St Patrick’s Day is upon us once again and to celebrate the day when everyone wears a little more green than is really necessary, we’re put together a list of our favourite Irish musicians (both Republic and Northern).
So, join us in a Guinness and put these Irish beauties on the jukebox.
6) The Script
While they may not be the coolest band to like, The Script have been a massive success both at home and abroad, with two UK number on albums, success in America and a worldwide fanbase that has seen these three Dublin lads become household names.
5) Two Door Cinema Club
They may not be the world’s mpost complex band, Two Door Cinema Club are excellent at what they do. The duo of albums under their belts shows that when it comes to light, fizzy indie, there are few better around Two Door Cinema Club.
With their mix of infectious hooks and bouncy rhythms makes them possibly the strongest Irish band recording material right now.
4) My Bloody Valentine
Filled to the brim with reverb, fuzz and more distortion than you can shake a stick at, many a band kicking around today owe their very sound to the work of My Bloody Valentine.
While they might have only released four albums in nearly three decades (with a massive dozen years between ‘Loveless’ and their last release ‘m b v’), My Bloody Valentine must be regarded as one of Ireland’s premier song spinners.
3) Damian Rice
While he might not be the cheeriest of singers, Damian Rice is an incredible artist and one that really stands out as one of the most vocally pure and lyrically poignant singers of the last decade.
It’s his debut album ‘O’ though that really deserves special attention. Even though it’s celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, it’s a touching album that plays like a raw nerve. Incredibly intimate, this is an album that draws you in and grips on to you so tightly that it’s almost at risk of crushing you.
While he’s yet to follow up on his gorgeous follow-up ‘9’ of 2006, Rice is still a banner name in Irish music’s recent past.
2) Van Morrison
While he might be known for his transatlantic drawl that would sound as fitting in California as Belfast, the poetic Van Morrison will go down history as a true musical innovator. Moving effortlessly from rock and roll, blues, jazz and even Celtic folk, Van Morrison is constantly evolving his sound, not only album to album, but track to track.
That he very rarely misses the mark when it comes to quality is the real success of Van Morrison though, his poetic lyrics always a standout feature.
‘Brown Eyed Girl’ alone demands that he be high up on this list, let alone the countless other fantastic tracks he’s been responsible for over the years.
1) U2
Ok, we’re not going to win any prizes for originality, but it’s hard to deny that U2 are not only the biggest, but the best musical act to have ever come out of the Emerald Isle.
Their 1987 hit ‘The Joshua Tree’ still stands as one of the all-time great rock and roll albums, filled with timeless tracks that form a whole that’s yet to be beaten by U2 in the decade and a half following its release. Be it ‘With Or Without You’, ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’ or ‘Running To Stand Still’, it’s a certifiable classic.
In a career littered with platinum record and awards, it’s this album that will always be there masterpiece, despite the excellence of ‘War’, ‘Achtung Baby’ and ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’.
No other band on our list has quite grabbed a hold of the music world so strongly and for as long as U2 have, guaranteeing them a place at the top of our list.
What are your favourite Irish musicians? Let us know in the comments section and make sure you have a cracking St Paddy’s day.
Tagged in U2 Van Morrison The Script