I am not a huge Dropkick Murphy’s fan but this album is fucking awesome. I actually know a few guys in the 69th Infantry and there leaving soon, good luck over there.

Might be their best album. Pipebomb on Lansdown, The Fighting 69th, Curse of A Fallen Soul, all amazing songs.

"wtf ? hey Colonel, All Barr was the singer of The Bruisers, one the best american Oi bands ever."

Um, yeah...and what? That being an Oi band means they didn't have a more traditional hardcore sound than the Murphys? You can stick the Bruisers in any bin you like, but if you don't think this is a more traditional hardcore sound than "Do Or Die", we may have to pull your card.

The Bruisers - "Society's Fools"
http://xena.algonet.se/jonas/musik/bruisers/Societys-Fool s.mp3

The Bruisers - "We Will Survive"
http://xena.algonet.se/jonas/musik/bruisers/We-Will-Sur vive.mp3

BTW, for anyone following these posts, the bottom line is that this is the Murphys' weakest album...regardless of whether it's a two or an eight. With four other albums to choose from - all excellent - you know what to do.

"Enter the new singer, Al Barr, from a more traditional hardcore band"

wtf ? hey Colonel, All Barr was the singer of The Bruisers, one the best american Oi bands ever.

Btw, the album rocks... is not as good as Do Or Die, Blackout or Warriors Code though, but it deserves a 8.

This is by far the Murphys' weakest album. That's okay though, because The Gang's All Here is a necessary transitional album. They had just lost their lead singer, Mike McColgan, who really provided the key to their early sound with his distinctive Boston accent (and was a major reason why Do Or Die was such a great record). Enter the new singer, Al Barr, from a more traditional hardcore band. Gone is McColgan's "buddy at the pub" voice, replaced by Barr's growling, cheesegrater vocals. The songs were okay, the band was tighter, but their sound - the sloppy Southie bar band that made you want to put an arm around your mate and your fist around a pint of Guinness - was history. Thank God, though, they figured it out, and the results far surpassed even their early glory days. By the 3rd album, Sing Loud, Sing Proud!, Ken Casey figured out how he and his boys could support Barr with rousing backing vocals, and Barr himself found his range. The depth he eventually found in his throat is positively miraculous. Listen to "The Green Fields of France" on The Warrior's Code for the final product. No singer in punk rock history has ever sung more beautifully. The only reason to buy The Gang's All Here is to see how far the Murphy's have come, and what they overcame to get where they are. This is their stepping stone.

fuckin great

im in 7th grade and i hate sum41 ,they suck ass

al barr rules ,the best song is curse of a fallen soul. sum41 does suck. The guy who says flogging molly is better than the almighty dkm is on crack and was blind and deaf when he says the murphys play.

Dropkick Murphys are so much better than flogging molly. and SUM 41 isn't punk, it's crap

Dropkick Murphys are quite good... all I have against them is how all the mainstream kids think that the only punk bands are NOFX, Pennywise, and DKM.

-Sr. Potpourri

not a fucking chat room!

And sickboi, while you were on the subject of those 2 guys being related..I dont think they are..that question has been raised before but who knows??? the one I was really wondering about was pete parada (face to face) and ernie parada (grey area/arsons) anyone know anything about that?

Its ok..nothing special but Im not a huge DKM fan anyway "do or die" is the best definitley

Right on! You hit the nail with that. I don't think I could have said it better myself. Al is alright but is certainly, and will never be like Mike.
BTW- The vocalist is Dave King, a really down to earth fellow. I had the honor of having a Guiness with him one night. Does anyone know if the other guitarist in Flogging Molly, Dennis Casey, is of relation to DKM's Ken Casey?
-sickboi

I've seen both DKM and Flogging Molly several times, and all I can say is Flogging Molly has EVERYTHING on the Murphey's.

First of all--and i'm probably getting into personal taste here--Al Barr is a far less accomplished singer. Again, i've seen the Murphey's with both Mike and Al on vocals, and in terms of stage presence and voice quality, Mike blows Al out of the water. The man was an absolute nut on stage--jumping around, making self-depriciating tough guy faces, and doing everything to get the crowd into the show. Everytime i've seen Al, on the other hand, he paces back and forth across the stage and acts like a tough guy when he's far from one. On top of that, his voice gives whenever he tries to sing Mike's songs. He just doesn't have the pipes. The last time I saw the band, Ken sang almost as much Al, and I think its because he's a better singer. I realize that not many out there saw DKM with Mike fronting the band, so probably you probably don't know what you were missing.

Secondly, Flogging Molly's frontman--whose name eludes me at the moment--has been singing and performing for a lot longer (he's a lot older) and it shows. Everytime I've seen the band, he fills the downtime with different hysterical jokes and stories. Ex: "Are you still out of Guiness? Oh Christ, please! The only desert an Irishman knows is an empty glass." Their songs tell incredible stories, more than just stories about being a skinhead or being proud. And they are possibly few better sorrow songs than "The Worst Day Since Yesterday". Plus, their fiddle player kicks ass.

