DROPKICK MURPHYS
''SIGNED AND SEALED IN BLOOD''
JANUARY 8 2013
40:49
1/The Boys Are Back
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/3:19
2/Prisoner's Song
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/2:46
3/Rose Tattoo
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/5:06
4/Burn
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/2:39
5/Jimmy Collins' Wake
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Richard Johnson / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/2:59
6/The Season's Upon Us
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/4:02
7/The Battle Rages On
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/2:17
8/Don't Tear Us Apart
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/3:01
9/My Hero
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/3:10
10/Out on the Town
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/3:02
11/Out of Our Heads
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/3:11
12/End of the Night
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/5:17
Al Barr /Vocals
Tim Brennan /Accordion, Bouzouki, Guitar, Piano, Vocals, Whistle
Niki Cremmen /Vocals
Jeff DaRosa /Autoharp, Banjo, Bouzouki, Guitar (Acoustic), Mandola, Mandolin, Piano, Vocals
Michelle DaRosa /Vocals
Matt Kelly /Drums, Vocals
James Lynch /Guitar, Vocals
Winston Marshall /Banjo, Guest Artist
The Parkington Sisters /Strings, Vocals
Scruffy Wallace /Bagpipes, Group Member, Whistle
REVIEW
by Gregory Heaney
After dabbling in a more narrative style with their 2011 concept album Going Out in Style, Dropkick Murphys get back to their raucous roots on their eighth album, Signed and Sealed in Blood. Blazing their way through 12 tracks of ripping Celtic punk, Dropkick Murphys are still partying on after all these years with songs that feel as though they should be listened to while drunkenly singing with a bar full of like-minded, and likewise intoxicated, friends. What's really stirring about Dropkick Murphys after all this time is that their music isn't so much a celebration of being Irish, but a celebration of celebrating. "The Boys Are Back" is the perfect prelude to a night on the town you're not likely to remember in the morning, and the rest of the album follows suit with an energy that mixes in just the right amount of mirth, mayhem, and maudlin, making Signed and Sealed in Blood an album that's sure to please Murphys fans both old and new.
BIOGRAPHY
by Jason Ankeny
The hardcore punk/Celtic folk outfit Dropkick Murphys formed in South Boston in 1995; vocalist Mike McColgan, guitarist Rick Barton, and bassist Ken Casey comprised the original nucleus of the group, with a series of drummers passing through the lineup before the addition of Matt Kelly in 1997. After a series of EPs including Fire and Brimstone, Tattoos and Scally Caps, and Boys on the Docks, the Dropkick Murphys signed to Hellcat Records to issue their 1998 full-length Do or Die, produced by Rancid's Lars Frederiksen; McColgan exited the group soon after (he later went on to form the like-minded Street Dogs) and was replaced by vocalist Al Barr for the follow-up, 1999's The Gang's All Here.
Mob Mentality, a split release with the Business, appeared in mid-2000, but at the same time the band was going through an extensive redesign. Their five-piece arrangement expanded into a septet, for Marc Orrell stepped in after original guitarist Rick Barton left the band to get married. James Lynch (guitar), Spicy McHaggis (bagpipes), and Ryan Foltz (mandolin) were also added to the lineup to enhance the band's growling sound. Frederiksen, who produced the band's first two albums, left the Dropkicks to venture out on their own for their third studio effort, Sing Loud, Sing Proud. Bassist Ken Casey took over, and the album, which featured collaborations with ex-Pogue Shane MacGowan and Cock Sparrer's Colin McFaull, was issued in early 2001.
Their Irish pride shone through the next year, when Live on St. Patrick's Day from Boston, MA was released in the summer. Recorded at the biggest Irish-American celebration of the year in a town known for its widespread Irish heritage, the set was a blistering example of their intense and lively gigs. As the band prepped for the annual Vans Warped Tour in summer 2003, they released Blackout in June; the album featured new bagpipe player Scruffy Wallace and accordionist Tim Brennan (who further took over mandolin and tin whistle after Foltz left following some touring). The Murphys reworked the Boston Red Sox anthem "Tessie" on their mid-2004 EP Tessie, which subsequently became the theme song to the Sox's World Series run that year. Warrior's Code followed in 2005, and one of its songs, "I'm Shipping Up to Boston," was later used in the 2006 Martin Scorsese film The Departed. Soon after, the band recorded The Meanest of Times, a collection of songs about family loyalty, featuring guest appearances by Spider Stacy of the Pogues and Ronnie Drew of the Dubliners, released in mid-September 2007. In January 2008, however, Orrell announced his decision to leave the band in order to pursue other projects. Live On Lansdowne, Boston MA, a CD/DVD of tracks culled from 2009's week of St. Patrick's Day shows in Boston, was released in 2010. For their next studio album, the band looked inward to create a concept album, combining their own experiences to create the fictional character Cornelius Larkin. The result was their seventh album, Going Out in Style, which was released in 2011 on their Born & Bred label. 2012 saw the band follow up with Live From Fenway Park before returning the next year with their eighth studio effort, Signed and Sealed in Blood.
