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Review: Dropkick Murphys - Going Out in Style - Fenway Park Edition [Album]

B&B // "It’s a beautiful thing... I can’t wait to introduce Cornelius Larkin to the world"

by BenG_Writes, June 28th, 2012 and has been Read 895 times.
Last Edited by: Chris MUG5 Maguire June 30th, 2012.

After waiting five years to release a new album, Boston-based Celtic punk masters Dropkick Murphys released Going Out in Style last year. Here we see the bands live performance of the album in Fenway Park, complete with a few old favourites to keep the crowd jigging into the early hours. 'Going Out in Style-Fenway Park Edition' offers a new perspective on the concept album, basing it on fictional character Cornelius Larkin's life as an Irish immigrant and war veteran, but more importantly it's damn good fun!

Dropkick Murphys have never been a band of compromise, their 1998 debut album 'Do or Die' placed them firmly in a camp of their own, part snarling protest-punk, part Irish folklore maestros. Their follow up a year later (The Gang's all Here) further cemented their position, with their live shows gaining a near-legendary status.

Going Out in Style is the bands most blatant salute to the Irish music of past, with tin whistles, rugged guitar riffs and bellowed vocals weaving a story with a lesson worth hearing, and a performance as important as the tune itself. The songs are borrowed from all albums and of course some are pillaged from the annals of Irish history, but the whole album is undeniably a Dropkick's creation, capturing the drunken chaos of a Murphys gig without the stress of ticket queues and beer hair! The Red Sox favourite 'Tessie' is pounded out with such a vitriolic satisfaction you have to stop yourself fist-pumping the air along with it when listening in public.

Featuring a cover of the classic Irish folk song 'The Irish Rover,' which shows the Murphys penchant for taking the music of past generations and giving it a distinctly punk-twist. The brilliant 'Peg O' My Heart' is a raucous mandolin-led number that will have you singing along by the second chorus. It is a song that would fit just as well with a Guinness-fueled funeral as it would with a night out on the town. The somber ballad 'Cruel' recalls the days of Blackout classic 'Kiss Me, I'm Shitfaced', but still maintains the whiskey-soaked aura that always made Dropkick Murphys such an enticing force.

The added tracks and banter between songs will be a welcome addition to any Murphy fans, but first time listeners will no doubt be lost in a world of bagpipes, flutes and irrepressible punk rock. The live album aspect means the story of Cornelius Larkin becomes a bit lost, but the band delivers a live performance charged with energy, building to a stomping great conclusion, guaranteeing everyone leaves with a throat hoarse from singing and an elevated blood-alcohol content.

The decision to perform several songs acoustic, including the Murphy's seminal track 'Boys on the Dock' gives the whole album some more depth, with an exquisitely delivered version of 'The Dirty Glass' rounding the performance off perfectly.

A live Dropkick Murphys album holds so much more than you would think, bringing the sense of camaraderie found in nearly every Dropkick song to the fore, the sense that Dropkick Murphys is still just a group of friends getting drunk and playing good music. Going Out in Style-Fenway Park Edition is, above all else, a celebration of the days of drinking in public and dancing like no-one's watching; in short, Going out in Style is an ode to youth, to the past and of course, to alcohol.

Going Out in Style-Fenway Park Edition is out now on Born & Bred Records.