180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL The Snake is the first solo album by Shane MacGowan with backing band The Popes. Originally released in 1994, the album is a bracing set of songs that draw heavily on traditional Irish folk music while pinning your ears back with a raucous, full-frontal rock sound. Guests on the album include Johnny Depp, members of The Dubliners, Thin Lizzy, and The Pogues. Like a number of songs recorded by MacGowan's previous band, The Pogues, traditional tunes are sometimes used as a base for a new song. For example, the melody for "The Song With No Name" is based on "The Homes of Donegal