''SIGNED AND SEALED IN BLOOD''
JANUARY 8 2013
40:49
1/The Boys Are Back
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/3:19
2/Prisoner's Song
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/2:46
3/Rose Tattoo
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/5:06
4/Burn
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/2:39
5/Jimmy Collins' Wake
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Richard Johnson / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/2:59
6/The Season's Upon Us
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/4:02
7/The Battle Rages On
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/2:17
8/Don't Tear Us Apart
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/3:01
9/My Hero
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/3:10
10/Out on the Town
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/3:02
11/Out of Our Heads
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/3:11
12/End of the Night
Al Barr / Tim Brennan / Ken Casey / Jeff DaRosa / Matt Kelly / James Lynch/5:17
Al Barr /Vocals
Tim Brennan /Accordion, Bouzouki, Guitar, Piano, Vocals, Whistle
Niki Cremmen /Vocals
Jeff DaRosa /Autoharp, Banjo, Bouzouki, Guitar (Acoustic), Mandola, Mandolin, Piano, Vocals
Michelle DaRosa /Vocals
Matt Kelly /Drums, Vocals
James Lynch /Guitar, Vocals
Winston Marshall /Banjo, Guest Artist
The Parkington Sisters /Strings, Vocals
Scruffy Wallace /Bagpipes, Group Member, Whistle
REVIEW
by Gregory Heaney
After dabbling in a more narrative style with their 2011 concept album Going Out in Style, Dropkick Murphys get back to their raucous roots on their eighth album, Signed and Sealed in Blood. Blazing their way through 12 tracks of ripping Celtic punk, Dropkick Murphys are still partying on after all these years with songs that feel as though they should be listened to while drunkenly singing with a bar full of like-minded, and likewise intoxicated, friends. What's really stirring about Dropkick Murphys after all this time is that their music isn't so much a celebration of being Irish, but a celebration of celebrating. "The Boys Are Back" is the perfect prelude to a night on the town you're not likely to remember in the morning, and the rest of the album follows suit with an energy that mixes in just the right amount of mirth, mayhem, and maudlin, making Signed and Sealed in Blood an album that's sure to please Murphys fans both old and new.
BIOGRAPHY
by Jason Ankeny
The hardcore punk/Celtic folk outfit Dropkick Murphys formed in South Boston in 1995; vocalist Mike McColgan, guitarist Rick Barton, and bassist Ken Casey comprised the original nucleus of the group, with a series of drummers passing through the lineup before the addition of Matt Kelly in 1997. After a series of EPs including Fire and Brimstone, Tattoos and Scally Caps, and Boys on the Docks, the Dropkick Murphys signed to Hellcat Records to issue their 1998 full-length Do or Die, produced by Rancid's Lars Frederiksen; McColgan exited the group soon after (he later went on to form the like-minded Street Dogs) and was replaced by vocalist Al Barr for the follow-up, 1999's The Gang's All Here.
Mob Mentality, a split release with the Business, appeared in mid-2000, but at the same time the band was going through an extensive redesign. Their five-piece arrangement expanded into a septet, for Marc Orrell stepped in after original guitarist Rick Barton left the band to get married. James Lynch (guitar), Spicy McHaggis (bagpipes), and Ryan Foltz (mandolin) were also added to the lineup to enhance the band's growling sound. Frederiksen, who produced the band's first two albums, left the Dropkicks to venture out on their own for their third studio effort, Sing Loud, Sing Proud. Bassist Ken Casey took over, and the album, which featured collaborations with ex-Pogue Shane MacGowan and Cock Sparrer's Colin McFaull, was issued in early 2001.
Their Irish pride shone through the next year, when Live on St. Patrick's Day from Boston, MA was released in the summer. Recorded at the biggest Irish-American celebration of the year in a town known for its widespread Irish heritage, the set was a blistering example of their intense and lively gigs. As the band prepped for the annual Vans Warped Tour in summer 2003, they released Blackout in June; the album featured new bagpipe player Scruffy Wallace and accordionist Tim Brennan (who further took over mandolin and tin whistle after Foltz left following some touring). The Murphys reworked the Boston Red Sox anthem "Tessie" on their mid-2004 EP Tessie, which subsequently became the theme song to the Sox's World Series run that year. Warrior's Code followed in 2005, and one of its songs, "I'm Shipping Up to Boston," was later used in the 2006 Martin Scorsese film The Departed. Soon after, the band recorded The Meanest of Times, a collection of songs about family loyalty, featuring guest appearances by Spider Stacy of the Pogues and Ronnie Drew of the Dubliners, released in mid-September 2007. In January 2008, however, Orrell announced his decision to leave the band in order to pursue other projects. Live On Lansdowne, Boston MA, a CD/DVD of tracks culled from 2009's week of St. Patrick's Day shows in Boston, was released in 2010. For their next studio album, the band looked inward to create a concept album, combining their own experiences to create the fictional character Cornelius Larkin. The result was their seventh album, Going Out in Style, which was released in 2011 on their Born & Bred label. 2012 saw the band follow up with Live From Fenway Park before returning the next year with their eighth studio effort, Signed and Sealed in Blood.
