![]() ![]() Is it worth the wait?īig smiles from the very first track, “On my Way to Heaven,” a version of a 1920s gospel song which opened the band’s live set for a couple of years. This is a CD that the fans have waited fifteen years to hear. ![]() The rest, however, has remained The Grail to Waterboys fans, who have had to content themselves with occasional, tantalizing glimpses in live performance, on singles, and on poor quality bootleg tapes that get copied, passed on and copied again and again. When Fisherman’s Blues did eventually emerge (in 1988) it was a compromise between selecting tracks from the preceding mammoth sessions and recording new songs that reflected how the band sounded there and then. They made a valiant attempt, however, recording almost seventy tracks before reaching the inevitable conclusion that assembling a single, coherent album out of the miles of tape would be impossible. ![]() In a recent British TV interview (for Planet Rock Profiles), Scott spoke at length about the period 1986 – 1987 where the band was changing faster than we could record it. Consequently, these albums are much more than mere “fillers.” Let’s start with the most recent release, Fisherman’s Blues Part Two. Away with all cynics and skeptics, Mike Scott is not a man to lightly dismiss his own legacy, or to insult the intelligence of his audience with sub-standard Waterboys music. It’s not an unusual practice for record labels to dredge up a collection of outtakes and “B sides” to keep the punters happy in between proper releases, or for bands to knock out live albums as an easy way to fulfill contractual obligations. The three CDs reviewed here are all albums of previously unavailable material, released retrospectively. ![]() My previous Waterboys review covered all of The Waterboys and Mike Scott studio albums in chronological order. I think that the other two purposes were better. Now in the 20th century, they have become a way of making money and achieving fame. Then in the balladeering centuries, songs became a vehicle for the spreading of information, stories and opinions. Originally, the function of songs was devotional. ![]()
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