The Pogues 'If I Should Fall From Grace With God' LP

After two releases that fused Clash-like punk and Celtic folk, the Pogues stretch their boundaries with If I Should Fall From Grace With God from 1988.

Produced by Steve Lillywhite, the album flirts with jazz, world music and even norteno - the gloriously romp-y "Fiesta" sounds as if whiskey-parched vocalist Shane MacGowan hooked up with east LA's Los Lobos. Nonetheless, this is still the Pogues, meaning that when the day is done, If I Should Fall From Grace With God still feels as if it was born out of the bottom of a pint of Guinness.

It's gritty, wildly spirited and, in the case of the ballad "Fairytale In New York" (a duet featuring Kirsty MacColl), heartbreakingly beautiful.