Album Notes

NAUGHTY BUT NICE , is undeniably brilliant and wouldn't sound out of place on any recent Dire STRAITS album. His sparse reading of Bill Monroe's Walking in Jerusalem with it's economical acoustic guitar accompaniment , showcases his vocal strengths perfectly and Denmark Street and Promised Land are equally promising , if a little overwhelmed by the backing band. The demon drink crops up in seven out of ten songs on the album which gives a fair hint of where he is coming from. Poitin is actually J.J. Cale's "Cocaine" with words by O'Malley done in a Billy Connolly style rant : "There's a rat on the mat - poitin/ When your as blind as a bat - poitin ". Funny when heard for the first time but doesn't bear up to repeated listening ."Off the Jar" has a splendid line: "Went to the barber he said my head was bald / Went to the mortician he said my heart was cold / Went the bookie he said my horse was dead / Then I got up - I should've stayed in bed ." Eat your heart out Shane McGowan .

"Beyond the Pale " is not for the squeamish - or the teetotalers for that matter -and although slightly unfocused , it can only hint at better things to come.

>Colm O'Hare. The Hot Pre