. Kings of Leon, Corrs and U2

are better than your list. I picked Cranberries from what you have.

[GoneOffShore]

48. You left out Horslips

Rocky/folky/punky with some big orchestrations, back in the 70's.

Yeah, I'm an old fart who remembers these things.

[CrushTheDLC]

49. Virgin Prunes

Or would they automatically be excluded for being friends of U2 and Edge's brother being a member?

[martymar64]

50. The Committments

"Oi, Ginger!!!!! Shut the fuck up!!!!"

[MrCoffee]

52. Ohhh....good one!

The Irish are the blacks of Europe, Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland, and Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once, say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud.

[martymar64]

53. That's fuckin' blasphemy!!!

Elvis wasn't a cajun!!!

[MrCoffee]

54. You're missin' the point.

The success of the band was irrelevant - you raised their expectations of life, you lifted their horizons. Sure we could have been famous and made albums and stuff, but that would have been predictable. This way it's poetry.

[martymar64]

55. Who was that?

A godsend!

What? On a Suzuki?

[MrCoffee]

56. Do y'not think, uh --

we're a little white for that sort of thing?

[martymar64]

57. How's the soup?

Poxy.
Anything else good?
It's all poxy.

[MrCoffee]

58. I totally bow to your excellent greatness.

[martymar64]

59. Oh don't quit yet!

It was just getting good!

On second thought, I gotta go home in a few minutes.
It was fun playing! Let's do this again sometime.

[wildhorses]

51. Them

G_L_O_R_I_A

[bigwillq]

60. U2 beats them all!

:P

:)

[masshole]

61. The Undertones

What? nobody remembers Feargal Sharkey and the boys?

[Broken_Hero]

62. The Cranberries...

no doubt about that....Dolores, oh man, her voice...isn't nothing like it..

[NashVegas]

64. Waterboys Are Scots

There have been Irish in the band, but Waterboys IS Mike Scott. Who happens to be ...

[Idylle Moon Dancer]

65. On the folk side of things

Altan or Clannad perhaps. Not saying they're the best, but they're not on your list.
Or the Tannahill Weavers, but they're Scottish.
Or the Best Band In the Universe by My Current Estimation, Garmarna: they're Swedish. They do fusion-y Swedish traditional stuff for the most part.