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The best Irish and Irish-American music of the decade! Vote for your favorite albums

By
MICHAEL FARRAGHER
,
Irish Voice Music Columnist
Published Monday, December 14, 2009, 12:26 PM
Updated Saturday, January 2, 2010, 10:14 PM
Read more: Celtic Music, Regional Music

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Andrea Corr joins Bono and the boys on stage at Carnegie Hall
Andrea Corr joins Bono and the boys on stage at Carnegie Hall

• A decade of challenge and change in Irish and Irish-American music

Top Irish-American albums of the decade

• Black 47: 'Trouble in the Land'

• Prodigals: 'Needs Must When the Devil Drives'

• Pierce Turner’s '3 Minute World'

• Enter the Haggis: 'Casualties of Retail'

• Dropkick Murphys: 'Blackout'

Top Irish albums of the decade

• U2’s 'All that you can’t Leave Behind'

• Afro Celt Sound System’s 'Volume 3: Further in Time'

• Saw Doctors 'The Cure'

• Sinead O’Connor’s 'Throw Down your Arms'

• 'VH1 Presents The Corrs: Live from Dublin'

The new millennium ushered in a decade of transformation for Irish music. It was a typical decade in some ways: U2 ruled the charts again with three classic albums, and big show productions like Celtic Thunder and Celtic Woman thrilled audiences in the same way that "Riverdance" did in the '90s.

In the past, New York-based bands like Black 47 and The Prodigals wove punk and reggae into Irish melodies, but this decade found Ireland opening its doors to new ways of interpreting music that created thrilling sounds on both sides of the Atlantic.  
 
They say art imitates life, and that was especially true when considering some of the best Irish music produced this decade. In the '90s Ireland introduced a hugely successful policy of peaceful industrial relations and joint wage bargaining. The Government offered concessions to expatriates to build factories and lured those companies further with a well-educated, English-speaking workforce. American companies like Dell, Baxter and Microsoft landed there — and by the new millennium, the Irish economy was growing at 8 percent annually. This made the tiny island a destination for thousands of immigrants once the Irish became too prosperous to clean their own houses or cook their own meals.

This rise in immigration changed the fabric of Ireland as this Celtic Tiger roared, and the new cultures that attempted to assimilate into the Emerald Isle influenced the music that native Irish produced throughout the decade.

The Chieftans continued to try on other cultures like they were shopping for coats. Sinead O’Connor produced a reggae album, "Throw Down your Arms." Luka Bloom blew out the walls of Irish folk music by injecting Middle Eastern percussion and textures into his acoustic strums, while Damien Dempsey looked at the whole thing with a mistrustful eye of the boxer that he once was.  

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The best Irish and Irish-American music of the decade! Vote for your favorite albums | Irish Music | IrishCentral


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Posted by goodwitchglynda on Jan 03, 2010, 01:10 PM EST
Sinead's Black Album is far and away (blatant reference to movie involving Ireland) her best ever of this decade or any other, hands down better than Throw Down Your Arms. Also, I like Sing Loud, Sing Proud! better than Blackout...and yes, Flogging Molly should probably be up there.
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Posted by kickstar on Dec 28, 2009, 01:30 AM EST
I just wish U2 and more especially Bono would just shagging disappear I am sick and tired looking at his ugly greasy bespectacled face.
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Posted by jotgee1 on Dec 25, 2009, 11:27 AM EST
CELTIC THUNDER RULES !!!!!!
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Posted by mhichil on Dec 23, 2009, 12:16 PM EST
hey! where is Dervish??!! You want some real Trad music with a current spin? there ya go! Cheers! ~m
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Posted by Bridgetftmyers on Dec 18, 2009, 12:40 PM EST
Celtic Thunder is Top on my list !!!!!
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Posted by mgoggles on Dec 16, 2009, 10:21 PM EST
Flogging Molly's Drunken Lullabies should be on the list!!!!!!!!!!


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