''Blackout'' is the fourth studio album by
Dropkick Murphys
Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. Singer and bassist Ken Casey has been the band's only constant member. Other current members include drummer Matt Kelly (1997– ), singer Al Barr (199 ...
, released in 2003. A music video for "Walk Away", the album's first official single, was also released. The song went on to become a minor radio hit and received some minor airplay on
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
. "
Fields of Athenry" was also released as a single. The album was released with a DVD, which contained live videos for "Rocky Road to Dublin" and "Boys on the Docks", a music video for "Gonna Be a Blackout Tonight", and a trailer for their then upcoming untitled full-length DVD, which became ''On the Road With the Dropkick Murphys'' and was released the following year in March 2004.
History
"The Dirty Glass" was originally featured on the 2002 split
Face to Face vs. Dropkick Murphys and re-recorded for the album with the band's then merchandise seller, Stephanie Dougherty, who shared vocals with Ken Casey and also appeared on the album's final track, "Kiss Me, I'm Shitfaced". The track "Time to Go", a homage to the
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...
, was released as a promotional CD for the Bruins and also featured in ''
Tony Hawk's Underground
''Tony Hawk's Underground'' is a skateboarding video game and the fifth entry in the '' Tony Hawk's'' series after ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4''. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision in 2003 for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, ...
'' and ''
NHL 2005
''NHL 2005'' is an ice hockey video game released in 2004, the successor to ''NHL 2004''.
Features
Improvements/flaws
''NHL 2005'' features ''Open Ice Control'', including moving players without the puck and also a complete World Cup mode where ...
''. The track "This Is Your Life" was featured in the 2003 video game ''
Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home''.
In 2005, the band released a two-song CD single for the family of Andrew K. Farrar, Jr., a
sergeant
Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
in the
U.S. Marine Corps who was killed on January 28, 2005 in
Al Anbar, Iraq during
Operation Iraqi Freedom
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
. Farrar, who was a big fan of the Murphys, made a request to his family that if he did not survive his
tour of duty
For military personnel, a tour of duty is usually a period of time spent in combat or in a hostile environment. In an army, for instance, soldiers on active duty serve 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the length of their service commitment. ...
, he wanted their version of "
The Fields of Athenry
"The Fields of Athenry" is a song written in 1979 by Pete St. John in the style of an Irish folk ballad. Set during the Great Famine of the 1840s, the lyrics feature a fictional man from near Athenry in County Galway, who stole food for his ...
" to be played at his funeral. The single features a slower version of "The Fields of Athenry" that was originally recorded and placed in Farrar's casket, although the band decided to release the alternate version. The disc also features the track "Last Letter Home," which was written about Farrar and was featured on the Murphys' 2005 album ''
The Warrior's Code
''The Warrior's Code'' is the fifth studio album by the Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys. Released in June 2005, it is also their bestselling. It features a dedication to Lowell's own "Irish" Micky Ward who is featured on the album's cover and ...
''. All of the proceeds for the $10 single go to the Sgt. Andrew Farrar Memorial Fund and can be purchased through the band's website or at one of their shows.
The song "Buried Alive" deals with the
Quecreek Mine Rescue which occurred in July 2002, describing the plight nine Pennsylvania coal miners faced while trapped underground for four days.
Reception
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
gave ''Blackout'' a score of four stars out of five, saying that the album was the band's "tightest material to date" and that it combined the "intensity" of earlier albums with "a bit more polish."
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
praised the album by saying "What makes the album work is the band realizing that no song should be filler on a record." They also compared “World Full of Hate” (which they called the highlight of the record) to
Green Day
Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a powe ...
's "
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
"Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" (or "Time of Your Life (Good Riddance)") is a song by American rock band Green Day, released in December 1997 as the second single from their fifth studio album, ''Nimrod'' (1997). Although different from the b ...
" and called "Dirty Glass" a 'modern day' "
Fairytale of New York
"Fairytale of New York" is a song written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan and recorded by their London-based band the Pogues, featuring singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl on vocals. The song is an Irish folk-style ballad and was written as a due ...
." Punknews.org's review commented on the band's more stripped-down sound on this record: "On their latest effort the band have dropped most of the Irish instruments and arrangements from their sound and focused more on a punk sound with a folksy edge to it." It also pointed out the band's lyrical maturity. "The songwriting also seems more mature than before and the lyrics have matured to deal with a variety of topics including the plight of the working class, changes in life, life’s failures, and the loss of loved ones," they noted.
Track listing
All songs by Dropkick Murphys unless otherwise noted.
# "Walk Away" – 2:51
# "Worker's Song" (
Ed Pickford) – 3:32
# "The Outcast" – 3:10
# "
Black Velvet Band
"The Black Velvet Band" (Roud number 2146) is a traditional folk song collected from singers in Ireland, Australia, England, Canada and the United States describing how a young man is tricked and then sentenced to transportation to Australia, a c ...
