''Sing Loud, Sing Proud!'' is the third studio album from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

punk rock band the Dropkick Murphys. Before the album's release in 2001, guitarist Rick Barton left the band. He announced James Lynch of Boston punk band

The Ducky Boys The Ducky Boys are a street punk band from Boston. Since forming in 1995 in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, the band has released six full-length albums and over 80 songs. The band's name is derived from the name of an Irish street gan ...

as his successor. As well as Lynch, the band also recruited then 17-year-old Marc "The Kid" Orrell on lead guitar (he is also a self-taught accordionist). The band also recruited a full-time piper, Robbie Mederios (better known as Spicy McHaggis), and Ryan Foltz on mandolin and

tin whistle The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteria ...

. Music videos were released for the songs "The Spicy McHaggis Jig", "The Gauntlet" and " The Wild Rover".

Recording

The album featured a brand new lineup for the Dropkick Murphys compared to their previous album. Founding guitarist Rick Barton quit the band early during the album's recording although he would be featured on three of the album's tracks. Guitarist James Lynch joined the band shortly before Barton's departure while 17 year old guitarist, Marc Orrell was added as well. The new lineup was rounded out by mandolin player, Ryan Foltz and bagpipe player, Spicy McHaggis, who are only featured on this album. The album features collaborations with

Shane MacGowan Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan (born 25 December 1957) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and songwriter of Celtic punk band the Pogues. He was also a member of the Nipple Erectors and Shane MacGow ...

, vocalist of

The Pogues The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse" ...

, and Colin McFaull of

Cock Sparrer Cock Sparrer () is an English punk rock band formed in 1972 in the East End of London. Although they have never enjoyed commercial success, they helped pave the way for the early '80s punk scene and the Oi! subgenre., Their songs have been c ...

and an updated version of the old Murphys classic "Caps And Bottles". "The Legend of Finn MacCumhail" was previously released on the band's 1998 single, "Curse of a Fallen Soul" and performed on ''The Gang's All Here tour''. In addition, it includes covers of Irish folk classics, "

The Rocky Road to Dublin "Rocky Road to Dublin" is a 19th-century Irish song written by Irish poet D. K. Gavan about a man's experiences as he travels to Liverpool, England from his home in Tuam, Ireland. Originally popularized by Harry Clifton, it has since been per ...

" and " The Wild Rover", as well as a rendition of the Boston College

fight song A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated ...

, " For Boston".

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 databa ...

gave ''Sing Loud, Sing Proud!'' a score of three stars out of five, and called it "a decent addition to the band's album roster." Punknews.org gave the album four out of five stars said the album "blends the sounds of 'Do or Die' and 'The Gang's All Here,'" and that "the Murphy’s skill is in blending their folk influences into their street punk sound, without losing the attitude and energy of the latter. This separates the band from acts with similar setups like

Flogging Molly Flogging Molly is an Irish-American seven-piece Celtic punk bandLife Is Good Out Now
Floggingmolly.c ...

Cover art

The

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

on the cover actually exists in

South Boston South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformat ...

on the corner of West Broadway and C Streets. The mural was painted by Tricia O'NeillSigns Unique
/ref> and her father Patrick O'Neill in the summer of 2000. Tricia was hired by Ken Casey and his wife. Their relationship continued - Pat was in the follow up album's video for "Walk Away" and Tricia did the "Blackout" cover and interior photo artwork. The mural is one of the last murals left in

, as others have been painted over.

Track listing

All songs by

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. Hi ...

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, sta ...

and Matt Kelly, unless otherwise noted. #" For Boston" ( T.J. Hurley) – 1:33 #"The Legend of Finn MacCumhail" – 2:15 #" Which Side Are You On?" (

Florence Reece Florence Reece (April 12, 1900 – August 3, 1986) was an American social activist, poet, and folksong writer. She is best known for the song " Which Side Are You On?" which she originally wrote at the age of twelve while her father was out ...

) – 2:28 #"

" (Traditional) – 2:37 #"Heroes from Our Past" – 3:31 #"Forever" – 3:08 #"The Gauntlet" – 2:49 #"Good Rats" – 3:03 #"The New American Way" – 3:32 #"The Torch" – 3:17 #"The Fortunes of War" – 2:43 #"A Few Good Men" – 2:36 #"Ramble and Roll" – 1:59 #"Caps and Bottles" (Casey) – 2:41 #" The Wild Rover" (Traditional) – 3:25 #"The Spicy McHaggis Jig" – 3:27

Personnel

Dropkick Murphys: *

–

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 withou ...

* Rick Barton - additional guitars on "The Torch", "The New American Way" and "Fortunes of War" (founding guitarist of the band quit early during the album's recording) *

–

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 – drums,

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 oth ...

, 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 strin ...

, vocals * Marc Orrell – guitar, accordion, vocals * Ryan Foltz – mandolin,

dulcimer The word dulcimer refers to two families of musical string instruments. Hammered dulcimers The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal zither similar to a psaltery whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers". Variants of ...

* Spicy McHaggis – bagpipes on "The Spicy McHaggis Jig" (also credited with "excessive smoking and under-aged drinking" in the album sleeve notes) additional personnel: *

– vocals on "Good Rats" *Colin McFaull – vocals on "Fortunes of War" *Desi Queally – vocals on "Rocky Road to Dublin" *Joe Delaney – bagpipes on "Heroes of Our Past" and "For Boston" *Brian Queally – tin whistle on "Rocky Road to Dublin" *Johnny Cunningham – mandolin on "Good Rats" *Andreas Kelly – accordion on "The Torch" *Zack Brines –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

on "Ramble and Roll" *Carl Kelly –

uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from thei ...

on "Forever" * Jim Siegal – engineer

References

{{Authority control Dropkick Murphys albums 2001 albums Hellcat Records albums