''Shots'' is a 2005 studio album by the Irish singer-songwriter

Damien Dempsey Damien Dempsey (born 9 June 1975) is an Irish singer and songwriter who mixes traditional Irish folk contemporary lyrics that deliver social and political commentaries on Irish society. Damien sings in his native, working-class accent in the Eng ...

which was released in Ireland and the United Kingdom in March 2005. It is the third studio album released by the singer-songwriter.

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

provides backing vocals on the opening track "Sing All Your Cares Away". The album discusses a diverse range of topics including oppression, slavery, drugs and poverty. ''Shots'' entered the

Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). The charts were previously compiled on behalf of IRMA by Chart-Track, and have been compiled by t ...

at No. 1 and reached platinum status. It went on to receive one nomination at the 2006 Meteor Awards.

Album information

''Shots'' was Dempsey's third studio album, the successor to his 2003 platinum selling album '' Seize the Day'' which was the occasion during which his music became more noticed and appreciated. Since then he has received praise from musicians such as

Christy Moore Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore (born 7 May 1945) is an Irish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. He was one of the founding members of the bands Planxty and Moving Hearts and has had significant success as a solo artist. His first albu ...

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

and

Shane MacGowan Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan (25 December 195730 November 2023) was a British-born Irish singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of Celtic punk band the Pogues. He won acclaim for his lyrics, whic ...

, whilst

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...

invited him on tour with him in 2004. ''Shots'' was recorded in

Rockfield Studio Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward. Recording studios Rockfield is a two-stu ...

in Wales and produced by John Reynolds who has worked with Dempsey before.

Song meanings

The third track on the album "St. Patrick's Day" begins with a guitar which slowly builds up into a combination of

tin whistle The tin whistle, also known as the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, a class of instrument which also includes the recorder and Native American flute. A tin whistle player is called a whistl ...

uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ), also known as Union pipes and sometimes called Irish pipes, are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the ...

and drums. It describes pre-

Celtic Tiger The "Celtic Tiger" () is a term referring to the economy of the Republic of Ireland, economy of Ireland from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, a period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign direct investment. The boom was dampened by ...

era Ireland. The fifth track "Party On" discusses the negative aspect of Ireland's drugs culture. The sixth track, "Colony", is a song about oppression and colonialism which is reworked from Dempsey's debut album, '' They Don't Teach This Shit in School''. The penultimate track, "Choctaw Nation", details the plight of the Native American

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

people, whilst the final track, "Spraypaint Backalley", features a line from

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

– "we are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars".

Track listing

The album ''Shots'' contains ten tracks and is fifty minutes in length.

Reaction

The national broadcaster

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

gave the album four stars out of five in its review, stating that his music "shows an astute observation of Irish life" and praising him for "giving a voice to the downtrodden". The songs "Sing All Our Cares Away", the opening track, and "Choctaw Nation", the penultimate one, were singled out for a special mention as was the new recording of "Colony". "Party On" was praised for its irony and sarcasm, whilst Dempsey's approach to the music business is covered in the single "Patience", with comparisons made to the track "I've No Alibi' from his debut album. The CLUAS reviewer noted that ''Shots'' was Dempsey's first step into mainstream music, with more melody present and "less anger". Opening track "Sing all Your Cares Away" received high praise for its "sweet melody", harmonies described as "soothing and gentle" and the backing vocals of

, the love song "Hold Me" was described as "a gentle ode to love with none of the frills or soppy sentimentality of usual love ballads" and the seventh track "Patience" has been praised for its slow build-up into a full band.

Chart performance

The album debuted on the

at No. 1, going on to achieve platinum status in December 2005.

Awards

Meteor Music Awards

On 23 November 2005, it was announced that ''Shots'' had been nominated for a Meteor Music Award in the Best Irish Album category. However, at the 2006 Meteor Awards on 2 February 2006, the album lost to U2's eleventh studio album, ''

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb ''How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb'' is the eleventh studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was released on 22 November 2004 in the United Kingdom by Island Records and a day later in the United States by Interscope Records. It was produced by ...

''. , - , 2006 , , ''Shots'' , , Best Irish Album , , , -

References

{{Authority control 2005 albums Damien Dempsey albums Albums recorded at Rockfield Studios