This album is a great snapshot of what makes Dropkick Murphys unique. Most of the songs on the album are what you'd expect from the band. Namely, songs that make you want to stomp your boots, pump your fist, and sing along. What's so unique about that, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. What's unique about this collection of songs is that if you were only to listen to the melodies, you would pump your fist, stomp your boots, etc. However, those melodies are paired with some heavy-duty lyrics about such subjects as: getting in trouble as a kid ("Famous for Nothing"), losing friends ("God Willing"), having your children become wards of the state ("The State of Massachusetts") and so on.My personal favorite track is "Tomorrow's Industry," which is basically the anthem of every working stiff who busts his hump at a job and feels like he never really reaps the reward. "They see your eyes / they see your face / but it's your soul they want to take." I'd say a fair amount of people feel that way about their job.
Another highlight on the album is "(F)Lannigan's Ball," featuring Spider Stacy and Ronnie Drew as guest vocalists. There is also a version of this song without Stacy and Drew. All due respect to Dropkick Murphys, but Spider Stacy makes the song.
The bottom line is that this album is filled with all the things that made the band so popular: a lot of hard-driving songs about hard times. Make sure you crank the volume when you put this on.
DVD
"State of Massachusetts" looks like it was filmed in an abandoned schoolhouse with the band on the auditorium stage. In the footage of this song, someone looks at the camera and says, "I'm sweating like a kid from Dorchester in court."
The DVD shows the making of "Flannigan's Ball" in both the studio and the abandoned apartment in which Ken and Al recorded the vocals. The camera pans to the bathroom and Ken says, "I've seen crack houses nicer than this."
In addition to the video and the "making of" footage, the DVD highlights two huge events in Boston: a St. Patrick's Day breakfast and the celebration of another Red Sox championship. At the breakfast, the band performed an "unplugged" set with songs like "Wild Rover" and "Forever." The footage of the Sox championship celebration is interspersed with live footage of the band performing "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya." The DVD is a really good behind-the-scenes glimpse of the band.