As for their response at the Warped Tour, all I can say is marketing, marketing, marketing. DKM is on Epitaph/Hellcat, FM isn't. DKM is strongly promoted by Epitaph on comps, websites, and videos. You can buy their shirts at Hot Topic. Outside of the Warped Tour, FM hasn't had any grand exposure. They just keep playing, touring, and gaining ground bit by bit. If FM were on a bigger label, I'm sure the crowd's reaction would be VERY different.

--The Cos

When bands go on tour it is ussually to promote a new album, Sing Loud Sing Proud. When you are trying to promote a new album what would you do... i know lets play songs from other albums instead, thats not the way they think aboutit. (I know I'll get shit for the bands/artists I'm going to list)Blink 182, Kool Keith, Green Day, Sum 41, H20, and many others do the same thing. But the bands always do play their most popular songs, Skinhead and Barroom Hero, to keep the crowd into the show. Thats not really something that you can complain about. When I saw the Murphys in 99 they played mostly songs from this album. It's just the way the music world works.. kinda sucks because sometimes the new stuff is the worst stuff although that isnt the way it is with the Murphys.

They never play anything from this album live anymore except Amazing Grace. Every show is all songs from "Sing Loud...", with the exception of Barroom Hero and Skinhead. Damn it.

Ive seen the Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly live in the same day at Warped Tour this year. Although some of the crowd did get into Flogging Molly, including myself, DKM got a much bigger response and a much livlier crowd. This may be because I went to the Boston show but I still believe that the DKM put on a better show. I love Irish music in general and its all good to me but I do have to agree that the DKM put a better twist on the Irish Punk.

can we please end the bickering. it's making the site look bad. let's just stick to the music and leave the name calling at the door. Everyone here will trash you're review if they don't like it. I've had it done to me, and so has everyone else, so don't take it so personally.

Sum 41 is pretty bad. one day you'll wake up and realize that. the Murphy's do a lot of cool shit(like the firefighter benefit and the coors light amp. workers accoustic show) but i think their songs are just redundant and annoying. Flogging Molly does it so much better, with much more talent and inovation. i've heard DKM are awesome live, but they can't compare to a FLogging Molly show, those are fucking great.- fathead

flogging molly IS better than dropkick murphys.

Yes junior high... You see I'm only 12 years old thats why I like Sum 41 too right? Oh wait I'm 20 years old, I must have forgotten in my stupidity.

oh, i see, you're still in jr. high, aren't you. that explains a lot- fathead

OK then I guess I didnt explain the music enough... well forgive me shithead.. oops fat head. The Dropkick Murphys have always taken the sound of Irish Folk music and given a more punk sound. Some songs however use just a faster style of punk while other use a more melodic, heavy on the irish, style of folk song. I have described it to my friends as Modern Irish Folk music and none of them have disagreed with me. This is my least favorite DKM album as well but I dont blame that on Al Barr as many people do. Whats the problem with Al Barr anyways I think he has a very similar voice to Mike McColgan. They are in no way the same but they do have a similar raspiness to them. Also how can anyone say that Flogging Molly does "Celtic-core" much better than the DKM. I do find Flogging Molly to be a great band however in comparison to the Dropkick Murphys I think they have nothing on them so great as to say that there is no reason to listen to the DKM. As for bands to compare it to, I think the obvious are Flogging Molly but there are many others which people may not have heard of unless being from the boston area suck as Big Bad Bollocks, Blood or Whisky, or the Bruisers (Al Barr's former band). Like I said at the end of my review it was not the greatest and I aplogize, I really dont like fathead and dont look up to him as a hero or anti-hero as I would hope no one will. I think he is arrogant and ignorant. He has nothing better to do than to come here and down other people's work. To remake a darkbuster classic.... I hate fat head and thats something that I aint afraid to say, Hey Hey Hey, I hate fat head if hea was in the room Id walk right up and say it to his face....I hope he fucking dies... or at least gets in a bad car accident.

this cd sucks, except for Amazing Grace. I have never understood why people go nuts for this band. btw, my reviews are far from extravagant, they just stick to the simple starting point of DESCRIBING THE MUSIC!!!- fathead

Good album, my least favorite however. Once again Fathead, these kids love you. You become a sort of "anti-hero" to the young ones....sickboi

"Do or Die" is the only good album by the Dropkick Murpheys, because the ex-lead singer Mike was fucking amazing, both live and on CD. Al Barr is shite. And with Shane McGowen still touring and recording and Flogging Molly doing Celtic-core so much better, there's absolutely no good reason to listen to DKM. Just a bad band with an absolutely AWFUL lead singer

Out of all the Murphys' albums, this is the one I put in the most. This is their fastest and most agressive. The melody is still there as are the choruses. Al Barr's voice sounds exceptional and not a thing like it does on Sing Loud. He just sounds angry. Pefect album to jump around to.

Sing Loud, Sing Proud is better, in my not so humble opinion. And while we're on the subject, MC Hammer was much more of a sellout than Vanilla Ice.

How does it compare to their other albums?

How would you describe its sound?

Any other bands it could be compared to?

PLEAAASSSE DESCRIBE THE MUSIC AAAHHHHH