Rum Sodomy & The Lash
by The Pogues

Rum Sodomy & The Lash by The Pogues
Year: 1985
Release date: 1985-08-05
Overall rank: 570th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 420 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 1985 (10th)
Award Top 100 albums of the 1980s (88th)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (570th)

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Product Details
Availability

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Rum Sodomy & the Lash by The Pogues (CD, 1998)
Condition: Very Good


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The Pogues ‎- Rum Sodomy & The Lash Vinyl LP, UK 1985 Stiff SEEZ 58, VG+ Nice
Condition: Used


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The Pogues - Rum Sodomy & The Lash And If I Should Fall From Grace With God CDs
Condition: Very Good


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The Pogues bestography

Rum Sodomy & The Lash is ranked as the best album by The Pogues.

The Pogues album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (570th)
Rum Sodomy & The Lash
Lower ranked (958th) »
If I Should Fall From Grace With God

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Rum Sodomy & The Lash track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Rum Sodomy & The Lash rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 570th | 1980s rank: 88th | 1985 rank: 10th
Filter Filter
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 spigelwiiTop 60 Music Albums of the 1980s7/6018
2026craabTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s76/1005
2026 StrangelTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s39/10012
2026sweetnessTop 82 Music Albums of the 1980s41/8210
2026jonny5244Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s28/10015
2026MoondanceTop 100 Music Albums of 198510/1005
2026 DankelCeltic Punk1/100 -
2026 slatsheitTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s17/10017
2026 TamthebamTop 100 Music Albums of 198528/1004
2026spewventuriTop 91 Music Albums of the 1980s13/9117
2026 jhuikBest/ Favourite Songs of All Time79/100 -
2026BraddlesHendoTop 100 Greatest Music Albums10/10087
2026 RomanelliTop 39 Music Albums of 198538/390
2026bryatkTop 65 Greatest Music Albums59/6511
2026OlliTop 100 Music Albums of 198557/1002
2026OFarrioTop 11 Music Albums of 19858/112
2026 MercuryTop 100 Greatest Music Albums36/10064
2026 Jimmy DreadFolk Off! Pastoral Perfection for Pixie People69/100 -
2026RiveraTop 45 Music Albums of 198523/453
2026 PurplepashTop 100 Greatest Music Albums21/10076
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 444
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 2,994
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Rum Sodomy & The Lash collection

Rum Sodomy & The Lash ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 420 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 420 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
90/100
 
06/15/2026 05:48 ASOARE  Ratings distribution  2,28976/100
 
75/100
 
03/17/2026 23:47 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  12,16170/100
 
75/100
 
03/03/2026 21:43 TastyandTemptin  Ratings distribution  3,16672/100
 
75/100
 
03/01/2026 21:43 AledJames  Ratings distribution  1,59569/100
 
80/100
 
02/01/2026 20:14 sweetness  Ratings distribution  1,12779/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.3/100, a mean average of 77.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.3.

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Rum Sodomy & The Lash comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 28 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Rating:  
75/100
From 09/24/2025 23:15 | #311056
Great 2nd album from them and a big step up from their debut. How can you not love 'Dirty Old Town'. The singalong gold standard.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 06/02/2024 22:31 | #303817
R.I.P Shane

It’s a miracle you made it this far but your legacy will live on forever
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 01/12/2023 14:46 | #292752
This is such a fun record to listen to with its high energy songs being irresistible to me. The big hits on here are just so incredibly catchy that it makes me want to replay them over and over again without stopping. This is most true for Sally MacLennane which is such a phenomenal song. The album definitely peaks near the beginning with the first 6 or so tracks being so passionate and fun to listen to. However, once you get passed Dirty Old Town there is a significant drop off in quality and I find the next 4 songs to be filler. They really drag the record down as they are skippable tracks that could really have been cut off the record due to them being uninteresting and boring. Overall, a great album that is let down by a weak spell of songs but that doesn't take away from the quality of the earlier tracks which are incredible.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 11/27/2022 22:17 | #291604
Not really my cup of tea, but I gotta admit this record slaps.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 03/24/2022 22:49 | #283346
Terrific varied album. Happy days travelling in the car with the kids singing along to Sally MacLennane.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 02/04/2022 13:23 | #280707
A fun album, an evening in the pub with these guys would unforgettable. Slainte!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 02/03/2022 16:11 | #280568
Even if defenitely not my cup of tea, i enjoy this funny album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 08/18/2020 17:25 | #257164
Shane McGowan at his best, mostly coherent and a great selection of songs New and old, well produced by Elvis Costello I think I recall. Stand outs, dirty old town, pair of brown eyes.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 07/22/2019 15:21 | #240186
Favorite Tracks:The Sick Bed Of Cuchulainn, A Pair Of Brown Eyes, Billy's Bones, The Band Played Waltzing Matilda
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 02/23/2019 17:33 | #232449
What a great album - only just getting to it. I loved their Fairytale of NY (and think its the best Xmas tune) but never really listened to them. But there are a number of great tunes here culminating in the superb "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" - great storyline.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1985
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10. Rum Sodomy & The Lash by The Pogues