Just as the title implies, 25 Years of Greatness is a career-spanning 32-track compilation covering most of the highlights of the Wolfe Tones' first quarter of a century. There is the important caveat, however, that like many folk groups, the Wolfe Tones have recorded many of their most popular songs several times, and this collection tends to favor more recent and/or more arranged versions of the Spartan originals that graced early albums like Let the People Sing. That's not as much of a problem as it would be with some groups, however, as the Wolfe Tones have wisely resisted any temptation to "update," "modernize," or otherwise ruin a traditional Irish folk style that has worked for them for so long; even the Fairport Convention-like electric track of the new "Rock On Rockall" has a bracingly traditional feel to it. This is the Wolfe Tones set to have if you're having just one, but there's plenty more where this came from.



Tracklist:

CD1:

01. Celtic Symphony (04:46)
02. The Merry Ploughboy (02:33)
03. Women of Ireland (06:19)
04. Rock on Rockall (02:55)
05. The Foggy Dew (03:27)
06. James Connolly (03:02)
07. The Man from Mullingar (02:41)
08. Flow Liffey Waters (04:09)
09. First of May (04:19)
10. The Piper that Played Before Moses (03:02)
11. Janie Mac I'm Nearly Forty (02:57)
12. Give Me Your Hand (02:47)
13. The Boy's of the Old Brigade (02:55)
14. Dingle Bay (03:41)
15. The Big Strong Man (02:09)
16. Monsignor Horan (03:36)

CD2:

01. Boston Rose (05:40)
02. The Zoological Gardens (02:55)
03. The Broad Black Brimmer (03:29)
04. Newgrange (Bru Na Boinne) (04:58)
05. Treat Me Daughter Kindly (03:30)
06. Come Out Ye Black and Tan (02:11)
07. Slieve Na Mban (03:36)
08. Far Away In Australia (02:51)
09. Goodbye (03:01)
10. Helicopter Song (03:14)
11. An Dord Feinne (02:21)
12. The Merman (04:23)
13. The Teddy Bear's Head (02:10)
14. Banna Strand (04:24)
15. Many Young Men of Twenty (02:27)
16. The Wests' Awake (04:36)