" (Traditional, arranged by Dropkick Murphys) – 3:03
# "Gonna Be a Blackout Tonight" (
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...
, arranged by Dropkick Murphys) – 2:39
# "World Full of Hate" – 2:22
# "Buried Alive" – 1:57
# "The Dirty Glass" – 3:38
# "
Fields of Athenry" (
Pete St. John
Peter Mooney (31 January 1932 – 12 March 2022), known professionally as Pete St John, was an Irish folk singer-songwriter. Born in Dublin, Ireland, he was best known for composing "The Fields of Athenry".
Life and career
St John was born in In ...
) – 4:24
# "Bastards on Parade" – 3:50
# "As One" – 3:01
# "This Is Your Life" – 3:43
# "Time to Go" – 2:53
# "Kiss Me I'm Shitfaced" – 5:34
10" and 7" track listing
All songs by
Dropkick Murphys
Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. Singer and bassist Ken Casey has been the band's only constant member. Other current members include drummer Matt Kelly (1997– ), singer Al Barr (199 ...
unless otherwise noted
"Blackout 10" (Limited to 6,000 copies. First 250 released online and autographed by the band)"
Side A
# "Walk Away" – 2:51
# "Buried Alive" – 1:57
# "Gonna Be a Blackout Tonight" (
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...
, Dropkick Murphys) – 2:39
Side B
# "
Fields of Athenry" (
Pete St. John
Peter Mooney (31 January 1932 – 12 March 2022), known professionally as Pete St John, was an Irish folk singer-songwriter. Born in Dublin, Ireland, he was best known for composing "The Fields of Athenry".
Life and career
St John was born in In ...
) – 4:24
# "Bastards on Parade" – 3:50
# "
It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)
"It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the first track of the group's second album ''T.N.T.'', released only in Australia and New Zealand on 8 December 1975, and was written ...
" (
Angus Young
Angus McKinnon Young (born 31 March 1955) is an Australian musician, best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, songwriter, and only remaining original member of the hard rock band AC/DC. He is known for his energetic performances, school ...
,
Malcolm Young
Malcolm Mitchell Young (6 January 1953 – 18 November 2017) was an Australian musician who was the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter of AC/DC. Except for a brief absence in 1988, he was with the band from its beginn ...
,
Bon Scott
Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980.
Born in Forfar in Angus, Scotland, ...
) – 4:43
"The Fields Of Athenry 7" (Limited to 2,000 copies)"
# "The Fields of Athenry"
# "I'm Shipping up to Boston"
# "If I Were a Carpenter (Live)"
CD singles
"Walk Away (European release only)"
# "Walk Away"
# "We Got the Power"
# "Victory"
"The Fields of Athenry (Limited to 600 copies)"
# "The Fields of Athenry"
# "I'm Shipping up to Boston"
# "If I Were a Carpenter (Live)"
"The Fields of Athenry Promo (Given away at Soccer match in Glasgow, Scotland)"
# "The Fields of Athenry"
# "Buried Alive"
"Time to Go (Limited to 12,000 copies - released at Boston Bruins game)"
# "Time to Go"
# "The Dirty Glass"
Personnel
Dropkick Murphys
*
Al Barr
Alexander Barr (born January 21, 1968) is an American musician. He has been the lead singer of the Dropkick Murphys since 1998. He was also a founder and lead singer for The Bruisers, which he helped form in 1988 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Por ...
–
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
*
Ken Casey
Kenneth William Casey Jr. (born April 15, 1969) is an American musician who is a bass guitarist, primary songwriter, and one of the lead singers of the Boston Celtic punk group the Dropkick Murphys. Casey was one of the original members, start ...
–
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
, vocals
*
Matt Kelly –
drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...
s,
bodhrán
The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'' or ''bodhráns'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or othe ...
, vocals
*
James Lynch –
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
, vocals
*
Marc Orrell
Marc John Orrell (born November 7, 1982) is an American guitarist known for being a former member of the Boston Celtic Punk band the Dropkick Murphys. He joined the band in 2000, he was 17 years old, while they were recording '' Sing Loud, Sin ...
– guitar,
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
, vocals
Additional personnel
*
Joe Delaney
Joe Alton Delaney (; October 30, 1958 – June 29, 1983) was an American football running back who played two seasons in the National Football League (NFL). In his two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, Delaney set four franchise records ...
–
bagpipes
Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...
*
Stephanie Dougherty – vocals on "The Dirty Glass" and background vocals on "Kiss Me, I'm Shitfaced"
*
Jim Siegel
Jim or JIM may refer to:
* Jim (given name), a given name
* Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James
* Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy
* OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism
* ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring
* ''Jim ...
– engineer
References
{{Authority control
Dropkick Murphys albums
2003 albums
Hellcat Records albums