The Meanest Of Times

I adore all of DKM's efforts including this one, however, Blackout is their zenith. One of the best albums ever produced IMO.

DKM is like AC/DC in that they are a band with a signature sound and they're smart enough to stick to it. In the Murphys' case, that signature sound is one of upbeat, aggressive punk-rock anthems with a Celtic flair (often backed by pipes and other Irish/Scottish instrumentation in addition to electric guitar, bass, & drums) mixed with the occasional quieter, acoustic tune. There are some good songs on this album -- I particularly liked "Famous for Nothing," "God Willing," and "Tomorrow's Industry."

However, I felt like this album was not QUITE as good as some previous ones -- I'd definitely rank MEANEST OF TIMES a notch below such five-star records as WARRIOR'S CODE, DO OR DIE, THE GANG'S ALL HERE, and SING LOUD SING PROUD. MEANEST just lacked a little bit of a spark of some of those other albums. That said, to longtime Murphys fans (such as myself) this album is weak only in a comparative sense.

Personally, I like when bands find a good, signature sound/style and stick to it, just refining it and experimenting a little bit around the edges in minor ways. I mean, thank God we never have to worry about AC/DC doing a jazz compilation, nor about DKM experimenting with techno or Baroque or something like that!

DKM have finally made an album that blends everything they can do together into a cohesive, fresh sound.

"The Warriors Code" was a range proving album. It showed all sides of the Dropkick Murphys, from blistering hardcore to hearfelt balladry. It had pop songs, punk songs, Irish songs, all matched with the usual heart on their sleeves, brothers till the end lyrics.

But "The Meanest Of Times" does the same thing, only all of it blends all at once! Now you get Irish pop punk, Irish hardcore, hard ballads, punk covers of traditional Irish songs... its a hard thing to explain just right, but like, you know how their albums would have a song that sounded more Irish influenced and heartfelt and then following that song would be a kickin' punk song that didn't sound at all like the last track?

Well now you get those two things IN THE SAME SONG!!!

Remember on "The Warriors Code" how the pop of the "The Burden" rolled right into the shoulda-been-a-Dead-Kennedy's-song hardcore of "Citizen CIA"??? On this album, you get stuff like that put together in the SAME SONG!

Which makes this album more monolithic than their previous ones, but it WORKS! Heck, I'd say its their best album yet! Its like someone stapled the usual Irish stuff to the mostly street punk of "The Gangs All Here!"

Its a very word-heavy album too, the lyrics are darn good but there's so MANY of them that Al Barr and Ken Kasey are practically tripping over each other to spit out every line. That and the guys vocals are sometimes very... priate-y. I don't know how else to explain it, they cross the line from normal, throaty, Oi shouters to pirates in a few songs.

But no matter, the album as a whole is very VERY solid, lots of good hooks and energy and some truly meaningful lyrics. Its nice to finally see these guys nail an entire album. All the previous ones have had their hills and valleys, this one is just all good.

By the way, I caught them on tour for this thing. Good show but the crowd was insane, don't go unless you wanna get stuck in a mosh pit (I didn't want to but I did!). Also, Ken Kasey is getting FAT!

I have started to listen to these guys on the radio and I love them. It sounds like that they have fun playing. Very different then what I have ever heard before.

Just can't get enough of this band. Just saw them live in Seattle, WOW, it was great to sing along with them to Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya. The State of Massachusetts is fantastic, they make this girl proud to be Irish.