ALBUMS TOP40

40 albums from 15 countries:

9 from the USA
4 from Canada
4 from France
4 from the UK
3 from Germany
3 from Serbia
2 from the Czech Republic
2 from Italy
2 from The Netherlands
2 from Switzerland
1 from Begium
1 from Hungary
1 from Rumania
1 from Spain
1 from Ukraine

1 – The Peelers “Palace of the Fiend” Review
2 – Celkilt “Stand” Review
3 – The Tossers “Smash the Windows” Review
4 – Drunken Dolly “Alcoholic Rhapsody” Review
5 – Uncle Bard & The Dirty Bastards “Handmade!” Review
6 – Black Water County “Taking Chances” Review
7 – Kilmaine Saints “Whiskey Blues & Faded Tattos” Review
8 – Flogging Molly “Life’s Good” Review
9 – Ferocious Dog “Red” Review
10 – The O’Reillys and The Paddyhats “Sign of the Fighter” Review
11 – Sons of O’Flaherty “The Road not taken” Review
12 – O’Hamsters “Gde by ni byvali” Review
13 – Tortilla Flat “Forward to the Past” Review
14 – Craic “Sounds of Vandemark” Review
15 – Cheers! “Daily Bread” Review
16 – Nevermind Nessie “Best of Foes” Review
17 – Cockswain “For the Whiskey” Review
18 – The Downs Family “A Penny’s Worth of Pillage” Review
19 – The Vad Vuc “Disco Orario” Review
20 – Potatoe Famine “Drink the Pub Dry” Review
21 – Toxic Frogs “The Mermaid’s Song” Review
22 – The Real McKenzies “Two Devils Will Talk” Review
23 – The Feelgood McLouds “s/t” Review
24 – The Drunken Lazy Bastards “Born to be Drunk” Review
25 – Brutus’ Daughters “Hueso y Madera” Review and Free Download
26 – McScallywag “Dirty Water” Review
27 – The McDrinkers “Another Drunken Night” Review
28 – Mudmen “Old Plaid Shirt” Review
29 – Irish Stew of Sindidun “City of Grigs” Review
30 – The Scarlet “Hardfolk Shanties” Review
31 – Cassidy’s Brewery “One Brew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” Review and Free Download
32 – Selfish Murphy “Another Fork in the Road” Review
33 – In for a Penny “One Last Hurray” Free Download
34 – The Babes “Greetings from London” Review
35 – Orthodox Celts “Many Mouths Shut!” Review
36 – Matilda’s  Scoundrels “As the Tide Turns”       
37 – Restless Feet “Homeward Bound” Review
38 – Hooligan’s Mountain “Dalle strade, dalle valli” Review
39 – The Templars of Doom “Bring me the Head of John the Baptist”  Review
40 – Benjaming’s Clan “Sedm Statecných” Review

EPs AND MINI-ALBUMS TOP25

25 EPs or mini-albums from 13 countries

4 from Hungary
3 from France
3 from the USA
2 from Australia
2 from Canada
2 from Indonesia
2 from Russia
2 from Spain
1 from Argentina
1 from Brazil
1 from The Netherlands
1 from Sweden
1 from Ukraine

1 – Brick Top Blaggers “The Fury” Review
2 – Black Rawk Dog “Suburban’s Folk Stories” Review
3 – Sailors Grave “Baytin the Voyage” Review
4 – The Mullins “Beers & Feelings” Review
5 – Black Anemone “In it for Life” Review
6 – Firkin “Into the Night” Review
7 – Jolly Jackers “Blood Sweat and Beer” Review
8 – Hawthorn “RavenWood” Name Your Price Download
9 – Barleycorn Bastards “Hops & Dreams” Review
10 – Bogtrotter’s Union “Old Songs & Stories Vol. 1” Name Your Price Download
11 – Three Finger Shot “Stories from a Small Town” Review
12 – The Black Watch “First Shot” Review
13 – Raise My Kilt “Gaitas y tanos” Review
14 – Rawlins Cross “Rock Steady” Review
15 – McMiners “Tales of Betrayal and Deceit” Review
16 – The Fatty Farmers  “Efecto Farmer”   
17 – Lád Cúig “Nosaltres sols” Name Your Price Download
18 – The Green Duck “2ème EP” Review
19 – Rain in Summer “Discordant Anthem from the Gutter” Review
20 – The Crazy Rogues “Rebels’ Shanties” Review and Free Download
21 – Shamrocks “Ye Olde Chariot” Review
22 – Highland Bastards “Let’s Folk” Review
23 – BoghZH Celtic Cats “Kazh al lagenn” Review soon 
24 – Zuname “Nothing Can’t Stop Me” Free Download
25 – The Dead Maggies “Wild Dogs and Flannies” Review

Other interesting stuff that has been issued in 2017: “Poxmen of the Horslypse – Tribute to Horlips“, released by John Murphy (Shite’n’Onions) the second album by Canadian band Morgan, “Morgan Deli” (cow-punk at its best) and Gary Miller “Mad Martins” 50 track triple CD (review in January 2018. Stay tuned! )

Thanks again to all the bands for sending their stuff and special thanks to my mates Phil (PaddyRock), Scott (Paddys Home and Pub Podcast) and Mark (London Celtic Punks) for their friendship and support.

REMARKS

1) As usual, this post is titled as “the best of”. However, this is not a competition, but a sort of game. Remember that I give neither points, nor stars to the albums that are reviewed. I’d say that, IMHO, this is the list of the most enjoyable albums of 2015.  It’s a party!

2) This list is subjective, but not unfair: it covers the albums that I have enjoyed. Other lists are being posted on other sites and they’ll be different. And I feel that diversity is good.

3) Important: please remember that it’s a list of albums, not a list of bands.

4) I’ve tried to be coherent. Everybody should know that I prefer original material to over-exposed standards.

5) Please remember that I’m only a fan. Maybe some albums are technically or musically better than others. I have taken into account catchy songs, fresh approaches, innovation and maybe I’ve given priority to raucous sounds rather than to polished sounds.

6) Yes, this is a Celtic Punk e-zine. Then priority has been given to Celtic punk bands, but you’ll also find quite a few Celtic rock and folk punk bands.

7) Only the albums that have been received for review/airplay purposes and/or that have been shared for free by the bands have been rated. Other recordings were released in 2017, but unfortunately no copy was submitted or they got lost on their way to Spain.

8) This Best of 2017 covers the CDs that have been released from December 2016 to December 2017. As you can see, some CD were released in 2016. I’ve decided to rate them on the 2017 list ONLY after having checked that they were not reviewed on any other Celtic punk / rock e-zine in 2016. I’ve got them in 2017 and I feel that a lot of fans didn’t notice that those CDs were released before having read my review. Then, I’ve considered them as a 2017 release.

9) Neither live albums, nor covers albums have been taken into account. The same applies to compilations/best of albums.

10) To be at the bottom of the list doesn’t involve that an album is rather poor. The difference between the 11th place and the 25th place would be a tiny nuance. The same applies to the places going from 26th to 40th.

11) Several songs from these albums have been added to the streaming radio along the year and they are regularly played.

http://www.radionomy.com/en/radio/celtic-folk-punk/index

12) To the fans: feel free to share your comments. No trolls, please!

13) To the bands: it’s extremely difficult to rank every recording and I guess that some people won’t be happy. However, I really appreciate and respect the hard work by every single band. The quality of all of the recordings has been very high!