Really up their musicianship on this one

With the edition of Terry Woods to the group, the playing gets much better on this album, while the punk spirit remains as alive as ever. This might be the Pogues at their peak. It is certainly the album with the most commercial appeal. The first 13 tracks are the original album (though Worms is hardly a track). The extras on this one are mostly forgettable. But you are getting them for free, so why not download the whole thing? Standout tracks are some of the slower ones: Fairytale of New York; Thousands are Sailing, Lullabye of London. The rowdier drinking songs--If I Should Fall, Bottle of Smoke, Medley, and Sit down by the Fire are rollicking gems.

If Rum Sodomy & the Lash captured the Pogues on plastic in all their rough-and-tumble glory, If I Should Fall from Grace with God proved they could learn the rudiments of proper record making and still come up with an album that captured all the sharp edges of their musical personality. Producer Steve Lillywhite imposed a more disciplined approach in the studio than Elvis Costello had, but he had the good sense not to squeeze the life out of the band in the process; as a result, the Pogues sound tighter and more precise than ever, while still summoning up the glorious howling fury that made Rum Sodomy & the Lash so powerful. And Shane MacGowan continued to grow as a songwriter, as his lyrics and melodies captured with brilliant detail his obsession with the finer points of Anglo-Irish culture. “Fairytale of New York,” a glorious sweet-and-sour duet with Kirsty MacColl, and “The Broad Majestic Shannon” were subtle in a way many of his previous work was not, “Birmingham Six” found him addressing political issues for the first time (and with all the expected venom), and “Fiesta” and “Turkish Song of the Damned” found him adding (respectively) faux-Spanish and Middle Eastern flavors into the Pogues’ heady mix. And if you want to hear the Pogues blaze through some fast ones, “Bottle of Smoke” and the title song find them doing just what they’ve always done best. Brilliantly mixing passion, street smarts, and musical ambition, If I Should Fall from Grace with God is the best album the Pogues would ever make. [Rhino Records released an expanded and remastered edition of If I Should Fall from Grace with God in 2006 that featured six bonus tracks. Most notable among the added cuts were "The Irish Rover" and "Mountain Dew," a pair of traditional numbers the Pogues recorded with the Dubliners on the occasion of the veteran group's 25th anniversary; while these two numbers were a major hit single in the U.K., they never received an American release, and MacGowan is in fine fettle as he shares verses with head Dubliner Ronnie Drew. The rollicking "South Australia" and the medley "The Battle March" will also be much appreciated by fans, as will Steve Earle's witty essay about recording and playing with the Pogues in 1987.] – Mark Deming