Best Ever Albums

Re: The Waterboys

CharlieBarley — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 00:30:36 GMT

Author: CharlieBarley

Posted: 02/26/2018 05:30

Although many of the Waterboys are Irish the lead singer Mike Scott is Scottish, from Edinburgh.

I love their Greatest Hits album, I used to play it to death. I love that and Fisherman's Blues
To my shame those are their only 2 albums I know. I need to hear their entire catalogue now!
They played live in my town 2 years ago but I couldn't go see them. I was gutted.

Anyway here is the album I like best:

Best of The Waterboys 81-90

The Best Of The Waterboys 81-90 by The Waterboys

I just added it. Its a glorious compilation.

Re: The Waterboys

TheHutts — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 22:33:29 GMT

Author: TheHutts

Posted: 02/26/2018 03:33

rkm wrote:

Trying to figure out if I really need the 6 CD Fisherman's Box Set of not...

There are less exhaustive sets of extra material - Too Close to Heaven or Fisherman's Blues, Part 2.

Re: The Waterboys

RoundTheBend — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 22:07:13 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 02/26/2018 03:07

I don't know much of any of the other recordings - but This Is The Sea totally makes 134th on my top albums.

Great music/memories.

Re: The Waterboys

rkm — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 20:50:59 GMT

Author: rkm

Posted: 02/26/2018 01:50

bobbyb5 wrote:

The only thing I know about the Waterboys is how much the dude looked like Jim Morrison on that one album cover.

Maybe you should try out Fisherman's Blues? It could be the first album on your 1988 chart.

Re: The Waterboys

Norman Bates — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 06:36:53 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 02/25/2018 11:36

Fisherman's Blues by The Waterboys

is the best.

Re: The Waterboys

bobbyb5 — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 06:20:29 GMT

Author: bobbyb5

Posted: 02/25/2018 11:20

The only thing I know about the Waterboys is how much the dude looked like Jim Morrison on that one album cover.

Re: The Waterboys

thirstyDog — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 21:46:47 GMT

Author: thirstyDog

Posted: 02/24/2018 02:46

A Rock In The Weary Land by The Waterboys

Here's a post-90s record of theirs that I really like. It sounds nothing like their 80s output. It's very modern, gritty, and sonically ambitious. Mike Scott had just come back from an unsuccessful solo career, and I think he channeled that frustration into his art here really well. The opener and closer are big highlights, as is The Wind In The Wires. The only big misstep is We Are Jonah. That song is cringey AF. But other than that this is a pretty great album.

Book Of Lightning by The Waterboys

The other later album of theirs that's worth mentioning is this one. It's a return to a real rock band. You can tell the band is having a lot of fun, almost to a fault. The songs can get pretty long. By now, Mike's voice and delivery have gotten quite eccentric, which might turn some listeners off. I personally really like the more sober songs on here: Strange Arrangement, and Sustain. I think they're really beautiful and Mike's voice can be taken more seriously. Overall this is a decent album.

Re: The Waterboys

rkm — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 21:45:43 GMT

Author: rkm

Posted: 02/24/2018 02:45

thirstyDog wrote:

I really like This Is The Sea and I think it has some really great songs. Don't Bang the Drum, Medicine Bow, and Be My Enemy rock hard, and the title track is a classic. But it also has a few painfully awkward songs, such as The Whole of the Moon. I don't understand why that one is their best known song. It's so corny.

A Pagan Place is pretty good. I guess more consistent than This Is The Sea, but it doesn't reach the highs that that album does. I prefer The Waterboys' debut over A Pagan Place. Mike Scott's voice was much stronger.

I used to like Fisherman's Blues, but as time goes by it's started to sound dated and cheesy.

Of these three albums, my favorite is This Is The Sea.

I'm gonna have to check out the debut, then. I love "The Whole Of The Moon". Each to his own.

I was thinking to myself as I listened, that the production on "Fisherman's Blues" had aged well, particularly in comparison to the massive snare reverbs on Hothouse Flowers "People" from the same year (which I still enjoy).

Re: The Waterboys

rkm — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 21:41:08 GMT

Author: rkm

Posted: 02/24/2018 02:41

And another point of interest and discussion is Karl Wallinger, who had been a member of The Waterboys until after "This is The Sea", then pursuing his own thing with World Party. When members leave groups, it's always interesting trying to discern what their contribution had been in light of their absence from the former group, and in the work they subsequently produce.

This album had one of the best songs of the 80's on it, "Ship of Fools".

Private Revolution by World Party

This is another favourite, feeling slightly more world-weary, but still has optimism.

Goodbye Jumbo by World Party

Re: The Waterboys

thirstyDog — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 21:36:26 GMT

Author: thirstyDog

Posted: 02/24/2018 02:36

I really like This Is The Sea and I think it has some really great songs. Don't Bang the Drum, Medicine Bow, and Be My Enemy rock hard, and the title track is a classic. But it also has a few painfully awkward songs, such as The Whole of the Moon. I don't understand why that one is their best known song. It's so corny.

A Pagan Place is pretty good. I guess more consistent than This Is The Sea, but it doesn't reach the highs that that album does. I prefer The Waterboys' debut over A Pagan Place. Mike Scott's voice was much stronger.

I used to like Fisherman's Blues, but as time goes by it's started to sound dated and cheesy.

Of these three albums, my favorite is This Is The Sea.

Re: The Waterboys

rkm — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 21:34:05 GMT

Author: rkm

Posted: 02/24/2018 02:34

On a slightly different note, I've also been listening to Hothouse Flowers and thinking that comparatively, perhaps their a bit under-appreciated? Similarities: their Irish, fusing folk elements with rock (but embrace more of American gospel influence); Liam O'Maonlai's voice has a gravelly texture in its upper register that's similar to Mike Scott with a heart-on-the-sleeve exuberance. Couldn't help but think that Liam O'Maonlai sounds like a cross between Mike Scott, Elvis, and Eddie Vedder before anyone knew Eddie Vedder.

1988

People by Hothouse Flowers

1990

Home by Hothouse Flowers

The Waterboys

rkm — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 21:18:19 GMT

Author: rkm

Posted: 02/24/2018 02:18

Which albums do you dig? Discuss!

I've known and liked this album for a long time. Perhaps best known for "Whole Of The Moon"

This Is The Sea by The Waterboys

I've more recently gotten into this one, which I like but not quite as much as "This Is The Sea"

A Pagan Place by The Waterboys

I'm only just getting into this one, which is decidedly more folky. I have tried it before, and I don't know why it didn't click. I'm a big Van Morrison fan, and there's those elements of folk and rock mixed with an Irish fondness for poetry and mysticism, so I should've liked it. Anyway, I'm appreciating it now.

Fisherman's Blues by The Waterboys

Trying to figure out if I really need the 6 CD Fisherman's Box Set of not...

I haven't ventured into any of Mike Scott's post 90's albums yet.