Dropkick Murphys – The Warrior’s Code

There are some CDs that hit you right away and you immediately say “wow, this is amazing”, while others take a good few listens before the power and the glory of the album finally sinks in. Dropkick Murphys‘ latest effort, The Warrior’s Code, is in the latter group. And although it takes a few listens for the listener to truly appreciate the awesomeness of the CD, when they do, its there to stay.

The Warrior’s Code is a deep combination of everything Dropkick Murphys. There’s the classic punk riffs, the Celtic folk influences and the rock’n’roll intensity all rolled into one. And while this is more likeSing Loud Sing Proud then Blackout, that’s not a bad thing. Its heavier, and much more gruff then Blackout ever was and the amazing gang choruses just force you to sing along.

Like all Dropkick Murphys CD, this one features its fair share of original tunes along with a good selection of traditional Celtic songs and cover songs. This time they only have one traditional song, but what a choice it was. Captain Kelly’s Kitchen could just as easily be sung around a camp fire as it could be used to start a circle pit. They also have cover songs of the likes of Woody Guthrie and Brendan Behan, but the most impressive song is by far the cover of Eric Bogle‘s No Man’s Land (which has be changed to The Green Fields Of France on this CD). The slow five minute, piano driven song simply captivates the listener as they tell the story of Willie McBride who died in the great battles of World War One. It is moving and makes the listener stop to listen and think about wars all over the world and lost love and just the value of life on a whole. It truly is an amazing song that will be played for years to come.

But even though they do have that one majestic slow song, do not worry, they haven’t slowed down at all. They still have great fist punching songs like Wicked Sensitive Crew, The Burden and Citizen C.I.A.And as a nice added bonus, they have also thrown in their baseball single, Tessie for anyone who didn’t get the chance to buy the single.

It took a few listens to really take a hold of me, but now The Warrior’s Code and I have once again re-kindled my love for the Celtic punkers.