Hell's Ditch

by

The Pogues

Edit

While it was clear by the time this album was released that all was not well with the Pogues, there are moments of pure crystaline brilliance on this album that continue to speak to me. "Lorca's Novena" is right up there among the best songs Shane MacGowan ever wrote, and is simply beatiful -- and also horrifying. The patient listener is amply rewarded on this album. There are hardly any of those tedious non-MacGowan moments one finds on "Peace & Love", as "Hell's Ditch" feels more like a harmonious whole than a patchwork of unrelated 'showcase' material for various bandmates.

This was the last Pogues album to feature the singing and songwriting talents of Shane MacGowan- and if you ask me that makes this the LAST Pogues album. As much I would like to say that the Pogues and MacGowan went out with a bang on their last album together, it just isn't true. "Hell's Ditch" is the weakest of the band's five studio albums.

There is no question that by 1990 MacGowan's alcohol and drug problems (the man's a junkie!) had taken their awful toll on his abilities. His voice on "Hell's Ditch" is no longer the boozy growl of previous efforts but an almost unintelligible mumble. I won't say that his songwriting talents had fully abandoned him- "On Sunnyside on the Street" and "Summer in Siam" are very, very good. However, this album continues the trend started with "Peace & Love"- a good part of the CD features songs written and sung by other members of the band with mixed results. "Hell's Ditch" has a lot of weak filler songs in comparison to previous Pogues albums.

This was the end of the road for the Pogues. "Hell's Ditch" was released in 1990 and the next year MacGowan would be fired by the band on the eve of its U.S. tour. (In September 1991, I would see the Shane-less Pogues perform at NYC's Beacon Theater with Joe Strummer (who produced "Hell's Ditch") filling in as lead singer.) Without question the Pogues were one of the most exciting and unique groups to emerge during the 80's- a raucous blend of Irish folk and British punk. So in comparison to the vast majority of the music being produced in 1990 (Milli Vanilli and Vanilla Ice were chart toppers at the time) Hell's Ditch is a fantastic CD, but when compared to previous Pogues' efforts it doesn't entirely measure up.