Dropkick Murphys - The Meanest Of Times

DKM

I adore all of DKM's efforts including this one, however, Blackout is their zenith. One of the best albums ever produced IMO.
June 10, 2008

They finally DID it!

DKM have finally made an album that blends everything they can do together into a cohesive, fresh sound.

"The Warriors Code" was a range proving album. It showed all sides of the Dropkick Murphys, from blistering hardcore to hearfelt balladry. It had pop songs, punk songs, Irish songs, all matched with the usual heart on their sleeves, brothers till the end lyrics.

But "The Meanest Of Times" does the same thing, only all of it blends all at once! Now you get Irish pop punk, Irish hardcore, hard ballads, punk covers of traditional Irish songs... its a hard thing to explain just right, but like, you know how their albums would have a song that sounded more Irish influenced and heartfelt and then following that song would be a kickin' punk song that didn't sound at all like the last track?

Well now you get those two things IN THE SAME SONG!!!

Remember on "The Warriors Code" how the pop of the "The Burden" rolled right into the shoulda-been-a-Dead-Kennedy's-song hardcore of "Citizen CIA"??? On this album, you get stuff like that put together in the SAME SONG!

Which makes this album more monolithic than their previous ones, but it WORKS! Heck, I'd say its their best album yet! Its like someone stapled the usual Irish stuff to the mostly street punk of "The Gangs All Here!"

Its a very word-heavy album too, the lyrics are darn good but there's so MANY of them that Al Barr and Ken Kasey are practically tripping over each other to spit out every line. That and the guys vocals are sometimes very... priate-y. I don't know how else to explain it, they cross the line from normal, throaty, Oi shouters to pirates in a few songs.

But no matter, the album as a whole is very VERY solid, lots of good hooks and energy and some truly meaningful lyrics. Its nice to finally see these guys nail an entire album. All the previous ones have had their hills and valleys, this one is just all good.

By the way, I caught them on tour for this thing. Good show but the crowd was insane, don't go unless you wanna get stuck in a mosh pit (I didn't want to but I did!). Also, Ken Kasey is getting FAT! May 19, 2008

These guys are awesome

I have started to listen to these guys on the radio and I love them. It sounds like that they have fun playing. Very different then what I have ever heard before. May 14, 2008

!!Let's Go Murphy's!!

Just can't get enough of this band. Just saw them live in Seattle, WOW, it was great to sing along with them to Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya. The State of Massachusetts is fantastic, they make this girl proud to be Irish. March 6, 2008

great cd

It is classic Dropkicks. If you are a Dropkicks fan you will love this one. February 14, 2008

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