Release: 13-2-2015
Label: Deaf Shepherd Recordings

Twenty-five years and not a single sign of weakness; Fiddler’s Green. With ’25 Blarney Roses’ they give the fans a small present because this year the 25th birthday of the band is celebrated. The present is in the shape of a best-of CD.
Well, what’s there to say about a Best-of CD? Of course the most well-known songs from this folk-punk band are passing by. For those who’re not yet familiar with Fiddler’s Green; this band is a German folk-punk band. Think of Flogging Molly and you’re thinking in the right direction. Besides that, the band reaches back to the roots of the genre by implementing influences from the well-known Dubliners, honored in the song ‘Rocky road to Dublin’. The best songs in 25 years of Fiddler’s Green are presented, and on the CD are both songs from the starting days, as well as songs from their most recent CD’s. But Fiddler’s Green didn’t do an easy job with this one. Some of their hits weren’t recorded in a studio before, so the band did not only put 13 old recordings together on this album, but they recorded ‘Take Me Back’, ‘Rocky Road To Dublin’, ‘Burning the Night’ and ‘Blarney Roses’ last year and put them on this album too.
And to make this a real collector’s item for the fans, they gave this album a very tasty look, not a simple jewel case, but a real carton box, with a thick booklet with a lot of pictures of the band. Great!
My conclusion can be short; ’25 Blarney Roses’ is a perfect CD for those who’re not yet familiar with Fiddler’s Green. It shows perfectly what the band achieved in 25 years of existence. For the true fans this release might feel a bit superfluous, but it’s always a good idea to have the best songs of a great folk-punk band together on one CD of course!

Tracklist

1. Take Me Back
2. Rocky Road To Dublin
3. Victor And His Demons
4. Yindy
5. Old Dun Cow
6. Folk’s Not Dead
7. Long Gone
8. We Don’t Care
9. Greens And Fellows
10. A Night In Dublin
11. Never Hide
12. Another Spring Song
13. The Night Pat Murphy Died
14. A Bottle A Day
15. Bugger Off
16. Burning The Night
17. Blarney Roses